Ethan Frome analysis 1

The setting takes place in a cold wintery village in Starkfield, Massachutetts. Where Ethan lives on a farm with his wife Zeena and her cousin, Mattie. The village is a lonely, dark place during the winter months.
The plot of the Story of Ethan Frome is a complex plot, told in the first person point of view by the narrator. The narrator's interest in Ethan Frome, the protagaonist in the story, grows stronger everytime he sees Ethan. The narrator hires Ethan to give him a ride back and forth to the next town for business. The narrator, with curiousity is determined to get to know Ethan. As the plot thickens, the reader learns that Ethan and his wife are distant with each other. This is where the theme of the story comes into play. Ethan, a hard working man, grows feeling for his wifes cousin, Mattie, a major character in the story, who has come to stay with them because she has no where else to go. Mattie is to help around the house to take the load off of Zeena. Zeena, a major character in the story, is sickly appears to be distant from Ethan. Very little conversation takes place between Ethan and Zeena. Meanwhile, these feelings that Ethan has for Mattie sets into play, the conflict of the story. Mattie's feelings for Ethan seem to be growing as well. Zeena, although quiet and somewhat cold towards Ethan and Mattie, senses the feelings that are growing between Ethan and Mattie. Thus, when Zeena returns home from her visit with the doctor, she informs Ethan that she has hired another girl to come in and take over the household duties. Zeena wants to send Mattie away, her jealousy is apparent at this point. Ethan on the other hand, is unhappy about the decision that his wife has made and tries to reason with her.




My prediction of how the story is going to end is that Mattie will end up staying with Zeena and Ethan and Zeena's jealousy will progress. Along with Zeena's "sickness", the jealousy will cause her to become even more distant and eventually the stress of it all will cause her to die. Meanwhile, Ethan and Mattie will end up together.