irony anyone?

There are some great comments here about Ethan Frome, but I would add that there is assuredly an overall theme of irony. And, is it not evident that Edith Wharton is trying to say, "Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it"? Sometimes in life we are given what we wanted, just as we wanted it, but certainly only sometimes. Ethan suffered consequences and his dream turned out to be a nightmare.

What did he dream of? Being with Mattie forever...? Hmm... I could see some possibilities with this theme.