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79 pages 2 hours read

Edith Wharton

Ethan Frome

Edith WhartonFiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 1911

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Paired Texts & Other Resources

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

Edna Pontellier’s suicide in The Awakening

  • from American writer Kate Chopin’s 1899 novel, which depicts protagonist Edna’s growing disillusionment as a wife/mother and her love for another man
  • often categorized as naturalist literature
  • connects to themes of human agency and gender
  • Compare and contrast the way each novel frames the characters’ thoughts and actions in the moments before and during their suicide attempts, as well as the circumstances that have led them to that point.

“Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”

  • 1923 poem by Robert Frost
  • connects to the theme of human agency (How free is the poem’s narrator to do as he likes?)
  • Compare Frost’s use of winter imagery and depiction of the New England landscape to Wharton’s.

“The Hard Truths of Trying to ‘Save’ the Rural Economy”

  • New York Times article by Eduardo Porter published December 14, 2018 (Note: subscription may be required)
  • connects to the theme of industrialization
  • Consider how ongoing economic changes continue to fuel the decline of rural American communities; discuss other potential parallels between contemporary American sociopolitical issues and Ethan Frome (e.g., the novel’s depiction of immigrants like the Eadys).

We Were Liars

  • 2014 young adult novel by E. Lockhart
  • Connect the two novels via the theme of human agency (How and why does the Liars’ plan go awry? What are the obstacles to Mattie and Ethan’s relationship versus Cadence and Gat’s, and what is the significance of those obstacles in terms of societal commentary or authorial worldview?).
  • Compare the novels’ respective depictions of tragic romances. How does each relationship end, and what makes that conclusion satisfying or unsatisfying?

Entering Chicago from The Jungle

  • from Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel about the meatpacking industry, variously described as realist or naturalist
  • Begin reading at “It was in the stockyards that Jonas’ friend had gotten rich” and continue to the end of the chapter.
  • Consider the passage’s theme of industrialization and compare the effects of industrialization on city life and the urban working class to its effects in Ethan Frome.

Other Student Resources

“‘Age of Desire’: How Wharton Lost Her ‘Innocence’”

  • NPR broadcast available in both print and audio
  • discusses Wharton’s midlife affair with journalist Morton Fullerton, which, alongside her unhappy marriage, probably served as partial inspiration for Ethan Frome
  • Connect the article’s content to the theme of gender and power in the novel. How (if at all) do the flipped genders of Ethan Frome’s love triangle impact the work’s plot and main ideas?

”The Experimental Novel”

  • 1880 essay by Émile Zola (from a collection published in 1894)
  • outlines Zola’s literary principles, which would develop into the naturalist school of literature
  • connects to the theme of human agency

Old Sturbridge Village

  • webpage for a living museum that recreates life in a rural Massachusetts town; site contains articles and photos
  • depicts village life in the early 19th century, providing a glimpse of what the fictional town of Starkfield might have been like prior to industrialization

Teacher Resources

The Mount

  • webpage for Wharton’s home
  • contains articles about both Wharton and her estate, which she designed herself

“Naturalism and Realism”

  • article by Gary Scharnhorst for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature
  • discusses the history of realism and naturalism and the relationship between them
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