Ethan Frome: setting and characters

The setting for Ethan Frome takes place in a small, snow filled village in Starkfield, Massachusettes where Ethan Frome had a saw mill farm.

The characters of the story thus far are Ethan Frome; the protagonist of the story. Ethan is a poor saw mill farmer who seems to be confused about his feelings for his wife and her cousin, which lives with them. Zeena Frome; a major character is the story is Ethans wife who is very sickly and seems to have a bit of hostility towards Ethan and her cousin. Mattie Silver; is also a major character in the story. Mattie is Zeena's cousin who came to live with them to help care for Zeena. She is a young and beautiful girl in which Ethan becomes infatuated with her and it appears that Mattie might feel an attraction to Ethan as well. Denis Eady; a minor character in the story is a rich young Irish man who also seems to fancy Mattie, which causes Ethan to feel some jealousy towards Denis. Jotham Powell; also a minor character in the story is Ethan's hired man. Jotham only part in the story thus far is to help out around the farm.

My reaction to the story Ethan Frome is that I think that Ethan is a pig of a man who should not be worrying about what Mattie is doing, but worrying about his wifes well-being. As for Mattie, I think she is using her beauty to her advantage knowing how Ethan feels about her. Zeena is her family that has taken her in to her home, not to fall for her husband, but to help Zeena with the chores around the house due to Zeena's illnesses. That to me, seems selfish and disgraceful on Mattie's part. As for Zeena, her hostility towards Ethan and Mattie is well deserving. She should throw Mattie out as it seems she is not doing such good work around the house anyway.