The Role Of Pride In Wharton's Ethan Frome

The novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is a tragedy of a small town farmer that falls in love with his distant cousin. The story revolves mostly around the protagonist Ethan Frome, as his life becomes a living hell. He develops into a very interesting character as he faces difficult decisions to run away with the love of his life, Mattie Silver. However, his morals and beliefs force him to do what is “right” and stay with his wife. Towards the end of the novel, he finally decides to kill himself with Mattie and end the agony of living with his obnoxious and hypochondriac wife. The ending of the novel is ironic because after all that has happened they are still living together, the only difference is that the situation has gotten even worse.
The protagonist Ethan Frome considers his morals and pride as a major factor in his life. To many people this will come up as good characteristics and help them throughout their life. However, in Ethan’s case, these two factors prevent him from ever leaving his miserable life. Towards the climax of the novel, Ethan faces difficult decision that will change his life forever. That is when his belief and his pride play a major role in leading him to his tragic ending. He has many choices that will able him to run off with the love of his life and live a life he dreams of. “How would she keep the farm going? …could never carry such a burden alone” (Wharton 116). However, his morals prevent him from reaching his goals and eventually force him to stay and take care of his sick wife. As he is looking for a way out of his miserable life, another flaw kicks in; his pitiful pride. When he finds a solution of running off with Mattie, he realizes he will need money to start a new life. At the same time, he also realizes that he would have to beg for money and his pride does not allow him to. “Not a bit, Ethan’s pride retorted before his reason had time to intervene” (Wharton 67). Pride is such a major factor in Ethan’s life it takes over him before he can even reason with himself and this brings Ethan that much closer to his tragic fate.
And in Ethan Frome, it is Ethan Frome that leads the story into tragedy and his tragic flaw is his silence. The protagonist Ethan Frome is not able to express himself, his feelings and his loneliness to anyone around him. This eventually leads to a failed marriage, a miserable life, and to the tragic ending. Without communication, he ruins his life and his relationship with everyone around him. “She seemed infinitely father away from him and more unapproachable” (Wharton 81). If Ethan is brave enough to talk to Mattie about his feelings and truly expressed himself to her, things may have been different. Instead, he keeps it all to himself and eventually is more isolated then ever. In the end, his silence brought about suffering and sorrow to everyone around him including himself, and left the place in