Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome

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In her biography of Edith Wharton, Hermione Lee observes that “

Ethan Frome

comes as a great shock” (375). Wharton had ventured into areas such as the industrial novel in her 1907 work,

The Fruit of the Tree

, but her literary reputation was largely based on her successful representations of wealthy American society as seen, especially, in

The House of Mirth

of 1905.

Ethan Frome

, published in 1911, turns from the old moneyed urban world of Wharton’s background to embrace instead the landscapes and inhabitants of rural New England with its range of physical and psychological impoverishments.

The “shock” (Lee 375) of Wharton’s shifting focus from urban, sophisticated social scenes to the countryside of her fictional Starkfield, Massachusetts, elicited responses that questioned

3310 words

Citation: Bode, Rita. "Ethan Frome". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 September 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5284, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5284 Ethan Frome 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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