"Ethan Frome" by Edith Wharton is a story set long ago, in a lonely town, that focuses on Ethan Frome, a quiet man struggling with a hard life, living in a place with not much going on. The story gives an introduction to Ethan's life with his sickly wife, Zeena, and her lively cousin, Mattie. As the story begins through the eyes of someone else, we are introduced to a small town called Starkfield, Massachusetts. We can see the town is sad and hard to live in. Ethan seems weighed down by trouble and an accident that changed his whole life. The story teases a bigger drama between Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie, giving pieces of their past to think about. As the narrator tries to understand Ethan, the story shows a sense of sadness and a longing for a better life. This gets us ready for a story full of feelings, and it makes us think hard about life.
Ethan Frome
By Edith Wharton
Trapped in a bleak existence, a man's quiet life is torn, between his duty to his ailing wife and his yearning for a vibrant escape with her cousin, in a small town filled with despair and unspoken desires.
Summary
About the AuthorEdith Newbold Wharton was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gilded Age. In 1921, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, for her novel, The Age of Innocence. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, in 1996. Her other well-known works are The House of Mirth, the novella Ethan Frome, and several notable ghost stories.
Edith Newbold Wharton was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gilded Age. In 1921, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, for her novel, The Age of Innocence. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, in 1996. Her other well-known works are The House of Mirth, the novella Ethan Frome, and several notable ghost stories.
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