Character Sketch of Ethan Frome

“Guess he’s been in Starkfield too many winters. Most of the smart ones get away” (6).   That, said by Harmon Gow, was definitely how Ethan Frome could be described. Too many winters in Starkfield had taken its toll on Ethan, and it was obvious to see.   Ethan, “the ruin of a man” (3), just hadn’t gotten out of Starkfield in time.   Now, as the narrator related, “There was something bleak and unapproachable in his face; and he was so stiffened and grizzled I took him for an old man” (4). Ethan had clearly become a depressed individual and had been for a very long time.


Ethan was very sad man. Ethan never got to finish his studies and thought about it from time to time. Even at the beginning of the book when the narrator dropped his copy of Popular Science, it was obvious Ethan had a sad, nostalgic tone about him as he talked about the fact that he used to study in that field. Ethan was also sad that he had to come home every night to a woman who didn’t love him. Zeena was a self-absorbed woman whose only happiness came from other’s grief. The moment she left town every minute of Ethan’s life became better. The thought of Zeena even made him jump as shown in this quotation: “Ethan, a moment earlier, had felt himself on the brink of eloquence; but the mention of Zeena had paralyzed him” (84). Ethan was also sad because he couldn’t run away with Mattie and live in another place with her. This is extremely evident in this quotation: “ A moment ago he had wondered what he and Mattie were to live on when they reached the West; now he saw that he had not even the money to take her there. . . .   The inexorable facts closed in on him like prison-warders handcuffing a convict. There was no way out—none” (134).


Ethan was also a very loyal and hardworking person.   Except for the suicide attempt, throughout the whole book, Ethan stayed loyal to Zeena, ever humbly serving her, no matter what she said and no matter what she did. He completed all her tasks nightly...