Ethan Frome Summary
Edith Wharton

Everything you need to understand or teach Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.

Ethan Frome Summary & Study Guide
1 eBook
19 Student Essays
1 Encyclopedia Article
1 Book Notes
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30 Ethan Frome Lessons
20 Activities
180 Multiple Choice Questions
60 Short Essay Questions
20 Essay Questions
Pre-Made Tests and Quizzes
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Ethan Frome Summary

Critics have called Ethan Frome the most carefully constructed of Edith Wharton's novels, and have praised the economy of its language and its intensity. The novel is a naturalistic-that is, unsentimental-portrait of emotional frigidity set in the New England winter. Young Mattie Silver arrives in the mountain village of Starkfield to help with housekeeping for her cousin Zeena, the sickly, cantankerous wife of Ethan Frome. Ethan, who has long been resigned to the...

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Ethan Frome Study Guide

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Encyclopedia Articles (1)

Ethan Frome

2,619 words, approx. 9 pages

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton Bom in 1862, Edith Wharton grew up in a wealthy New York City family. She married in 1885. By the time she wrote Ethan Frome, this marriage, like that of her title char... Read more

Project Gutenberg eBooks (1)

Ethan Frome

38,810 words, approx. 130 pages

ETHAN FROME I Had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story. If you know Starkfield, Massachusetts, you know the post-offi... Read more

Edith Wharton Biographies (8)

Edith (Newbold Jones) Wharton

3,042 words, approx. 11 pages

The breadth of Edith Wharton's achievement makes definition of her place in literary history difficult. For fifty years she wrote prolifically, and her audience ranged from scholars to readers of popu... Read more

Edith (Newbold Jones) Wharton

10,907 words, approx. 37 pages

Perhaps the most striking thing about Edith Wharton 's reputation as a novelist is the fact that she has been "reclaimed" so many times. This fact seems all the more remarkable when one reflects that... Read more

Edith (Newbold Jones) Wharton

10,894 words, approx. 37 pages

While at the close of her career Edith Wharton was sometimes regarded as passe, a literary aristocrat whose fiction about people of high social standing had little to tell about the masses, particul... Read more

Edith (Newbold Jones) Wharton

9,059 words, approx. 31 pages

Although Edith Wharton is better known as a novelist than a short-story writer, she was in fact writing and publishing stories well before her debut as a novelist in 1902. Her first published story ... Read more

Edith (Newbold Jones) Wharton

9,451 words, approx. 32 pages

Henry James observed in an August 1902 letter to Edith Wharton's sister-in-law, Mrs. Cadwalader Jones, that Wharton "must be tethered in native pastures, even if it reduces her to a back-yard in New Y... Read more

Edith Wharton

387 words, approx. 2 pages

Edith Wharton (1861-1937), American author, chronicled the life of affluent Americans between the Civil War and World War I.Edith Wharton was born Edith Newbold Jones in New York City, probably on Jan... Read more

Edith Wharton

3,538 words, approx. 12 pages

During the early decades of the twentieth century--at a time when New York City could ban women from smoking in public--one American woman published works which discussed love outside of marriage, sca... Read more

Edith Wharton

11,252 words, approx. 38 pages

Biography EssayWhile at the close of her career Edith Wharton was sometimes regarded as passe, a literary aristocrat whose fiction about people of high social standing had little to tell about the mas... Read more

Essays & Analysis (19)

Ethan Frome

936 words, approx. 4 pages

Ethan Frome is a man torn between what he wants to do, and what he should do.  Life in a rural town can be tough, but when faced with complications, it can be almost unbearable.  When Ethan ... Read more

Don't Underestimate Ethan

864 words, approx. 3 pages

People have often pondered the reasons for the greatness of Edith Wharton's novel, Ethan Frome. What is it that causes this story to be considered an all-time American classic? One journalist quotes a... Read more

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton with Reference to the Film, Age of Innocence

1,553 words, approx. 6 pages

The description of a person being alive but dead is one not often used but is reserved for those who are truly and sincerely unhappy with their lives. They are seen as those who have lost all hope and... Read more

The Codependency of the Fromes

1,102 words, approx. 4 pages

"Dependent personality disorder."(Morris)  To people who suffer from this disorder, making a decision is virtually impossible. It is only by getting assistance from others that they can make even... Read more

Character Analysis: Ethan Frome

612 words, approx. 3 pages

This story opens with in narrative outlook, it isn't long until it shifts to Ethan's point of view. Due to the fact that the other characters are only portrayed through the Ethan's eyes, Ethan can... Read more

Ethan Frome

460 words, approx. 2 pages

In this hopeless and depressing novel, all of the main characters were wronged in some way, and suffered some how. I believe that Ethan Frome, himself, suffered and was wronged the most. Ethan had ho... Read more

Ethan Frome Vs. Age of Innocence

867 words, approx. 3 pages

Society is "an organized group periodically meeting because of common interests or beliefs; distinguishable by particular aims or standards of living; or a social circle having a clearly marked ident... Read more

Ethan Frome: a Chapter Analysis

785 words, approx. 3 pages

Edith Wharton's tale of Ethan Frome is a classic story of hopeful romance ending in tragedy. We are introduced to Ethan as he's walking to pick up his wife's cousin Mattie, at a church social. On the ... Read more

Ethan Frome: a Tragic Hero

468 words, approx. 2 pages

Ethan Frome is the main character in the book titled Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton. This book is about Ethan's problems throughout his life in Starkfield, Massachusetts. Ethan, in my opinion, is a t... Read more

Life and Times of Ethan Frome

596 words, approx. 2 pages

Edith Wharton's novella Ethan Frome is a romantic tragedy centered on the life of the title character. The anonymous narrator relates Ethan's tale after a brief encounter with him. The narrator firs... Read more

Ethan Frome: The Effect of Setting on Ethan

512 words, approx. 2 pages

It can be disputed that the setting in Ethan Frome is the most important character in the book. The setting is clear: a typical, snowy winter in Starkfield, Massachusetts. This is a place where it i... Read more

A Critique on Ethan Frome

509 words, approx. 2 pages

Ethan Frome presents the reader with mixed emotions and conflicting feelings. The sympathy and the hatred that the reader feels toward the characters offers the reader a wide variety of emotional ... Read more

Ethan Frome

537 words, approx. 2 pages

Ethan Frome The cold, bitter snow of Starkfield has fallen and blankets the entire town. The town's inhabitants are constantly pummeled by the wintry storms and some are forced into submission. Alt... Read more

Ethan Frome, the Issue of Money

572 words, approx. 2 pages

Money has always been a problem for Ethan and Zena throughout their life. Some could argue it was the deciding factor in their relationship. If Ethan had money when he was studying to become an engine... Read more

Ethan Frome: a Tragic Victim

3,124 words, approx. 11 pages

In Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome the themes of society and morality as obstacles to the fulfillment of desire and winter as a stifling force were evident throughout the heartbreaking novel. Dreaming to ... Read more

"Ethan Frome" and Desperation

1,633 words, approx. 6 pages

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation," wrote Henry David Thoreau in his novel Walden. This statement encompasses perhaps all men in that it speaks the basic essence of all men's lives. Th... Read more

Nature in "Ethan Frome" and "The Fall of the House of Usher"

705 words, approx. 3 pages

Edgar Allen Poe and Edith Warton both use nature in their stories, Ethan Frome and The Fall of the House of Usher, so that the reader can get a better idea of what is going on in the story. The use o... Read more

Ethan Frome and the Role of Community

2,001 words, approx. 7 pages

From childhood through adulthood we as able-bodied human beings, smart enough to make our own decisions, often comply with society's prescribed moral codes. We must follow these codes out of fear of ... Read more

Emotion in Edith Wharton's Novel Ethan Frome

964 words, approx. 4 pages

"Emotion" Ethan Frome, written by Edith Wharton, is a marvelous novel that contains countless numbers of themes that touch the lives of people even today. Set in the odd, gloomy, desolate town of St... Read more

Free Book Notes (1)

Ethan Frome

10,721 words, approx. 36 pages

Ethan Frome Book Notes is a free study guide on Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. Browse the summary below:   Author Biography / Context of the Work   One-Page Plot Summary   Characte... Read more

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