Please post an example of seasonal imagery found in your reading of Ethan Frome (up to this point). Along with your example be sure to tell us why you chose this passage. What drew you to it? What is the function of imagery overall? How does Wharton's description of the setting play into the story?
Responses are due by 11:59 PM on Sunday, 4 December 2011. Responses should be a minimum of 300 words in length.
Have Fun!
You will be graded using the G.O.A.T. rubric.
Grammar/Usage - 5
Organization - 5
Analysis - 5
Textual Support - 5
16 comments:
"The night was so perfectly still, and the air so dry and pure that it gave little sensation of cold." pg. 24
Edith Wharton writes this one sentence and it takes my mind on a trip. Living in Buffalo we've all felt this during the winter, no clouds just sounds. Her accuracy and timing of each seasonal reference is key. She takes imagery to the next level when she provides a truly familiar feeling for her readers. Seeing the snow, the recent sunset, and hearing the creatures but not seeing them is exactly where my mind went while reading this. I felt the slight chill and I saw the open field. Wharton is brilliant at imagery but I love that she uses imagery and seasons to provide information on what is coming up regarding Ethan and what he's currently feeling. I have noticed that when Zeena is in the picture it's cold, snowy, windy, or dark and when Mattie is around there's warmth, the cold doesn't feel so cold, and the energy is different with them. Winter is usually symbolic for death or old age and in this book I don't feel that it is far off. Ethan walking in the winter and surviving only on Mattie's touch proves to me that he is an old soul. Imagery has a huge role in a book, I believe, if you understand where the character sleeps, eats, and lives you can understand a part of who the character is. Ethan is staying in this cold, dreadful place. He's helping people, his wife and even Mattie. It shows his personal character and his emotional state. He is hard and dedicated even if he doesn't like Starkfield he stays because that is just who he is. He's consistent and so is winter. It's always cold during the winter. Wharton takes you on a journey using imagery and it allows you to be emotionally invested in the relationships that Ethan has.
“About a mile further, on a road I had never travelled, we came to an orchard of starved apple-trees writhing over a hillside among outcroppings of slate that nuzzled up through the snow like animals pushing out their noses to breathe” (Wharton 17.)
I felt that this quote best emphasized the effect winter has within this New England town. Note the usage of three key words: starved, writhing, and the image of what the readers could assume to be suffocation. Winter is a force to be reckoned with for the inhabitants of this community. If individuals are poor, such as the likes of Ethan Frome, they do not have the opportunity to escape the seasonal hardships. Earlier in the chapter, Harmon Gow had spoken the sinister phrase that “Most of the smart ones get away,” and the anonymous traveler had wondered what could ever hold Ethan Frome back from escaping the dreadful life he was living on his farm. Perhaps nothing is ever as simple as it comes across to be, regardless of outside opinion. Ethan Frome does not seem to have the monetary means to be able to leave town, even if he has mind set to do so. As a result, this is yet another tragic situation for the protagonist.
This quote evokes an image of gnarled trees struggling to break through the snow. The image of the outcroppings of slate trying to avoid being asphyxiated by the snow is what I found to be most important about this quote. Throughout the novella, Edith Wharton uses winter to foreshadowing upcoming events, as well as to emphasize important aspects of life in this town. In other instances, colors used within the imagery of the winter landscape have had significant importance when examined in relation to characters. I feel that it is almost as if winter itself is a character throughout this novella; not through personification, but through the means of having extreme importance on characters’ actions and the way that the weather impacts their decisions and lifestyle. In my opinion, the persistence of winter further emphasizes Ethan Frome’s own doggedness. Ethan Frome has obviously led a hard life, having to care for ailing family members while maintaining the farm. The usage of meticulous imagery throughout the novella overall impacts the connection a reader forms between their own being and the characters exemplified within the story.
“The village lay under two feet of snow, with drifts at the windy corners. In a sky of iron the points of the Dipper hung like icicles and Orion flashed his cold fires. The moon had set, but the night was so transparent that the white house-fronts between the elms looked gray against the snow, clumps of bushes made black stains on it, and the basement windows of the church sent shafts of yellow light far across the endless undulations.” (Wharton 23)
I chose this passage because in these few sentences, Wharton was able to not only paint a vivid picture in my mind of what Starkfield looks like, but was also able to give me a sense of the ambience that the town projects. A major theme in this passage is corruption. In the first sentence, Wharton discusses the snowy landscape of the village. What makes Wharton’s description unique, however, is her usage of the word corners. With a name like Starkfield, I think of barren and desolate expanses of land. Winter often has connotations of bleakness and isolation, so when I think of winter in Starkfield I envision an endless winter. However, when Wharton uses corners in her description it opposes all of this. The corners corrupt the endless expanses of land because they give the land a boundary and signify that there is a limit. Thus, Starkfield is being characterized through this description as an enclosed space. This reminded me of a snow globe because when we look at one, what we see is a finite space. If we were inside one, however, it would be our entire world; we would never know the difference. This reminds me of Ethan’s own life. To someone who has heard of Starkfield, it might seem like the town is just a small part of a much bigger picture. But for Ethan, who has lived there for most of his life, it is one of the only places he knows. Earlier in the novel the speaker learns that Ethan is indeed a smart man, and so he wonders: “…how could any combination of obstacles have hindered the flight of a man like Ethan Frome?” (8) The answer could be as simple as that Ethan never had the means to escape. We learn in Chapter Four that when they were first married Ethan dreamed of living in the city, but he relinquished this dream because he knew that Zeena wouldn’t fare well there (62, 63). Therefore, his marriage to Zeena corrupted his dreams and compromised what he truly wanted out of life.
Wharton references astronomy as she proceeds to describe the night sky of Starkfield. She employs contrast when she writes of Orion’s “cold fires”. Cold fire is unnatural; it simply does not exist, and thus is corrupt. I wonder if perhaps the reason she describes the fire this way is to further reaffirm the chilliness of the town. If in Starkfield fire can be icy, then this speaks volumes as to what the town is like. In the last sentence Wharton illustrates the translucent glow that the night has. The white houses look gray against the snow, indicating the utter brilliance and pure white sparkle that the snow has. The bushes and the yellow light thrown from the church stain and interrupt the purity of the snow, corrupting it with darkness. The corruption that shadows and light cause in nature is parallel to the corruption that occurs in Ethan’s own life, caused perhaps in part by Zeena (who overshadows his dreams), but mostly by Ethan’s own failure to go after what he truly wants out of life.
“When I had been there a little longer, and had seen this phase of crystal clearness followed by long stretches of sunless cold; when the storms of February had pitched their white tents about the devoted village and the wild cavalry of March winds had charged down to their support; I began to understand why Starkfield emerged from its six months’ siege like a starved garrison capitulating without quarter.” (Wharton 8)
I chose this passage for many reasons. First of all it’s very descriptive in what each month of winter brings to Starkfield. I also think this description shows how the name of the town has a greater meaning. The main reason I chose this passage was because I believe that imagery of the scenery relates a lot to the people of the town.
Wharton describes winter in Starkfield overall then specifically the months February and March. She describes winter from start to end. When it first comes, the snow is on the ground gleaming as the sun shines down on it. As winter goes on, the sun doesn’t come out as much and it gets much colder. In February the snow is flying and everything is covered in snow and appears to be white. In March the wind takes over adding to the sunless cold as the wind-chill makes it feel colder than it actually is. I think this is very important in setting the scene because the people of Starkfield live through this kind of winter six months out of the year. The changing seasons brings different emotions to people. Winter is a season that some people dread. As described in the passage, winter in Starkfield drags on and never seems to come to an end. The people of Starkfield get lost in the winter and lose all emotion. They all want winter to be over.
This passage of imagery is like all the other passages of imagery because it describes Strakfield as a cold place. The author never mentions how warm it is in the summer. Wharton’s language only describes Starkfield as a cold uninviting place. This passage is from the introduction and throughout the introduction there are clues to how the environment of Starkfield rubs off on its inhabitants. The first scene is when the narrator describes when he first saw Ethan Frome: “There was something bleak and unapproachable in his face, and he was so stiffened and grizzled (Wharton 4). Ethan Frome was not described as a man with whom you would want to speak with. He is portrayed as the one who keeps to himself as if he has some big secret or if something dramatic has happened in his life and refuses to talk to a soul. The narrator also tells how he had tried to ask people in the town about the story or Ethan Frome but no one would give him the whole story or one at all. He listened to each story but with each he knew there was a big part that was missing. They weren’t very open with talking to each other and again no emotion was shown in anything that anyone did.
“The winter morning was clear as crystal. The sunrise burned red in a pure sky, the shadows on the wood-lot were darkly blue, and beyond the white and scintillating field patches of far-off forest hung like smoke” pg. 50
I chose this passage because it described the environment with very distinct correlations to each character. To me, this describes copious amounts of information on how Ethan Frome thinks about especially Mattie Silver and Zeena Frome. I was drawn to this passage because it was very descriptive and used colors that had been repeated several times with the characters directly. It compared the Sun to Mattie (red) meaning that she brought light and warmth to his life. On the opposite side of the color wheel is the color blue. Since I see Zeena as the foil to Mattie, I correlate blue to Zeena in this context. The shadows on the wood-lot are like Zeena because the wood-lot is the work and responsibility of Ethan. Ethan is bound in Starkfield by two things Zeena and his work even though the sky was clear meaning that nothing was stopping him from seeing the Sun or being with Mattie. The smoke like forest on the horizon is also another barrier. To me, it seems like a mental one because his head is foggy when thinking about his future. Later in the book he stops and fully understands what he was meaning to do, but up until then, he is living moment to moment based on routine with only thoughts of fantasy.
Imagery overall helps us to create a sense of how the character(s) in mention see their surroundings, sometimes even in contrast of what is really happening. Imagery makes certain details more prominent in the thought process of the characters or narrator. Wharton does this very well because even though it is a bitter winter the whole time the story takes place, but in almost every sequence of events, the perception of the weather and setting changes. Imagery allows the audience to pick up on and comprehend the meaning behind each word.
"Now, in the bright morning air, her face was still before him. It was part of the sun's red and of the pure glitter on the snow." (Wharton 51)
I chose this passage because it is Ethan describing Mattie by using these images of nature. He's comparing Mattie's face to the weather and how she was glowing like the sun, but also glistening like the snow. I feel like in a way Ethan is explaining that Mattie is both hot and cold. It's like him saying that he's unsure of where their relationship is going, if it will go anywhere. It's so up in the air that it's a mixture of two types of emotions. Hot, symbolizing the spark in a relationship that is most thrilling and exciting, but also cold meaning that it could be confusing, frustrating, and upsetting.
Wharton makes you really think when she writes contrasting points. I didn't think much of this part of the book until I learned of the significance of weather and how it affects different passages. Ethan goes on by saying he would hate to live a life of coldness, of loneliness, and heartache. He constantly is commenting throughout this passage on how Mattie has changed.
I think Wharton writes different types of weather and nature to make us think further into the meaning of the passages. She does a good job of tying in different symbols through weather into the story line.
“Sometimes their way led them under the shade of an overhanging bank or through the thin obscurity of a clump of leafless trees. Here and there a farmhouse stood far back among the fields, mute and cold as a grave-stone. The night was so still that they heard the frozen snow crackle under their feet. The crash of a loaded branch falling far off in the woods reverberated like a musket-shot and once a fox barked, and Mattie shrank closer to Ethan, and quickened her steps.” (Wharton 43-44)
It seems that elaborate descriptions of scenery are one of the elements which Edith Wharton is quite fond of using in this story. Out of the many times which she uses imagery to paint the winter stricken environment, I was most captivated by those which took place in the night. The passage I chose is towards the end of Ethan’s walk with Mattie back home from the church. I was delighted by its words which were able to build a detailed scene of the surrounding night. I can imagine the faint light from the night sky sprinkled over the snowy landscape, with its dim glow sometimes being interrupted by the shadows of tall snow banks. The scattered farmhouses in the distance, while cold and dead themselves, act as the only relief in a mostly lifeless tundra. With this fantastic vision developing of the pair’s surroundings, Wharton then inserts some descriptions of the sounds such as the crunching snow, cracking branches, and some far off wildlife. All of this comes together to create a world with some interesting familiarity. I can easily recall nights just in my own yard where there is perhaps a very light snowfall, but almost no wind as you stand in the completely silent and chilling – yet peaceful – landscape.
This great imagery Wharton places throughout the story always plays into the emotion of the scene, this passage being no exception. Mattie, while pronouncing her bravery, is in fact susceptible to the sometimes frightening environment of the night. This works wonderfully for Ethan as he is given the opportunity to be her guide and a prideful strength in the darkness. However, just before the selected text, Ethan’s momentary power is tested by the flow of emotion from Mattie while she has a momentary breakdown over her failure to be an adequate worker in Zeena’s eyes. Ethan struggles to find the proper words to respond and merely chokes out another “Come along.” With the silence of their awkward confrontation, the figurative volume dial of the late winter night seems to be maxed out. The surrounding snowy fields are much like the surface of a sterile wasteland where the sound of a branch breaking in the distance booms like a gunshot in the night. Such sounds certainly shake Mattie in her already vulnerable position causing her to once again pull into Ethan, reassigning his role of guardian for this evening.
“They stood together in the gloom of the spruces, an empty world glimmering about them wide and grey under the stars” (Wharton 40)
“They walked on in silence through the blackness of the hemlock-shaded lane, where Ethan’s sawmill gloomed through the night, and out again into the comparative clearness of the fields. On the farther side of the hemlock belt the open country rolled away before them grey and lonely under the stars” (Wharton 43)
What makes these two quotes from the novella interesting is that they create similar images, but with distinct differences. As I read this novella, I am beginning to realize how much weight Edith Wharton puts into seasonal imagery. Many times, she uses seasonal imagery to give more insight into the nature of a character. It is as if the weather changes concurrently with the moods of the characters or with the characters individually. In these two quotes, seasonal imagery depicts the roller coater of emotions that Ethan experiences in response to Mattie’s actions.
In these quotes, Mattie and Ethan are walking home at nighttime during the winter. Mostly, the first few chapters of the novella create a dark winter wonderland. Both of these quotes create this tone. They also describe the world as being very vast and grey. Both quotes also mention that the two characters are under the stars, which can be a romantic symbol. On the surface, the relationship between Mattie and Ethan is romantic. It is a forbidden love because Ethan has romantic feelings towards this girl even though he is already married to Zeena. This gives the reader a sense of wonder of the endless mysteries there are in the world. It also makes the scene between Mattie and Ethan seem like the most important happening in the world. This idea certainly agrees with Ethan.
On his walks with Mattie, all that Ethan cares to think about is Mattie. When Ethan is with Mattie, he is very sensitive to her reactions and her emotions. Ethan might be overanalyzing the cues that give insight into Mattie’s thoughts and feelings. As a result, he is always susceptible to floods of elation or depression that overtake him depending on what type of response Ethan thinks that he is getting from Mattie. These two quotes use seasonal imagery to describe his manic flood of emotions. Both quotes are set in the wintertime, but they illustrate the season differently. The first quote creates a magical view of winter. In this quote, Ethan is greatly enjoying Mattie’s company and he feels confident that she feels the same towards him. While the second quote has a darker feel to it. The magic has dissipated. Here, Ethan question’s his hold on Mattie. The seasonal imagery in these quotes gives a strong sense of Ethan’s emotions.
Many times in this novella, Edith Wharton uses seasonal imagery as a tool to give further insight into the story. I found these two quotes interesting because they showed how differently the world looks to a person in different emotional stat
“Beyond the orchard lay a field or two, their boundaries lost under drifts; and above the fields, huddled against the white immensities of the land and sky, one of those lonely New England farm-houses that make the landscape lonelier.” (Wharton 17)
This passage is extremely descriptive. Wharton knows exactly how to explain scenery to really put an image into your mind. Starkfield as a whole isn’t very interesting, but each scene is painted perfectly to show how bare and lonely the town is. I think this helps us understand Ethan as a character as well. In his relationship with Zeena, he is lonely. We are led to believe that he isn’t in love with her, but he likes the fact that he isn’t alone. This passage really spoke to me in defining Starkfield as a town, and Ethan as a person. He in a way is extremely alone. Zeena doesn’t love him, and Mattie doesn’t have the same lust for him that he has for her. This lonely farm-house we are introduced to is Ethan’s home. It is isolated, ugly, and basically falling apart. Usually, someone’s home represents how they are as people and this is definitely a good example of that. His life is not the greatest. He marriage has gone downhill, he can’t be with the person that he really loves because he doesn’t know if she feels the same, and it’s just an absolute mess.
Wharton made Frome’s house look like this on purpose. She wanted us to get a feel for what our character was like before really getting an insight. I loved how she did this in such a simple, yet intricate way. We can picture the house in a field, isolated from society covered in a blanket of snow. What makes her such an amazing author is her willingness to get into detail about things most people just skim over, but with how she writes you know that her sense of imagery is extremely important to the readers.
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“The Winter Morning was clear as crystal. The sunrise burnt red in a pure sky, the shadows on the wood-lot were darkly blue, and beyond the white scintillating fields patches of far-off forest hung like smoke.” (Wharton 51)
I chose this example of seasonal imagery in this book because I believe that it fits the emotional state of Ethan Frome perfectly at this moment. It is the morning after Ethan’s walk with Mattie back to the farmhouse, where it seems as though his feelings for Mattie have grown in that short period. He is greeted by his wife when they get back to the house, which in a way brought him back to reality. This quote from the beginning of chapter three helps to explain to the reader exactly how he is feeling and what is going on inside of his mind. Edith Wharton does a fantastic job of retelling the story through seasonal imagery and giving it a different point of view. It helps the reader obtain a greater understanding of the novella as a whole.
Ethan is so consumed with Mattie that his thoughts of Zeena have gone to the wayside. In the book so far, Mattie has been described with words dealing with the color of red. She is warm, friendly, and the center at which Ethan’s thoughts revolve around. In this quote, the burning red sun in the “pure sky” is referring to her. In the shadows of Ethan’s thoughts is Zeena, his wife. He doesn’t seem to think much of her when compared to Mattie, and she is most often coupled with dark colors in the book. Ethan’s marriage is what is holding him back from being with Mattie, and she is always occupying Ethan’s mind in some way. The wood-lot in this quote is referring to Ethan’s obligations. He is always tending to his work, and knows that it is what needs to be done. This wood-lot, when paired with the dark blue of the shadows is a symbol of the obligations that Ethan holds to his wife. He cannot leave her in this state just because of Mattie and knows that his marriage is something that he will have to live with, similar to tending to his work. The forest in the background could symbolize something that Ethan may have to face in the future, such as giving up on his dream with Mattie for the commitment he made to his wife. It is looming there, just waiting for Ethan to face it.
“And there were other sensations, less definable but more exquisite which drew them together with a shock of silent joy: the cold red of sunset behind winter hills, the flight of cloud-flocks over slopes of golden stubble, or the intensely blue shadows of hemlocks on sunlit snow.” Pg 30
This sentence is a great example of Edith Wharton’s use of seasonal imagery. She uses many colors and sensory words to allow the reader to feel as though they too are in the seen and also, to better describe the feelings of Ethan Frome. In the phrase, “the flight of cloud-flocks over slopes of golden stubble,” the reader is given the visual image of fluffy clouds hovering over the barren field and is able to feel the love that Ethan was feeling for Mattie. The seasonal imagery also allows the reader to feel the happiness felt by many around Christmas time. Phrases such as “silent joy” and “blue shadows of hemlocks on sunlit snow” give the reader feelings of comfort and excitement, which are comparable to the feelings felt by a child on Christmas morning or lovers under the mistletoe. This is significant because it reveals the pure joy Ethan felt when he was with somebody so unique to his usual environment.
The sentence not only shows Wharton’s wonderful use of seasonal imagery, but also the use of warm and cool colors to describe how Ethan Frome feels about both Mattie and Zeena. Throughout the story, both Zeena and Starkfield are described with cold, wintry words while Mattie is described as being warm and unique to the setting. The use of this imagery is extremely significant to the analysis of the character, Ethan. From the beginning, it is said that “Ethan’s been in Starkfield too many winters.” (pg 7) This is seen in his weak marriage with Zeena in which there is little love and warmth. The fact that he had been in Starkfield so long forced him to settle for Zeena when he didn’t really love her. (pg 62) However, when he spends time with Mattie, everything is described with warm colors, as seen in the seasonal imagery quote above. She is the opposite of everything that he had known his entire life, which is why he falls for her so easily. This brings the reader to question whether what Ethan feels is love at all, or just an escape from the norm. This is also shown in phrases such as, “the cold red of sunset behind the winter hills.” Edith Wharton uses these opposing colors of cold and red to show how Mattie changed Ethan’s view of his environment and just how opposite Mattie and Zeena are. While it seems as though Ethan fell in love with Mattie, quotes such as this show that he only loved how she gave him an escape from his usual life. She took him away from the monotony of his everyday life and gave him someone to talk to. This proves that while Wharton’s use of sensory imagery allows the reader to picture the beautiful scene, its main purpose is to give insight into the inner feelings of Ethan Frome.
"He kept his eyes fixed on her, marvelling at the way her face changed with each turn of their talk, like a wheat-field under a summer breeze." (Wharton 79)
I chose this passage because I was drawn to the language that Edith Wharton uses to describe Mattie's changing expressions - "a wheat-field under a summer breeze." I can see the wheat gently swaying and feel the pleasant breeze under the sunshine. It all sounds so lovely and perfect. If Wharton had described her changing expressions as "pine trees blowing in the winter wind," I wouldn't be as drawn to it because the description would have lost all of its warmth. That's what I like so much about this passage: the warmth that it exudes.
I believe that the function of imagery is to draw the reader into the story. If an author uses imagery properly, the reader should feel as though they are in the scene described. They should not feel as though they are reading about strangers, but witnessing the actions of old friends. The text and the reader should become intertwined. By doing this, the reader is able to make a personal connection to the story and the characters presented. The reader starts to care, and in doing so, they become more susceptible to the ideas that the author expresses.
Edith Wharton uses seasonal imagery throughout the novel. She repeatedly associates negativity with Starkfield winters: “…Before he [Ethan] knew what he was doing he had asked her [Zeena] to stay there with him. He had often thought since that it would not have happened if his mother had died in spring instead of winter…” (Wharton 62). This negative connotation that Wharton continiously gives winter allows her to describe the extreme barrenness of Starkfield and the living-death of the people in it. The reader is led to the conclusion that Starkfield sucks the life out of the people living there. “I had the sense that his [Ethan’s] loneliness was not merely the result of his personal plight…but had in it… the profound accumulated cold of many Starkfield winters.” (Wharton 13). Starkfield is presented to be one endless winter that Ethan cannot escape, and it represents the constant deadness inside of him. By constantly exaggerating the barrenness of Starkfield and its winters, Wharton is able to amplify the warmth of Mattie. While Starkfield is associtated with winter and death, Mattie is associated with summer, such as in the passage I chose. In doing so, Wharton is able to present the deep contrast in the two sides of Ethan: the deadness inside of him due to Starkfield and the spark of life inside of him because of Mattie.
"But a wet snow, melting to sleet, had fallen in the night and turned the roads to glass." (Wharton 87)
I chose this passage because I liked the symbolism that went along with it. In my opinion, it clearly shows the differences in Ethan’s mind regarding Zeena and Mattie. I also enjoyed the imagery that goes along with the description of roads turning to glass. It evokes a picture in the mind of roads sparkling in the dim sunlight. Roads covered with a film of ice can be aesthetically pleasing, but they are also dangerous. I felt like this also symbolized Ethan’s relationship with Mattie.
The function of imagery in this passage is to both provide a picture in the mind of the sleet turning to ice over the streets and to provide a subtle statement about Ethan’s relationship with the two women. The wet snow had fallen during the night, which is when Ethan was alone with Mattie. The snow was not completely frozen which could represent Ethan’s happiness while he was with Mattie. However, the wet snow had fallen on the roads and turned them to ice. The resulting ice on the roads symbolizes Zeena’s unhappiness with Ethan and his close relationship with Mattie. This is especially true since the ice formed as a result of the wet snow. The ice on the roads could represent Ethan’s unhappiness as well. Zeena is returning home on those roads, so he could be upset with that which the cold ice could symbolize. It is known that ice on roads causes many accidents. Again, since the ice formed as a result of the wet snow, the ice could be used as a way to foreshadow the accident that is to occur in the coming chapters. The accident may possibly be caused by ice, or the danger posed by the ice on the road could simply foreshadow the danger. This danger has come as a result of Mattie and Ethan’s relationship with each other.
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