“Stark” Destiny―Ethan Frome.docVIP

“Stark” Destiny―Ethan Frome 　　Abstract：Ethan Frome， the protagonist， has been dodging in his misery-ridden life. He lives in the farm called “starkfield”， and marries to a woman he doesn’t love at all. Life is lifeless till he falls in love with the cousin. Yet destiny doesn’t give him the chance of rebirth， even suicide fails him. Finally， he surrenders to his doom， choosing to be a walking death. In this thesis， Ethan Forme’s destiny is decoded through the reader’s understanding and the analysis of the author’s writing skills. 　　Key word： desire misfortune destiny surrender 　　Ethan Frome was written by Edith Wharton （1862-1937）， the American writer， noted for her sharp depiction of New York society during the early twentieth century. There is also a movie based on the novel， which is highly recommended， and it is briefed as： “the forbidden triangle of passion and desire”. In short， it’s an endless tragedy in which a wretched man is inextricably embedded. 　　As a critic commented： “This brief but tragic novel casts a weirdly mesmeric spell” which traps Ethan， the protagonist. Similarly， in my opinion， it seems that Fortune is partial against Ethan Frome， so that she is always joking with him： giving him immense hope to excite him for a while， then， extinguishing it mercilessly， throwing him directly into hell. As in the book， not long after Ethan fancies becoming an engineer in the future， the death of his parents in succession forces him to abandon the dream； after marrying Zeena out of loneliness， he seeks for content in the new life， only to find that Zeena is a sickly woman who is suspicious and keeps complaining all the time， and the farm is unproductive； the arrival of Mattie， Zeena’s cousin， arouses Ethan’s enthusiasm for life and sparks his longing for true love， and seemingly he finds it， as the two fall for each other， but it is surreal， which only inflicts more sufferings on them， even， heartbreakingly， they rely on the last hope of dying together， wh