"Ethan Frome" Made Easy: Literature Guide

By Students' Academy

Being a very great observer of human nature, Edith Wharton has very skillfully developed the characters of the novel with a minimal number of strokes.

It is the artful writing of the author that has kept the book popular even today. There are several evocative passages in “Ethan Frome.” The beauty and splendor of winter in rural New England has been described in these evocative passages in the story.

The author’s deep sensibility to natural beauty and human psychology is reflected throughout the story and it consequently makes the novel highly convincing, providing an emphatic illustration of the rural life in New England.

“Ethan Frome” is even today the author’s one of the most popular novels. Although it is a short book, it has rightly established itself as one of American Literature’s great tragic love stories. The book has found its place in educational institutions around the world and it is one of the most discussed books in the academic circles.

"Ethan Frome" Made Easy: Literature Guide
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Aug 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311904546

Students' Academy

Easy study guides for the students of English literature.

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Ethan Frome Made Easy: Literature Guide

Students' Academy

Copyright

Ethan Frome Made Easy: Literature Guide

Students' Academy

Copyright@2014 Students' Academy

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Chapter One: Introduction

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton was first published in the year 1911. It is one of the most widely read novel written by this Pulitzer Prize winning American Author.

The present novel is quite different from the author’s other works The House of Mirth or The Age of Innocence.

It is a very short novel that is set in a fictitious town called Starkfield, in New England. The plot is very simple and easy.

The book was also adapted into a movie in the year 1993 by the same name.

Being a very great observer of human nature, Edith Wharton has very skillfully developed the characters of the novel with a minimal number of strokes.

It is the artful writing of the author that has kept the book popular even today. There are several evocative passages in Ethan Frome. The beauty and splendor of winter in rural New England has been described in these evocative passages in the story.

The author’s deep sensibility to natural beauty and human psychology is reflected throughout the story and it consequently makes the novel highly convincing, providing an emphatic illustration of the rural life in New England.

Ethan Frome is even today the author’s one of the most popular novels. Although it is a short book, it has rightly established itself as one of American Literature’s great tragic love stories. The book has found its place in educational institutions around the world and it is one of the most discussed books in the academic circles.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

This short novel is set in a fictional town called Starkfield, in New England. The story has an unnamed narrator. As the story begins, the narrator starts telling how he came across Ethan Frome.

It transpires that Ethan Frome was a man who had several dreams and desires, but an ironic turns of events in his life ends those desires and dreams.

The narrator happens to have observed Frome’s house very minutely. The story he tells is based on an account from these observations. The narrator describes that he had to spend some time in that house during a winter storm.

The extended flashback is one of the most significant literary techniques used by the author in this novel.

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