According to ethan, she learned how to care for the sick by being sick herself. It was one of those stories that you just didnt know what to think about the husband falling in love with his wifes cousin mattie who was working. Ethan frome book by edith wharton official publisher page. In fact, sometimes, it is hard to call it even a tragedy as. The fairy maiden anthropomorphizes into a greater evil.
Ethan frome is a novel where the very limits of humanity is forced, tested and tresspassed on. The man becomes fascinated with ethan and wants to know his story. She was named after the great roman queen who led a revolt against the empire somewhat like princess leia. Ethan frome book by edith wharton official publisher. In the book ethan frome, he and mattie take one last ride down the hill on the sled. Ethan frome in the novel ethan frome by edith wharton, ethans wife zeena plays an important role in the novel. She is seen as a mysterious alien presence and an evil energy.
Ethan frome drove in silence, the reins loosely held in his left hand, his brown seamed profile, under the helmetlike peak of the cap, relieved against the banks of snow like the bronze image of a hero. Her mind was a storehouse of innocuous anecdote and any question about her acquaintances brought forth a volume of detail. Ethan frome is a harrowing tale of one mans bitter failures in life. Zeena had sacrificed her life to the man she loved, ethan frome. Zenobia zeena frome character analysis in ethan frome. In ethan frome, his decisions and ambiguity to leave zenobia and run off with mattie lead him to attempting suicide, failing, and then a life of misery. Zenobia frome zeena ethans wife and matties cousin. She is a hypochondriac, constantly suffering from a variety of physical ailments. She comes across as prematurely aged, caustic in temperament, prone to alternating fits of silence and rage, and utterly unattractive, making her the novels least sympathetic figure. A novel of great intensity with its slow developing tragedy and characters. She has false teeth and her hair is kept in place with crimping pins. I dont remember ever reading it though i saw the movie with liam neeson and patricia arquette a long time ago.
Character analysis zenobia zeena frome zeenas character is revealed through ethans memory and the action of the main story, and through hints from characters in the frame story. The younger one mentioned it recently, and i decided to give it a read. Mattie is given the occasional night off to entertain herself in town as partial recompense for helping care for the fromes, and ethan has the duty of walking. Its a great story and its hard to go totally wrong with it, but its an old fashioned story, and more slow and steady than filled with amazing or surprising turns and emotional insights. After ethan and matties sledding accident, she cares for them and runs the household. Both of my sons love this book and talk about it frequently. Zenobia frome correlates herself with the evil queen. On one hand, zenobia, commonly called zeena, frome has been a longstanding part of ethans life. It was their intention to hit the tree head on and lose their lives, but children were in the way and they had. Zenobia frome zeena ethan s wife and matties cousin. Frome and zeena marry after she nurses his mother in her last illness. The marriage is loveless, and zeena is sickly and nagging. Ethan frome cliffsnotes study guides book summaries.
However, these follies cannot be dismissed as fate, for it is ethans own choices that decide his future. Compare and contrast of zeena and mattie essay 687 words. This causeandeffect was solely the work of ethan in an attempt to fix his previous decision of marrying zenobia which led to a life of ennui. In a reworking of the book edith whartons ethan frome, zenobia frome is given her own voice, which she uses to tell of the events and emotions that led her to. The themetracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of duty and morality vs. Characters zenobia zeena frome though zeena is not as rounded a character as her husband, the negative aspects of her personality emerge quite clearly, making her seem like the novels villain. Ethan frome project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Ethan frome an early twentieth century psychological thriller of sorts. Character analysis zenobia zeena frome wharton describes zeenas physical appearance as gaunt, wrinkled, and sallowfaced.
This very sad tale ethan frome is an account of the life of zenobia frome, zeena. The character of zenobia zeena frome in ethan frome from. His initial impressions are based on his observations of frome going about his mundane tasks in starkfield, and something. Wharton describes zeenas physical appearance as gaunt, wrinkled, and sallowfaced. She is acutely interested in the treatment of her own illness, displaying a degree of.
For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one. Both ethan and the house represent that many things have come and gone over them, most of which were failures. Young ethan frome walked at a quick pace along the deserted street, past the bank and michael eadys new brick store and lawyer varnums house with the two black norway spruces at the gate. After the death of the mother, ethan married zenobia, most likely out of pity. While she is technically the victim of ethans plans to commit adultery, the reader comes to sympathize much more with ethan, because he feels imprisoned in his marriage to the sickly and shrewish zeena. Zenobia frome ethans sickly wife, more commonly known as zeena.
Ethan frome 1993 this is a classic edith wharton melodrama, a hyperromantic short novel that has turned on and turned off many high schoolers and literature majors over the years. Originally she was brought to fromes house to care for his ailing mother, but after she married ethan she became a querulous hypochondriac alternating between long bouts of silence and then rage. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in ethan frome, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. In a sky of iron the points of the dipper hung like icicles and orion flashed his cold fires. Zeenas character is revealed through ethans memory and the action of the main story, and through hints from characters in the frame story. I want to be there when youre sick and when youre lonesome. Within the story three main characters, ethan, mattie, and zenobia, are trapped under their own consequences. It is set in the fictitious town of starkfield, massachusetts. In the dark and gloomy tale of ethan frome, the story emerges as an inverted fairytale. Zenobia zeena frome character analysis just great database. The sunrise burned red in a pure sky, the shadows on the rim of the woodlot were darkly blue, and beyond the white and scintillating fields patches of faroff forest hung like smoke. The death of ethans father sends his mother into an ill stuper.
The moon had set, but the night was so transparent that the white housefronts between the elms looked gray against the snow, clumps of bushes made black stains on. May 21, 2010 based on the novel by edith wharton, starring liam neeson, patricia arquette and a wonderfully prickly joan allen as zeena. His family has died and he has a wife that is continually sick, and the only form of. Zenobia frome called zeena throughout the book, she is the wife of ethan frome.
The village lay under two feet of snow, with drifts at the windy corners. There was some hauling to be done at the lower end of the woodlot, and ethan was out early the next day. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. An exciting approach to interpretation and criticism, comparable to hunting, finding the symbols, an object or image that, although interesting in its own right, stands for or suggests something larger and more complexoften an idea or a range of. Ethan frome is set in the fictional new england town of starkfield, where a visiting engineer tells the story of his encounter with ethan frome, a man with a history of thwarted dreams and desires. Ethan fromes house is wearing away from the many winters it has faced. She is a cold, unhappy, domineering woman who whines and complains incessantly. A nameless engineer is in starkfield, massachusetts on business and he first sees ethan frome at the post office. Get everything you need to know about zenobia zeena frome in ethan frome. They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods. Mattie is given the occasional night off to entertain herself in town as partial recompense for taking care of the frome family without pay, and ethan has fallen into the.
Originally came to starkfield to take care of ethans ailing mother. Ethans wife, who is 35 at the time of the main narrative, is described as already an old woman, with false teeth, wrinkles, a skeletal physique, and a sallow complexion. Ethan frome cliffsnotes study guides book summaries, test. When her young cousin mattie comes to stay on their new england farm, frome falls in love with her. Ethan frome by edith wharton meet your next favorite book. Ethan frome wharton, edith, leyris, pierre, leyris. She was named after the great roman queen who led a revolt against the empire somewhat. Furthermore, zeena, a hypochondriac in the eyes of ethan frome, is used as a foil for mattie silver. Here the main focus is on ethans disagreeable wife, zenobia, from her unhappy childhood through her arrival at the dismal frome farm to her subsequent. This book comes with an introduction by dr donald r makosky, professor of english, st lawrence university. Both the house and ethan were shaped by the harsh winters and the many people who lived in the. We know that when zeena became ethans wife, she transformed into a sick woman. The main characters are ethan frome, his wife zenobia, called zeena, and her young cousin mattie silver.
On the way down, a vision of zeenas face startles ethan into swerving a bit, but he corrects their course, and they crash headlong and at high. While she is technically the victim of ethans plans to commit adultery, the reader comes to sympathize much more with ethan, because he feels. The novel was adapted into a film, ethan frome, in 1993. Ethan frome is a powerful story about powerless people. What we witness in that book is a human tragedy, not a sacrifice. Like ethan, they are both bent badly out of shape and need care. The title character is held in thrall by his parents, his land, his poverty, and his lifeless and loveless marriage. Mattie silver was the daughter of a cousin of zenobia fromes, who had inflamed his clan with mingled sentiments of envy and admiration by. Zenobia pierce frome zeena, ethans wife, a distant cousin who nursed his mother during a long illness.
Though zeena is not as rounded a character as her husband, the negative aspects of her personality emerge quite clearly, making her seem like the novels. Ethans colors symbolism approach to interpretation has so many possibilitiesso many paths to consider. At intervals, however, the postmaster would hand him an envelope addressed to mrs. Zeena frome, and usually bearing conspicuously in the upper lefthand corner the address of some manufacturer of patent medicine and the name of his specific. Ethan frome by edith wharton introduction i had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story. The ethan frome quotes below are all either spoken by zenobia zeena frome or refer to zenobia zeena frome. We know that the narrator is entirely biased and that he portrays everything the way he imagines ethan must have seen it see narrator point of view for more specifics.
The younger one mentioned it recently, and i decided to give it a. Although frome seems ambitious and intelligent, zeena holds him back. Zeenafrome, and usually bearing conspicuously in the upper lefthand corner the address of some manufacturer of patent. On a poor farm near starkfield in western massachusetts, ethan frome struggles to wrest a living from the land, unassisted by his whining and hypochondriacal wife zeena. Ethan frome is a 1911 book by american author edith wharton. Opposite the varnum gate, where the road fell away toward the corbury valley, the church reared its slim white steeple and narrow peristyle. Ethan is waiting outside a church dance for mattie, his wifes cousin, who lives with ethan and his wife zeena zenobia to help around the house since zeena is sickly. Though logically we know that zeena is a victim her husband has fallen in love with another woman and constantly considers leaving her she comes off as the bad guy. Our protagonist, the novels namesake, is surrounded by pestilence and misfortune. Character profile for zeena frome from ethan frome page 1.
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