by EDITH WHARTON
Ethan Frome might be the protagonist in this story, but the women in the story take the foreground for sure.
Ethan's mom was sick and so her illness led him to meet Zeena, who nursed her on her death bed. Mattie, Zeena's relative is the discard of her trashy father, and so she is taken in by Zeena free of charge. Zeena is sick and needs to be taken care of so she hires another girl to nurse her (this girl, however, never quite makes it to the Frome residence due to an unlikely and failed joint suicide). A bunch of women with tons of characteristics and purpose, versus Ethan, the one man in this novel who, in my opinion, could be just about anyone (oh! and Jotham... big deal though, he just drives people back and forth),
Why do I think the women have more of a role than the men (or just the one man) in this novel? Well, Ethan has absolutely no personality and to be quite honest, he is simply a man of circumstance. He got screwed when his mom died and felt as though the obvious decision was to marry Zeena. Then, his wife gets sick, so their relationship sucks (no elaboration on why it sucks really), so he slowly starts to fall for Mattie. Then he wants to run away with Mattie, but feels bad leaving his wife alone and sick to fend for herself, so he decides to stay with her. Then Mattie says that she would rather they just both die together than live separately, so he attempts to sled to their death, but of course, his guilt for his wife makes him swerve and so he and Mattie both live (paralytic, but alive nonetheless).
So this explains why the male sex takes a backseat in this novel... but how do the women shine? That's easy. Zeena has layers; she is suspicious, conniving and ill (both physically and I think. mentally - in a disturbed kind of way). She has a thought process that allows readers to interpret her actions: how much does she know? How calculated are her actions? Why does she do what she does? Why is she standing in the way of these lovers? Well, she is Ethan's wife after all, so you might think that's why, but you can easily tell that she has no feelings nor concern for him. She is not worried about her reputation, or his, and finally, she is definitely not getting between Ethan and his happiness because she is jealous. So why? I don't know really, but I tend to believe that she has more purpose than Ethan's wife in this novel. Zeena is also a strong opposite to Mattie's character. Mattie is so easygoing, and when you read the parts that concern her, you feel light and easy, as though Ethan's feelings for her make so much sense. Whereas, when you read Zeena's parts, you think, 'Oh my god! She is such a downer! I wish she would just die already!'
I don't get why this book is called Ethan Frome, it should be called 'Zeena Frome.' At the beginning, which is really a point in time years after the story (I believe 14 years to be exact), Ethan is a loonely, sad, depressed man driving some lady to her house in the wintertime. The image of this destitute man promises an interesting character, but as I have previously stated, it delivers interesting women; the women who have shaped and formed this man.
Bottom line? I don't really have one. I read the book in one short afternoon. So I clearly liked it enough to not put it down, but I don't think I would put it on my list of recommendations. If you are an Edith Wharton fan, then read it for sure. Her style prevails, her dialogue and descriptions are simple and accessible. She doesn't rattle on like other early twentieth-century novels. Truth be told, I always thought that Wharton and Austen were very similar in both their style and subject-matter, but clearly Austen did it better (always and forever). Also, at least Austen novels weren't all depressing (Sorry Wharton).
No comments:
Post a Comment