Ethan is convinced that the town people will think less of her for dismissing her own blood. Zeena only replies “I know well enough what they say of my having kep’ her here as long as I have” (Wharton, 84), hinting that she and the whole town of Starkfield are fully aware of their feelings and actions toward each other. Zeena is able to manipulate her husband by using her health to justify her actions and personality. Ethan begins to fear he will lose Mattie forever.Upon realizing that Mattie’s leaving was to be a reality, Ethan tries desperately to discover a way for them to escape together, but discovers with a harshness the true reality of his entrapment of his marriage to Zeena. The couple determined that if their love cannot carry on now, it will continue on in death. However, their unsuccessful suicide attempt forces them to live a life of physical suffering. It is ironic that Mattie, who had been the source of so much joy and an escape to his fears and reality, through his fantasies, now brought him more suffering. The former invalid, Zeena, was now forced to care for them both.Perhaps Edith Wharton’s reason for writing Ethan Frome, was that it so vividly reflected her own dreary life. Abandoned of any love as a child from her mother and trapped in a marriage similar to that of Zeena and Ethan, Wharton found herself relying on illicit love. This illicit love was also her favorite topic of writing, which helped her to escape her own tragedies. She spent many nights in the arms of other men searching desperately for the love she believed existed, but had never felt, which is evident in all of her writings.Ethan Frome is not only an excellent piece of writing, and moving story, but also causes a reflection that we, too, create vivid fantasies and hopes to escape our fears....
