'Ethan Frome' : Favorites

[Scheherazade]

Who is your favorite character in Ethan Frome and why? What is your favorite quote/passage?



Book Club Procedures

[Scheherazade]

I am not yet sure who my favorite character is in the book but I do know that Ethan is my least favorite character.

[cuppajoe_9]

Aww, what's wrong with Ethan?

I was a big fan of Mattie, but I don't take part in the Book Club, so I won't vote.

[Scheherazade]

Hiya,

The Book Club is open to everyone so please feel free to vote

I do not like Ethan because I think he... he wants to have his cake and eat it too! He is married to Zeena and his apparent unhappiness, he does not want to do anything about it and he hopes that Mattie will carry on living with them, making things easier on him (emotionally). He does not seem to care how this arrangement would affect those two women; Zeena should sit and watch her husband getting emotionally attached to someone else and Mattie should give up the chance to have a family of her own, being happy to have Ethan's attention whenever Zeena is not looking.

[Pensive]

Hiya,
I do not like Ethan because I think he... he wants to have his cake and eat it too! He is married to Zeena and his apparent unhappiness, he does not want to do anything about it and he hopes that Mattie will carry on living with them, making things easier on him (emotionally). He does not seem to care how this arrangement would affect those two women; Zeena should sit and watch her husband getting emotionally attached to someone else and Mattie should give up the chance to have a family of her own, being happy to have Ethan's attention whenever Zeena is not looking.

Exactly! Sometimes, it seems to me Ethan Frome never loved Mattie. If that was so, he would have thought better for her. He would have let her have a family of her own. He would have made it clear to her that he couldn't live a life throwing mud in the eyes of his wife by meeting Mattie stealthily.

I can't pick a favourite character from this book. Characters are either very simple, or complex like that of Zeena. And you are not sure whether you like any of them.

[SleepyWitch]

Hiya,

The Book Club is open to everyone so please feel free to vote

I do not like Ethan because I think he... he wants to have his cake and eat it too! He is married to Zeena and his apparent unhappiness, he does not want to do anything about it and he hopes that Mattie will carry on living with them, making things easier on him (emotionally). He does not seem to care how this arrangement would affect those two women; Zeena should sit and watch her husband getting emotionally attached to someone else and Mattie should give up the chance to have a family of her own, being happy to have Ethan's attention whenever Zeena is not looking.

i don't think Zeena would suffer emotionally, seeing as she doesn't love Ethan anyway. Maybe her pride would be injured or she would be furious because Ethan doesn't fuss about her as much as she expects him to.
sorry, but i can't get myself to see her as the 'poor ill woman who's being treated badly by her mean philandering husband.'
RL people with 'issues' are a different matter.. don't get me wrong.. I'm not trying to say people in real life with mental health problems/hypochondria etc are a bother and shouldn't be taken seriously.
but Zeena just makes my flesh crawl and there's no way I could ever pitty her.

[Scheherazade]

I cannot say I like Zeena either; however, as long as they are married and living under the same roof as husband and wife, I think she has every right to expect her husband to be faithful to her.

[Virgil]

i don't think Zeena would suffer emotionally, seeing as she doesn't love Ethan anyway. .

If Ethan left her, Zeena would be destitute. Forget suffer emotionally, she would not know where her next meal would come from.

[papayahed]

I don't think we know if Zeena loves Ethan or not.


I took my book back to the library so I can't remember, who's the lady that was friends with Mattie and would go visit the Frome household? I'm thinking she might be my favorite just because she's willing to gossip with the narrator.

[Virgil]

Hey papaya, I'm thinking of voting for the narrator because he's an engineer.

[papayahed]

Hey papaya, I'm thinking of voting for the narrator because he's an engineer.

HaHa he's my second choice...

[SleepyWitch]

If Ethan left her, Zeena would be destitute. Forget suffer emotionally, she would not know where her next meal would come from.

from her meddling relatives

I cannot say I like Zeena either; however, as long as they are married and living under the same roof as husband and wife, I think she has every right to expect her husband to be faithful to her.

aaah, i see. you're talking about justice not sympathy... i see your point now..
yep, of course you're right that it wouldn't be fair or morally justifiable for Ethan to leave her.
her 'illness' kinda distracted me from this question because I thought maybe if she wasn't 'ill' Ethan would be able to leaver her. In my opinion she is definitely not ill. If she were, she wouldn't jump right up from her sickbed and run the household after Ethan's and Mattie's accident.
Seeing as she's not sick and an annoying, creepy, stupid cow anyway ---> Ethan is entitled to leave her.

but of course he isn't if you take more objective standards (justice etc) into account

[bouquin]

from her meddling relatives



aaah, i see. you're talking about justice not sympathy... i see your point now..
yep, of course you're right that it wouldn't be fair or morally justifiable for Ethan to leave her.
her 'illness' kinda distracted me from this question because I thought maybe if she wasn't 'ill' Ethan would be able to leaver her. In my opinion she is definitely not ill. If she were, she wouldn't jump right up from her sickbed and run the household after Ethan's and Mattie's accident.
Seeing as she's not sick and an annoying, creepy, stupid cow anyway ---> Ethan is entitled to leave her.

Do you mean to say that if Zeena had been pretty and vibrant and healthy Ethan would not have been "entitled" to leave her?

[SleepyWitch]

hehe I don't mean to say anything
i just outlined the immature judgemetn i made before thinking about Scher's argument...

well, if she was pretty, vibrant and healthy, I'm sure Mattie would have been less attractive to Ethan, seeing as his attraction is based on exactly these things rather than on "intrinsic values" or some such

[Scheherazade]

I don't think we know if Zeena loves Ethan or not.

I agree.

yep, of course you're right that it wouldn't be fair or morally justifiable for Ethan to leave her.

Actually, that is not what I was trying to say...

I am not against Ethan leaving her on moral grounds. On contrary, I kind of wish he had the guts to do so but unfortunately he doesn't. What I am against is the cheating... He should not be scheming and going behind his wife's back to spend time with Mattie or to keep her with them while he has feelings for her (Mattie). By doing so he is betraying both his wife and Mattie. However, if he does not mean to pursue his heart, then he should not try to indulge himself by arranging things to suit his own needs either, in my opinion.