Ethan Frome 2 - St. Agnes Academic High School

67 Pages·2011·0.33 MB·English

Ethan Frome
By: Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton
Born on January 24, 1862 to a wealthy NY family
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As a child and adolescent, Edith was educated at
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home by governesses
She enjoyed literature and had always been
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interested in writing
Her family tried to discourage her interest in
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literature
Led a luxurious life, entering society at the age of
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seventeen
Edith Wharton
Her role as a daughter of society was to learn the
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mannerisms and rituals expected of well bred
young women in those days
Edith married Teddy Wharton (a Boston banker)
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They lived a luxurious life with homes in NY,
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Rhode Island, and Massachusetts
Edith's marriage was not a fulfilled one
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Edith Wharton
She discovered Teddy had taken money from her
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to set up a mistress in Boston
Her marriage began to disintegrate
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Edith had met and fallen in love with Morton
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Fullerton
All of these circumstances led to her interest in
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the thoughts behind the actions of her characters
Edith Wharton
She created numerous characters
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Wrote numerous novels between 1900-37
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Wharton is today recognized as a major writer of
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the first two decades of the 20th C.
In 1921 Wharton became the first woman to
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receive an honorary degree from Yale
She died of a heart attack on August 11, 1937, in
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France.
Edith Wharton
Themes found in most of her literature
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The corrupting power of wealth
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Social pressure among the poor
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The essential rightness of moral action
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Negative portrayals of men
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Complex psychology of her characters
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Ethan Frome
Most often read of Wharton's novels
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Published in 1911
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Introduction
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Ethan Frome is the story of a man who, following the
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death of his father, gives up his education and other
opportunities to return to the family farm in Starkfield,
Massachusetts, to support his ailing mother
Characters
Narrator
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The entire story is told from the point of view of an
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unnamed narrator
The narrator has come to Starkfield (setting) on
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business and must remain there all winter
Bit by bit he gets the story of Ethan’s life from people
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in town
Characters
Ethan Frome
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28 yrs. old
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Wanted to become an engineer
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Married his mother’s nurse
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Works in agriculture (lumber)
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