The Mood And Atmosphere In Ethan Frome
Throughout Edith Wharton’s novel Ethan Frome, the author had successfully created a place in which by the nature of its name is isolated, desolate, and some would say depressing, a “mute melancholy landscape”. This place, whether it is welcomed or not, consumes the characters from within, keeping said characters from ever escaping its tightly-held grasp. Wharton’s story, furthermore, continuously digs itself into the psyche of people, giving a glimpse of its manipulation and encasement.
The overall mood of the book is tragic and bleak, with little breaks in between that are filled with romance and hope, and gases the reader in believing that there might be hope, but that hope is quickly crushed, going right back to the tragic and bleak. It could be said that the main characters are portrayed as victims; not just of their surroundings, but of their life, and ultimately their destiny.
The way Wharton has structured her novel had successfully helped to establish the mood and atmosphere that was intended. The non linear narrative allowed the reader to see a glimpse of the on-coming tragedy. In the beginning of the novel, Ethan Frome is portrayed as a “the most striking figure in Starkfield, though he was but the ruin of a man”(1), who struggles with his disability, and “looks as if he was dead and in hell now”(2),which in turn emphasizes the tragic traits of the book. Furthermore, the tragic foreshadowing used by Edith Wharton is utilized to inform the readers that inevitably, something is going to happen that will cripple the main character.
This foreshadowing creates a melancholic mood, constantly setting up the disaster that would forever change Ethan Fromes life. More so, his attempt at killing himself, the “smash-up”, is mentioned several different times in the opening prologue, further setting up the tragedy that occurs later on. Ethan Fromes life was a tragic series of events, first of the book being the death of his dad, the sad decline of the mental health of his mom, and the questionable decision to marry his cousin, Zeena, and then her left turn directly into sickness. From the get-go, Ethan Frome had screwed himself over as soon as he had decided to leave his technical college to go back home to the ever-so gloomy Starkfield, without a chance of leaving again. In Starkfield it seemed like everything was mocking him, including the cemetery that holds that of his descendants, headstones seemingly mocking him with their existence “‘we never got away- how should you?”’(21).
