Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton Theme

Dreams are abandoned because of the belief that their outlook on their dreams could never be achievable in reality.

People are led toward wickedness from the effects society has on them. The novel is compared to a fairytale and suggests that the culture creates witches. People are reduced to a life of misery because they are afraid to change and resign to the comfort of routine, however miserable. Resignation causes people to stay in motion or stay at rest, both of which appeal to doing what has always been done, which inevitably leads to misery. Mrs. Hale says that after Mattie and Ethan were hurt in the accident, Zeena has taken care of them. Zeena and Mattie seem to have changed roles, but now, not only is Zeena miserable, but Mattie as well. Mattie was forced into her life of misery because fear motivated her to stop a life without Ethan, while Zeena out of guilt felt the need to resign to misery in order to care for Ethan and Mattie. The power of inertia causes people to be forced to resign to a life of routine, which leads to depression.

Mattie’s future was the result of the choices that she had made. Some say Mattie’s fate was unalterable and she was destined to live in poverty and become prematurely old. Mattie’s future could have been different, but she determined her fate by missing opportunities. The lack of fear that Mattie shouldered caused her fate to be sealed. Denis Eady, who Mattie could have married, passed by her and Ethan right before their suicide attempt and Mattie ignored him. A life with Denis Eady would mean financial security and possible happiness, but Mattie rejects it because she lives with what she has always known. If Mattie would have had a greater fear for her future, instead of dealing with the life she’s always known and a life with Ethan Frome, her fate could have been different. Mattie’s resistance to change and her choices propelled her life into torment and sadness.

            Ethan’s imagination is more alluring than his actual life. Ethan continually shifts his attention from his surroundings to his imagination. The world that Ethan lives in is often too tough to handle, so he abandons it to a more appealing fictional world. The life that Ethan dreams of is much better than it could possibly ever be, so he refuses to try to make his dreams a reality. Ethan says that after seeing a vision of what life with Mattie might be, he is glad he had done nothing to trouble the sweetness of the picture. His expectations could never live up to reality and this fear led him to avoid action. He feared that if he had done anything, then what he would be capable of dreaming what life with her could be would become less desirable. Dreams could never live up to what the real world has to offer, so it is better to keep your dreams separate from your actual life.