Introduction

Critics have called Ethan Frome the most carefully constructed of Edith Wharton’s novels, and have praised the economy of its language and its intensity. The […]

Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton was born January 24, 1862, to a wealthy New York family. She showed an interest in writing and literature from an early age. […]

Plot Summary

Ethan Frome is the story of a man who, following the death of his father, gives up his education and other opportunities to return to […]

Characters

A Dennis Eady The son of Michael Eady, an ambitious Irish grocer. Dennis has a reputation for applying to the young woman of Starkfield the […]

Themes

A Frustration The theme of frustration is central to Ethan Frome. Sometimes the frustration is a product of the oppressive environment, and sometimes it stems […]

Construction

A Point of View Critics hail Ethan Frome as the most carefully constructed of Wharton’s novels. The story relates events that occurred twenty-four years previously […]

Questions

Explore the various options young people have today for getting an education and making their own way in the world, and explain how the lives […]