Naturalism: Ethan Frome vs Newland Archer (from Age of Innocence)

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

community, who are more concerning about surviving in the harsh setting they inhabit than learning about the mechanisms behind the mundane aspects of their lives. Most of all, these two men both seek to escape from their respective society. Frome imagines eloping with Mattie, his beloved, and escaping to the West--he even drafts a letter to his wife. Archer’s desire to escape is powerfully represented as he throws open the windows of his study and sticks his head outside. His wife warns him to back in, “You’ll catch your death.” Yet, Edith Wharton remarks in both novels that the men, in failing to escape from their society and find happiness, are “dead” in spirit.

As similar as Wharton’s protagonists are, they live in worlds that could not be more different. Frome lives in Starksfield, Massachusetts. The landscape of this village, for six months of the year, has no reprieve from snow that the narrator describes as a “siege” upon the tiny town. Many of the characters, including ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE: