Wednesday, February 11---review chapters 1 and 2 reading 3 and 4 of Ethan Frome

In class: review of chapters 1 and 2.   Last day to turn in the dialectical responses for chapters 1 and 2

In class: reading of chapters 3 and 4.  Chapter review questions handout (copy below). This will be collected at the start of class tomorrow.


Prologue summary

• The prologue of Ethan Frome is told in the first person by a nameless man. We call him "him," or "the narrator." 
• The novella begins with the narrator telling us that he learned this story in pieces from a variety of sources, each with a different version.
• If you've ever been to Starkfield, Massachusetts you've probably seen the post office, and if you've seen the post office, you could have seen Ethan Frome ride up on his horse, who, like Ethan, has a bent spine.
• You would also see Ethan dismount, and then limp to the building.
• That was the scene the first time the narrator saw Ethan, and the narrator was shocked by the way Ethan looked.
• Ethan was the most interesting character in Starkfield.
• It's not just because Ethan was super-tall – many Starkfielders are tall.
• Nope, it's because he had swagger – even with the severe limp, and disfiguration of one side of his body.
• Ethan's face had a grim, aged look, and the narrator was shocked to hear he was only fifty-two years old.
• The narrator learned Ethan's age from Harmon Gow, an ex stage-coach driver who knew all the stories of all the families in the area.
• Harmon Gow, the town gossip, told the narrator that Ethan had looked ancient ever since an accident that occurred 24 years ago.
• (Hmm…If Ethan was 52 when seen at the post office, and was in an accident 24 years ago, then he was 28 when he was hurt.)
• The accident left Ethan with a deep, red scar across his forehead, and rendered his left side practically useless.
• Ethan usually drove up to the post office near midday, which happened to be when the narrator checked his own mail.
• This gives the narrator the opportunity to notice that Ethan doesn't get much mail other than the local paper.
• Occasionally Ethan would pick up packages for Mrs. Zenobia – or Mrs. Zeena – Frome.
• The narrator could tell by their labels that Zeena's packages contained various types of patent medicine.
• All the townspeople knew Ethan and spoke to him when they saw him.
• Otherwise, they mostly let him alone.
• Harmon told the narrator that Ethan's accident would have left many men dead.
• Apparently, Ethan came from a line of rugged and hearty people, and would probably live to see his hundredth year.
• This freaks out the narrator.
• He notes that Ethan looked "as if he was dead and in hell now."
• Harmon blames this on the starkness of Starkfield winters. Smart men don't usually stick around to freeze away their lives in this town.
• The narrator can't understand why Ethan stayed in such conditions.
• It seems that Ethan was stuck taking care of first his father, then his mother, and then his wife.
• The narrator guessed that this was in pre-accident days.
• When the narrator was in Starkfield, due to spread of travel, communication technologies, and recreational and entertainment options, it wasn't such a brutal place as back when Ethan was young.
• Still, when the depths of winter set in, the narrator could see how it could break down any man.
• The narrator happens to be in Starkfield en route to a job at a power company, in nearby Corbury Junction, but a strike was holding him up from getting the job finished.
• At first the narrator was upset by being stuck, but became impressed with the liveliness of the environment, and, by contrast, the deadness of the people who lived in it.
• During the winter, the narrator had a room at the home of the widowed Mrs. Ned Hale and her mother.
• Before she was married her name was Ruth Varnum, and she was the daughter of a wealthy attorney.
• The ladies are no longer wealthy, but still dignified.
• Ruth originally told the narrator stories about Starkfield, but in a very detached way. Because she was more educated than most Starkfield townspeople, there was a wedge between them.
• In other words, she looked down on them.
• On the subject of Ethan Frome, though, she was much more emotional. She wouldn't talk about it to the narrator when pressed.
• So, he asked Harmon why Ruth would clam up about the topic of Ethan Frome.
• Harmon told him that Ruth was the first person to see the people involved in the accident, after the accident.
• Ruth, who was then engaged to Ned Hale, was friends with Ethan and the other person in the accident.
• In any case, the narrator couldn't get a satisfactory version of events, and might have let it go if he hadn't happened to meet Ethan.
• Denis Eady, a wealthy, Irish, grocery store owner had been giving the narrator a horse ride to the train station every day.
• But, about mid-winter there was an epidemic of horse disease, and the narrator couldn't get where he needed to go.
• Harmon suggested he try to hire Ethan Frome, who was pretty low on resources.
• The Frome farm never prospered, but before Ethan was injured, the farm managed to yield a meager living.
• First Ethan's father was injured by a farm animal, and then his mother began having mental problems.
• Ethan's wife, Zeena was sort of an unofficial nurse in the area.
• In short, Ethan was always in the middle of illness and problems.
• For about a week Ethan drove the narrator to Corbury Flats, and was there in the evening to drive him back to Starkfield.
• Ethan didn't talk during the drives, unless it was to briefly answer a question from the narrator.
• Ethan seemed to be made of the same stuff as the landscape: freezing cold sadness.
• All Ethan's warmth was buried deep inside him.
• But he wasn't mean or grumpy.
• The narrator attributes his grim aspect to not only the accident, but (again) to "many Starkfield winters" (Prologue.29).
• A couple of time the narrator and Ethan were able to cross the distance between them and talk.
• The first time was when the narrator was telling Ethan about an engineering job he had in Florida.
• Ethan tells him that he, too, has seen Florida.
• The second time the two men talked was when the narrator, after being dropped at the train station by Ethan, noticed that his science magazine, featuring articles on biochemistry was missing.
• When Ethan picked him up, he gave him the magazine, telling him it was left in the buggy.
• Ethan must have looked through it, because he expressed amazement over it, suggesting to the narrator that he liked to study science in the past.
• In turn, the narrator offered to give him the magazine, and Ethan accepted.
• The narrator hoped this might thaw the ice between them and lead to further conversations.
• Ethan's genuine interest in science revealed that there might be a difference between what Ethan must be inside and how he lives his life.
• Further conversations were not to be.
• Ethan didn't bring up the book, and the narrator couldn't pry any more out of Ethan.
• After a week of these drives the narrator woke to a deep snow.
• The narrator was sure Ethan would show. He wasn't the kind of man to let weather keep him from a job.
• But, he didn't expect Ethan to drive him all the way to Corbury Junction since the train wasn't running. But Ethan made the drive.
• The narrator, who needed to work there, expressed his major gratitude.
• They had to drive ten miles through the storm, and they passed Ethan's sawmill and house on the way.
• The Frome house looked pretty grim.
• Ethan told the narrator that when his father was alive the house was larger.
• But, they had to remove the "L."
• (The narrator explained that the "L" is a building that connects the house with the barns and other outbuildings so the farmer can tend to the animals when the weather is bad without going outside. This "L" was very important to the New England home, and Ethan seemed sad talking about the loss of his "L.")
• It isn't made clear exactly why Ethan had to give up his "L," but it was probably for economic reasons. Maybe he needed to sell the material it was made of, or maybe it was too expensive to maintain.
• Ethan explained that the town economy was poor because the train began running, and did not stop in Starkfield.
• With no train, there were no people spend money in Starkfield.
• It seemed to the narrator that by showing him the house Ethan had made him a confidante and no longer needed to hide.
• Ethan told the narrator that his mother's sanity started to slip when the train stopped coming through.
• She was housebound because of her rheumatism, and when the train stopped coming through, she was unbearably isolated, and couldn't quite understand what had happened.
• Soon, the two men passed the house, and after some time, made it to the powerhouse.
• They managed to get back as well, and Ethan invited the narrator to stay the night, as further travel would be unwise.
• When they got in the hall the narrator heard the voice of a woman. She was talking on and on in an argumentative tone.
• Ethan invited the narrator in, and the voice stopped.
• And then, that very dark and snowy night, the narrator "found the clue to Ethan Frome and began to put together this vision of the his story…" (Prologue.65).
• (There are actually fifty "…"s or "ellipses" at the end of the prologue. 

Chapter 1 summary

• (From here until the Epilogue, the story is told in the first person, from Ethan's perspective.)
• There is deep snow on the ground, and the sky is full of stars, and the lights seeping from the windows of the church basement are yellow.
• "Young Ethan Frome" is rapidly clicking along the street toward it.
• There is no breeze, and the cold air is hardly seems cold, as if there was no atmosphere.
• Ethan thinks, "It's like being in an exhausted receiver" (1.3).
• ("Exhausted receiver" is a term in physics used to describe something that once received air, but such air has been let out (or exhausted), creating a vacuum. Think of a bicycle pump.)
• Several years earlier Ethan had studied physics in college for about a year, and remembered things about it now and again.
• When his dad died, and everything started to go bad, Ethan had to stop school.
• Ethan arrives at the church and looks around.
• He sees Corbury Road.
• Kids love to sled down the hill nearby, though on this night there is no sledding, probably because all the youngsters are in the church basement at the dance.
• Now Ethan is peeping in the window of the church basement.
• The scene looks hot, especially in contrast to the still cold of the night.
• The dance is over. The music has stopped, and the attendees begin leaving.
• But wait….
• A dark haired man hops and skips onto the dance floor, and claps his hands.
• The music begins anew.
• The man takes the hand of pretty, young lass.
• She and the man begin to dance while the band plays a "Virginia reel."
• Ethan's heart is pounding. He was trying to see the face of the dancing girl, and is irritated that she was dancing with the fiery Irish youth.
• Still, he watches her dance, noting that the Irish youth in question is Denis Eady, son of Michael, the grocer. This guy Denis looks like he thinks he owns the girl.
• Ethan doesn't like Denis, and can't imagine how the girl doesn't notice that he's a creep.
• The girl is Mattie Silver, Ethan's wife's cousin.
• Ethan came to pick her up whenever she came to town in the evenings.
• Both of Mattie's parents had died and she had nowhere to go, so she had come to live with the Fromes. She helps care for the house, and for Zeena (Ethan's wife).
• Since they didn't pay her (other than room and board) Zeena, thought that Mattie should get some entertainment and suggested she participate in the Starkfield social party scene.
• Ethan wasn't thrilled with this at first, as it meant that he would have to walk two more miles than usual to pick her up.
• But now, he wishes that Mattie would party every night.
• Mattie has lived with the Fromes for about a year, and Ethan's favorite thing is to be near her. His favorite way to be near her is walking, arms locked together, back from town on these nights.
• He'd liked Mattie right away, and hoped she would breath some life into the house.
• In fact, she is smart, and she and Ethan had excellent conversations together, mostly about nature.
• Ethan is into natural beauty, and Mattie shared this love.
• He could point out the constellations to her, and talk to her about the history of the earth.
• As he watches her dancing, he is remembering their times together, and now thinking that she must have been humoring all along.
• He thinks he's silly to think that a girl like Mattie would really be interested in him.
• Since Ethan is only light and happy when around Mattie, it strikes him that she can be light and happy without him.
• He notices also that the way she laughs with him is the same way she laughs when with this Denis Eady character.
• This bums him out, and brings his fears to mind.
• Though Zeena had never seemed jealous of Mattie, lately, she had been finding constant fault with the girl.
• Zeena had always had health issues, and Mattie probably wasn't the strongest and best helper in the word.
• She was a decent housekeeper, but one could tell her heart wasn't quite in it, and she was prone to dreaminess.
• Ethan thought that if she had a house of her own, her inner housewife would come emerge.
• For now, Ethan helps Mattie with the chores.
• Once Zeena caught him churning butter and gave him a funky look.
• Zeena has also been whining more lately, and hinting that Mattie might be leaving soon, perhaps to get married, and that she would need somebody new, though they couldn't afford it.
• Ethan remembers a conversation he just had with Zeena about Mattie.
• Ethan had assured Zeena that Mattie would never abandon her.
• Zeena had said she didn't want to get in between Mattie's happiness with Denis Eady.
• This had shocked Ethan, who was shaving at the moment.
• He insisted (casually) that no such romance was budding.
• Zeena wanted to continue the conversation, but Ethan claims he's late to pick up Mattie.
• This doesn't please Zeena, and she comments on a pattern of lateness she's noticed in Ethan, and a pattern of shaving every morning.
• This shocked him even more than the Denis Eady business.
• He hadn't thought that she noticed this new need to shave that happened to coincide with Mattie's moving in with them.
• Zeena had always been like that though, noticing something he thought she hadn't noticed, and then bringing it up slyly when he was off-guard.
• But lately, he'd been to busy dreaming of Mattie Silver to worry much about Zeena oppression.
• As Ethan watches Mattie and Denis dancing, all the little hints that Zeena had been giving about Mattie and Denis came together.

Chapter 2 review

• As the youths rush out of the church basement Ethan stands back and watches.
• It is a merry scene.
• He hears a woman call out to Mattie, asking her if she plans on doing a little sledding tonight.
• Ethan feels his pulse suddenly race.
• Mattie declines the offer to sled, citing weather.
• Ethan is very near Mattie, though they can't see each other.
• Ethan knows Mattie will show herself soon, and that as his eyes are adjusted to the dark, he'll be able to see her clearly.
• (Though she won't be able to see him.)
• Shyness takes him and he hides a little more.
• Mattie's who Ethan thinks is a brighter, easier person than himself, had helped bring him out of his shell, and had helped lighten him up.
• But now Ethan feels uneasy, like back when he was in college, and "had tried to 'jolly' the […] girls" (2.3).
• (It's implied that Ethan wasn't too successful in his jollying.)
• Mattie, one of the last to exit the dance, looks around, maybe like she's looking for Ethan.
• A man walks near her.
• The man insinuates that Mattie has been stood-up by Ethan, and says he has his dad's "cutter" to help rectify the situation.
• He wants to use it to sled with Mattie.
• Ethan is in suspense.
• Denis fetches the old cutter, but Mattie laughingly refuses his advances.
• He continues trying to persuade her, and they move beyond Ethan's range of sight and vision.
• (Finally) Ethan hears Eady drive up, and he runs to Mattie, and asks her if she thought he'd stood her up.
• Mattie says she didn't; but that she thought maybe Zeena was sick.
• Ethan assures her this is not the case, and asks Mattie if she intended to walk home all by herself.
• Excitedly, she says she is not afraid of the long walk home.
• Ethan asks why she didn't accept Denis' offer to drive her.
• Mattie asks how he knew about the Denis thing, laughing.
• They walk on, arm in arm, in the darkness.
• Ethan desires to rub his check on Mattie's scarf.
• Instead, he asks Mattie if she'd like to make a coasting date with him.
• They decide to have a little coasting adventure the following night, provided the moon is bright.
• Mattie tells Ethan that the other night Ned Hale and Ruth Varnum had almost met their deaths by accidentally crashing into an elm tree at the bottom of the slope.
• It would have been so sad, because Ned and Ruth are happy and in love.
• Ethan claims he can take that elm tree with his sled anytime, and asks if Mattie would still be afraid of the elm if he were driving the sled.
• She says she's not the fearful kind, but she says it like she doesn't care.
• Mattie is a person of quickly changing moods.
• Ethan doesn't feel he has "the right to show his feelings" and find out hers (2.38).
• So he's constantly trying to read every little thing she does and says to see if she likes him, and knows he likes her.
• Right now he thinks she doesn't care.
• When she dissed Denis Eady he felt joy.
• Now he feels almost like there is no hope.
• But Ethan needs to know if she likes him, and so he tries to provoke her a little.
• He suggests that if she hadn't danced that extra dance with Denis Eady, she would have seen Ethan right away.
• She doesn't try to defend herself.
• He takes the more direct approach and says he imagines that the rumors are true.
• She wants to know what rumors he's talking about.
• Rumors, he tells her, that she'll be leaving the Frome household soon.
• Mattie begins to freak out, and she asks Ethan if Zeena has had enough of her.
• She says she knows she's not the most excellent helper in the world, but that she could do better if Zeena would just express her needs a little more.
• Mattie can tell by Zeena's face that she isn't happy with her.
• She begs Ethan to tell her what Zeena needs – unless he too wants to see her gone.
• Of course he doesn't want her to go. Her words soothe him. He knows she wants to stay.
• They walk together quietly.
• When they hear a gunshot, and then a fox bark, Mattie snuggles up closer to Ethan and then begins to walk faster.
• He asks her if she for sure doesn't want to leave the Frome house.
• She asks him where she would possibly go if she left, and Ethan thinks she might be crying, though she denies it when he asks her.
• He feels her warm body next to his.
• They walk in though the gate of the Frome house, and passed "the Frome grave-stones slanted at crazy angles through the snow" (2.55).
• The gravestones seem to speak to Ethan. Taunting him they seem to say, if they couldn't escape Starkfield, how could Ethan?
• Ethan has the sudden thought that he will be stuck in Starkfield until he dies.
• He knows he has to find a way to keep Mattie with him forever, and he imagines being buried with her when they both die.
• When he has thoughts like that he feels happy.
• Mattie trips and steadies herself by yanking on Ethan's sleeve.
• He puts his arms around her for the first time.
• She doesn't try to stop him. They walk together this way.
• Zeena is probably in bed.
• She always goes to bed right after she eats.
• The windows of the house are dark.
• Ethan sees "a dead cucumber vine" drooping off the porch (2.58).
• Sometimes people tie a streamer to a door handle when a person formerly living in the house has died. The vine reminds Ethan of one of those.
• He imagines it might be for Zeena.
• Ethan imagines her lying upstairs now, in bed, with her mouth open. Zeena doesn't have any of her own teeth left. He imagines her fake teeth, in a cup by their bed.
• Zeena usually locks the door and leaves the key under the mat for Ethan and Mattie.
• Ethan and Mattie stop groping each other, and Ethan goes for the key.
• Alas! The key is not to be found. A bit of a panic ensues.
• Something stirs from within the house.
• The door opens.
• Zeena appears.
• She has a blanket wrapped around herself with one hand, and is holding onto a lamp with the other.
• Her face is cast in shadows.
• She looks very different to Ethan, than ever before.
• Ethan and Mattie walk into the bitterly cold kitchen.
• He asks Zeena if she forgot the key.
• She says, "No. I just felt so mean I couldn't sleep" (2.70)
• (These phrase is rather ambiguous, at least until we know more. 
• Mattie understands this to mean that Zeena has been feeling physically ill and rushes to her offering sympathy and help.
• Zeena refuses, and gripes at her for not stomping her boots before entering the house.
• Then she walks over to the stairs.
• Ethan wants make sure that Mattie goes up before he does.
• Otherwise, she might seem him walking into the bedroom with Zeena, and he doesn't like the idea of this.
• So, Ethan says he's going to stay down and do a little accounting work.
• Zeena says he'll get sick if he works without heat.
• (In the early 1900s, when this book is set there wasn't too much central heating going on, certainly not in Starkfield.)
• He looks at Mattie as he walks away toward the kitchen, and she looks a little afraid.
• When she's safely headed up the stairs, he agrees with Zeena about the cold, and follows her up the stairs.

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Review of chapters 3 and 4 of Ethan Frome   Please respond to the following, weaving in specific text from the novel to support your response. Be mindful to write in complete, well-thought out sentences.

Chapter 3: 1. How are Zeena and Maddie contrasted psychologically?

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2. How is Ethan’s conflict intensified in this chapter? _______________________________________________________

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Chapter 4. 1. What traits in Ethan’s character are emphasized? (Use specific examples for support.)

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_________________________________________________________________________________2. Comment on Wharton’s use of descriptive langue in this chapter, particularly to adjectives referring to color. Why are they significant? How does this serve as a contrast between life with Zeena and a potentially rich one with Maddie?

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