Ethan Frome: Naturalism’s “Scapegoat,” or Romantic Hero?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47205/plhr.2023(7-II)46Keywords:
Ethan Frome, Naturalistic, Romantic, Tragic, Western SocietyAbstract
Edith Wharton’s novel Ethan Frome is usually but inaccurately classified as Naturalistic. Naturalistic works typically feature characters constrained by their environment, social circumstances, or personal struggles. This article rejects that characterization. Careful application of the naturalistic model indicates that the novel’s major elements of setting, structure, characters, and theme do not fit that model. Close reading and careful analysis provide convincing evidence that the novel’s focus is the transformative power of love. This study hypothesizes that such a focus places the novel within the Romantic genre. Further close analysis indicates that the characters’ other-worldly, idealized love leads to an outcome more tragic than death, and that these consequences represent love’s consummate triumph. The study concludes that Ethan Frome therefore incorporates one of the highest values of Western society, regularly embodied in its religions and its art.
Downloads
Published
Details
-
Abstract Views: 542
PDF Downloads: 145
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
ORIENTS SOCIAL RESEARCH CONSULTANCY (OSRC) & PAKISTAN LANGUAGES AND HUMANITIES REVIEW (PLHR) adheres to Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. The authors submitting and publishing in PLHR agree to the copyright policy under creative common license 4.0 (Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International license). Under this license, the authors published in PLHR retain the copyright including publishing rights of their scholarly work and agree to let others remix, tweak, and build upon their work non-commercially. All other authors using the content of PLHR are required to cite author(s) and publisher in their work. Therefore, ORIENTS SOCIAL RESEARCH CONSULTANCY (OSRC) & PAKISTAN LANGUAGES AND HUMANITIES REVIEW (PLHR) follow an Open Access Policy for copyright and licensing.