Compare and Contrast of Zeena and Mattie Essay - 687 Words

In the novel, Ethan Frome, there are two women that are apart of Ethan Frome’s pitiable existence, Zeena and Mattie. There are both acutely different from each other but they also share some similarities between themselves. Zeena and Mattie are different in many ways in the matter of appearance, their outlook on life, and their interest in Ethan Frome but eventually it shows towards the end of the novel that Mattie is not so much distinct from these qualities after â€Å"the smash up†. The two main female characters, Zeena and Mattie differ in appearance quite a bit. Zeena is displayed as a prematurely aged woman that has, â€Å"grayish ting skin and false teeth† and her voice is like a â€Å"flat whine†. Making Zeena out to be unattractive in pretty†¦show more content†¦So, it can be seen that Zeena and Mattie do have common feelings for Ethan Frome. She probably has resentment and dislike for Ethan From and even herself since it was her idea to crash the sleigh into the oak tree. Also, since her youthfulness was cut short because of an accident and there was no everlasting love that followed it. They both have very different outlooks on life and thoughts about their predicaments. Zeena is more worried of curing her illness and is in a gloomy and stagnant state. Where she is in constant despair and thinks that curing her illness will bring her joy. While Mattie is a friendly, outgoing person that is full of life and everything a young woman could ask for. She is the type that is always dancing and constantly moving around, and shows the character role that is full of passion. After her and Ethan Frome’s wreck though, she becomes what Zeena was and experiences what she went through. She becomes that resentful and despaired person, that the younger version of Mattie is majorly differentiated from. At the end, irony is displayed because Zeena seems to regain some of her health and beauty while Mattie lost all of hers. T he two were ultimately different in the beginning of the story but eventually Mattie has to endure what Zeena did and it makes Mattie more alike to Zeena. Irony is seen since in the beginning it may have seemed that Zeena had a terrible life but in the end Mattie was the one stripped of all that sheShow MoreRelatedZeena and Mattie Essay771 Words   |  4 Pagescomparison the protagonist Ethan constantly faces and struggles with throughout the novel. On one hand, Zenobia, commonly called Zeena, Frome has been a long-standing part of Ethan’s life. Years of marriage, although not always happy, combined with her always declining health, cause Ethan to feel indebted and sympathetic towards her. While, on the other, Mattie Silver, a relative of Zeena walks into the life of the Frome’s, and with her brings a new feeling of life and vitality to which Ethan has never experiencedRead MoreHow far do you agree with the view that the tragedies in ‘Ethan Frome’ and â⠂¬ËœA View from the Bridge’ are brought about by individual characters rather 2084 Words   |  9 Pagesthe downfall is described and exposed to the audience is relevant to both texts. Both Arthur Miller and Edith Wharton use an external narrator. The narrator used in Ethan Frome, a businessman who is intrigued by Ethan. The narrator often describes/compares Ethan to his surroundings â€Å"He seemed a part of the mute melancholy landscape, an incarnation of its frozen woeâ‚‚ This description suggests that Ethan is very withdrawn and has been affected by unfortunate circumstances. The use of the word muteâ‚‚