How Ethan From’s tragedy is shaped by the three main themes: societal

expectations, escape, isolation

By Mohamed Dellal

Edith Warthon’s novel ‘Ethan Frome’ tells the tragic story of Ethan Frome, who is
trapped in a loveless marriage on a dying farm in Starkfield, a cold and isolated town in
Massachussets. His life started changing when his young cousin, Mattie, comes to live
with him and his sick wife, Zeena. A form of forbidden love started shaping between
Ethan and Mattie, offering them an escape from the hellish and isolated life under the
heavy shadow of the domineering wife, Zeena. However, societal expectations, financial
burdens, and the crushing accident shatter their dreams and left them all to despair and
regret. In this essay we will explore how Warthon portrays the destructive power of
societal expectations, the yearning for escape, and the isolation and loneliness themes
that overshadows most of the atmosphere in the story of Ethan Frome.

The author gives great value and importance to societal expectations, and
presents them as a powerful and destructive force that burdens the main characters
and crushes their dreams. For starters, Marital Duty falls heavily on Ethan Frome and
trapped him in a loveless marriage with Zeena, confined by societal expectations to
remain with her in illness and in health. Secondly, the rule of provider for family as
dictated by society is solely assigned to men. Which further burdens Ethan as he
struggles to fully support his family due to a dying farm and his physical handicap
which slowly eats him bit by bit. Last but not least, the town’s ideal, which values and
portrays ideals of typical winter countryside that are based on hard work, sturdiness,
and endurance which further burdens Ethan and puts pressure on him to maintain a
farm despite its dying state.

An other important theme portrayed extensively in the book is the yearning or

longing for escape, which drives the main characters actions and highlights the
suffocating nature of their lives in Starkfield. For Ethan, he wants and dreams of
escaping his decaying farm to a more meaningful life where his work is valued. And also
wants to escape from the loveless marriage to Zeena wich lacks any emotional
connection and companionship. Lastly, he wants to leave Starkfield isolation for its cold
and harshness to a place with more opportunities and less restrictions. Warthon deeply
emphasizes how futile and impossible it is to escape ones fate, especial the ones put by
societal constraints and the aftereffects of a miscalculated accident which serves as
reminder of the limitations put on the main characters.

One last important theme given by the author is isolation and loneliness, which
can be seen in the physical setting, Starkfield, and the characters’ lives. Starkfield
isolation is portrayed as being a remote town with prolonged winters that isolate it
from the outside world. And the isolation in the characters’ lives can be seen in Ethan
firstly, as his difficult relationship with Zeena leaves him emotionally isolated, and his
injured body limits his interactions with outside world. For Zeena, we can see that her
constant illness confines her to the house, while her harsh personality puts distance
between her and others. Mattie on the other hand was cornered into isolation as she
couldn’t fulfill her dreams which differ greatly from those in Starkfield. The author
highlights how the impact of isolation can have disastrous outcomes on characters,
which creates feelings of desperation and hate, in addition to a loss of hope and despair.

Ethan Frome is a fine example that shines light on the importance of societal
expectations; that can hinder ones life and restrains their personal freedom, and the
yearning for escape; which drives one’s actions and fuels their desire for breaking away
from confinements put mainly by the burdens of societal expectations, and lastly, the
isolation; which create a dark state of desperation, resentment, and loss of hope and
despair. This masterful deployment of these themes by Warthon, puts the reader deeply
connected and affected by the events and circumstances of the story, and finishes with
life lessons that can easily relate to our everyday life.
A small acknowledgment:
This essay is the result of my personal efforts and work with readings of the book itself and online sources and studies, and
also with the undeniable extra help from Google Gemini, which helped me in brainstorming ideas, pointing out to the main
important themes and other detailed aspects of the Edith Warthon’s book, plus, helping with some more related and
appropriate vocabulary.