Ethan Frome Analysis

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Mama Soumahoro
English 1 Honors
Mr. Maroney
3-11-14

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Independence is the degree to which we rely on others. You can be independent mentally and physically. The cliché view of independence is usually someone that makes his/her choices and is very successful. Independence can also lead to unhappiness. You can be fully independent but reconsider your decisions for your significant other, putting their happiness before yours. Ethan
Frome, by Edith Wharton is about Ethan’s increasing desire for his wife’s cousin, Mattie. It is my opinion that Ethan Frome chooses how independent he is, making himself ‘‘semiindependent’’ due to money, health and love.

Right from the start of the book, we can tell that
He could have been his own person and put his foot down. It is his house, and none of those females are doing anything to make the work easier. My theory is that Mattie represents temptation. She is testing how independent Ethan will be so they can be together. With both positive (Mattie) and negative (Zeenobia) combating for Ethan’s control, he just gives in.
However, Ethan was slowly gaining his independence towards the end of the text. He began to realize that his happiness mattered more. He shows this when he and Mattie decided to go on the suicide sled mission. He didn’t even consider what Zeenobia would do without an aid in the house. He just knew he couldn’t stand not being able to love Mattie in his lifetime. He was assertive and a leader, not listening to anyone else’s rule except if it benefitted him. I also would consider the movie as a good source of Ethan’s independence. In the movie, Ethan bought Mattie

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a clip at the general store. In general, when a male buys something for a female, it’s usually for his wife or close family. This was the start of his realization that only Mattie mattered. This is
I think Ethan Frome only reaches half of my criteria for independence. He did let his significant other influence his choices on life. Even though it was nice of him, it ended up with being unhappy with his situation. Then again, Ethan is able to work and clearly has an education, so he is able to take care of himself. The topic that really limited his independence was love. Love caused him to stray from his dreams, love caused him to stay with ‘‘Zeenobia’’ and also made him try to kill himself. If there wasn’t love in Ethan’s case, he could have been in Florida right now. I characterized Ethan as semi-independent because he is independent, just chooses not to be. Think about it, he did say he probably would have not married Zeenobia if his mom had passed in the spring. It just shows that he was caught in a moment of despair.
Ethan would have been able to move on in a month; it just happened that Zeenobia was in the right place at the right time. He allows himself to be easily manipulated by lust and pity. He does have a conscience unlike some characters in the book. This is what allowed him to love so easily, but then again, even love has its limits.

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