'Passion and responsibility in Edith Warton’s “Ethan Frome” Essay\r'

'Set in 1881 Starkfield, Massachusetts, Edith Warton’s _Ethan Frome_ reveals a recurring theme fix in literary works: â€Å"the classic war between a fad and responsibility.” In the novel, published in 1911, protagonist Ethan Frome confronts his dickens private warmnesss, his rely to become an engineer that conflicts with his good responsibility to his family and his passion for Mattie Silver that conflicts with his obligations to his sickly wife, Zenobia Frome. Ethan, creation a spell of responsibility, places the needs and wants of his family, before his avow, which causes him to roll in the hay only â€Å"[s]ickness and trouble” and â€Å"that’s what [he’s] had his place secure up with, ever since the very first aid” (12). The reader sympathizes with Ethan’s struggles as he abandons his studies at Worcester, considers running outdoor(a) with Mattie, and even attempts felo-de-se with Mattie.\r\nWhen Ethan is confronted with family obligations, his bank to become an engineer ceases and, as a result, he varys Worcester. Later in his, livelihood he starts to determine that leaving Worcester also meant that he would forget nearly only of the things he learned. Because Ethan was unable to finish his fostering as Worcester, he looks at the book that the speaker system left him and knows that would be â€Å"things in that book that [he] didn’t know the first word ab let out” (14). though Ethan had to leave Worcester prematurely, he thinks fondly of his university days and longs to furbish up them. Ethan’s â€Å"best parlour” (112) that he uses as a sanctuary is modeled after a professor he had at Worcester. His professor, a minister, ply Ethan’s curiosity by lending him books. However, Ethan’s sense of responsibility made him give up the knowledge he loved and even eld by and by he clings onto the spark of knowledge that he gained from university.\r\ nEthan’s longing to run away with Mattie is obliterate by his overpowering responsibility to his wife. Wharton poses a impinging contrast between the two women, using hoy and warmth to represent Mattie and dark and coldness for Zeena. Mattie brings out a part of Ethan that he had lost when he left Worcester. Ethan embraces this newly found self with the desire to talk to her and not be the shy man he was in his Worchester days. To Ethan â€Å"all his heart was lived in the sight and sound of Mattie Silver” (35), and because of her he has found a new happiness. However, this newfound happiness usher out be eradicated by a mere distinguish of his wife’s name. Zeena’s name â€Å"threw a chill between” (73) Ethan and Mattie. Zeena’s face juxtaposes the character of Mattie; all the warmth that Mattie brings into the Frome home turns wintry when Zeena is present. Ethan’s responsibility to Zeena causes him to stay in the cold township of Starkfield.\r\nEven the townspeople be roostve that Ethan has â€Å"been in Starkfield likewise many winters” (7). When Ethan is around Mattie he is filled with â€Å"a warm sense of continuance and stability” (45). in time Zeena stands in the way of Ethan being with Mattie like he so frequently imagines. This causes Ethan’s heart to be jerking â€Å"to and fro between two extremities of touch modality” (95), his responsibilities lie with Zeena just Mattie inflames his passions. Red is the archetypal color for passion and it reflects Ethan and Mattie’s softness to act on their uncouth desire for mavin another. When Mattie first arrives in Starkfield she wears a â€Å"cherry-coloured scarf”(27) and later a â€Å"streak of reddened ribbon” (71) through her hair that catches Ethan’s attention. Ethan â€Å"had taken to the girl from the first day”(*******) and his passion for her neer left him.\r\nEthan and Mat tie’s contumacious attempt at suicide is inhibited by his thoughts of Zeena. Ethan learns that Zeena wishes to send Mattie away and replace her with a hired girl. He knows that he should respect his wife’s decision but feels that his â€Å"heart was jerking to and fro between two extremities of feeling” (95). Ethan chooses this path with Mattie because it is her last hope, without living in Starkfield and mournful with no job experience she only has one thing to offer. Ethan knows this, but also tries to ignore it thought that she might get a better life, he tries to help but he â€Å"can’t lift a hand for” (138) Mattie. He has act every possibility, so together Ethan and Mattie terminally go coasting. With Starkfield alight below they â€Å"looked a distributor point with rigid faces” (138). Everything passes by in a blur, all that matters is that Ethan and Mattie are together and they are in their own world. Mattie suggests going cr op up again but this time they will â€Å"never come up anymore” (143).\r\nEthan’s final request is for Mattie to sit behind and ” to feel [Mattie] prop [him]” (146). It is Ethan’s own clash of emotions that cause him to agree with Mattie’s suggestion that the two of them should commit suicide by coasting into the elm tree at the stinkpot of the hill. Everything goes to plan until â€Å"his wife’s face… lug itself between him and his goal” (147), causing him to swerve, but he soon rights it. Instead of hitting the tree head on, the two hit it on the right side. The â€Å" prang up” (4) is not enough to kill them but it does leave the pair seriously injured. When he hears Mattie’s twittering sounds of pain, Ethan realizes his failed rebellious action and his sense of responsibility returns. Ethan hears his horse begins to let out and thinks to himself that â€Å"[he] ought to be getting [the horse] his fee d” (149). Frome’s injuries appease as a constant reminder of his inability to escape his responsibilities.\r\nIn _Ethan Frome_ the progonist Ethan Frome cannot escape his responsibilities in his life, whether it be his parents or his wife. Now he also has a new weight to carry, along with the responsibility, it is that Mattie’s destine is his fault. Ethan learned that responsibility trumps passion in all stratums, he tried to follow his passions but he could not escape reality. That reality is a life with Zeena taking care of Mattie, and Ethan living his hard life with seeing everyday what he did to the love of his life.\r\nWharton’s use of the responsibility vs. passion motif in her novel Ethan Frome is very apparent. Frome is haunted by his own responsibilities first to his mother and father and then later his responsibility regarding his marriage to Zeena. It is these responsibilities that stand in Ethan’s way of achieving a â€Å"paradise,â € whether it be in the form of an education at Worcester, or a family with Mattie Silver.\r\n'