Summer and Ethan Frome: An Introduction
Reading Schedule, Major Themes, and Key Characters
Welcome to our tandem read for the Year with Edith Wharton project! This time, we’ll be reading and comparing two of Wharton’s novellas. In September, we’ll bid farewell to summer with the 1917 novella Summer, and in October, we’ll prepare for winter by reading the 1911 novella Ethan Frome. These novellas may be short, but they pack an emotional punch. Both novellas explore the destructive effects of sexual awakening and desire in isolated, rural New England towns. Our protagonists are trapped by social circumstances and repressed passions, leading to tragic outcomes. Ethan Frome is often considered one of Wharton’s best works, but I believe you’ll be surprised by how good Summer is as well.
As usual, I will give a brief introduction to each novella along with some key characters and themes. Then we’ll look at the reading schedule.
Summer, also known as “Hot Ethan,” follows Charity Royall, a young woman living in the rural New England town of North Dormer. She was born in a nearby mountain community but was “saved” from that life of poverty and moral decline by Lawyer Royall, one of the most prominent men in North Dormer.
This bildungsroman chronicles Charity’s sexual awakening during one summer. But this is more than a coming-of-age story; it’s also an exploration of the dangers women face when seeking agency and autonomy, especially in a small New England town. It’s a bold and nuanced portrayal of female sexuality and the restrictions placed on women's lives in early 20th-century America. Wharton is unflinching in her depiction of female sexual desire and its consequences, and she doesn’t shy away from the taboo.
Themes and Major Characters:
Here are some key themes to keep in mind while reading:
The limitations of female independence: Charity longs for autonomy, but she’s limited by her lack of education, financial resources, and social connections. Society provides women with few pathways to self-sufficiency. Like it or not, she must depend on Lawyer Royall for everything.
Female sexuality and double standards: Wharton portrays female sexual desire as something natural rather than deviant. But regardless of how natural Charity’s passions might be, women face harsh consequences for sexual expression outside of marriage.
Social class: It’s a Wharton novel, so there must be some exploration of social class and how it influences the lives of women in particular. Charity’s options are limited by her class, education, and social standing. There is little room for social mobility, especially for women like Charity. Without the right social connections, it will be impossible for her to transcend class boundaries.
Finally, let’s take a look at some of the characters we’re going to meet in Summer:
Charity Royall: Our young protagonist's sexual awakening over the course of one summer changes her life forever. She’s restless, naive, and determined to have some control over her own life. Unfortunately, societal constraints and double standards will hinder her ability to realize her own autonomy.
Lawyer Royall: Charity’s adoptive father. He’s a complex character who acts both as Charity’s oppressor and protector. I’m very curious to see how everyone feels about him by the end of the novel.
Lucius Harney: A charming young architect from New York who visits North Dormer and sparks Charity’s sexual awakening. Once again, I’m curious to see how everyone feels about him as a character. Lucius and Lawyer might be some of Wharton’s most complex male characters.
Annabel Balch: Charity’s foil, she’s the popular girl in town, blonde, blue-eyed, fashionable, educated, and wealthy; she’s everything Charity isn’t.
Julia Hawes: Julia is the oldest sister of Charity's best friend Ally, who had to leave North Dormer in disgrace after having a love affair that resulted in pregnancy and ultimately abortion. Julia's story is a cautionary tale that runs throughout the novel. It serves as a warning to the young women of North Dormer about what not to do.
If you don’t have a copy of Summer and want to join, you can download a free e-book from Project Gutenberg. There’s also a LibriVox recording if you prefer audiobooks over eBooks.
Ethan Frome is a carefully crafted novella that explores rural poverty, unfulfilled desire, and the heavy burden of social expectations in early twentieth-century New England. When it was first published, The New York Times called it “a cruel, compelling, haunting story of New England.” The starkness of the narrative makes Ethan Frome stand out from the rest of Wharton’s works. While I believe that Wharton often explores “dark” themes in her novels, there’s something unique about her approach in Ethan Frome. The minimalist style of the novella, combined with the isolating and harsh New England winter, enables Wharton to craft a psychologically complex narrative. Ethan Frome is genuinely a masterpiece of American literature.
An unnamed narrator pieces together Ethan’s life story for the reader. Ethan is a man trapped in a loveless marriage with his hypochondriac wife, Zeena. One day, Zeena’s young cousin, Mattie, comes to help with the household chores. Ethan begins to develop feelings for Mattie, and their mutual attraction hints at the possibility of escaping the bleakness of his life. But since this is a Wharton novel, there will be no happily ever after. Prepare yourselves for a tragic ending, folks!
Themes and Major Characters:
Here are some key themes to keep in mind while reading:
Duty v. Desire (aka marital obligation): Particularly in isolated communities with strict moral codes, marriage is valued more for maintaining social order than for the happiness of the couple. Matrimony mainly serves as an economic and social arrangement rather than a romantic partnership. Ethan struggles between his sense of duty toward his marriage and his desire for a fulfilling life. He longs for emotional connection and finds it in Mattie. If Ethan chooses duty over desire, nothing in his life will change. But if he chooses desire over duty, could things become even worse?
Forbidden love: Wharton explores how sexual desires are repressed by the restrictive moral codes of rural New England. Wharton demonstrates that rebellion against social codes often results not in liberation but in more severe forms of confinement.
Nature as metaphor: The harsh winter landscape functions both as setting and metaphor, symbolizing the characters' emotional coldness and limited choices. The setting is as much a character in this story as Ethan himself. Sensitive souls like Ethan are buried under the oppressive weight of New England and also by the generational obligations that keep him anchored in Starkfield.
Finally, let’s take a look at some of the characters we’re going to meet in Ethan Frome:
Ethan Frome: Ethan is our protagonist who embodies the tragic consequences of unfulfilled potential. He is a farmer whose family has lived and died on the same farm for generations. He is also a sensitive figure with a deep appreciation of nature. Unfortunately, he lacks the strength to make significant, positive changes in his life.
Zenobia (Zeena) Frome: Zeena is Ethan’s caustic and overbearing wife. She’s a hypochondriac who dominates the Frome household. She’s a remarkably unsympathetic character. I can’t wait to hear everyone’s thoughts on her.
Mattie Silver: Mattie is Zeena’s youthful, lively, and emotionally expressive cousin. When she arrives at Starkfield to help Zeena manage the household, she’s a breath of fresh air. Do we ever see the real Mattie or just the version Ethan falls in love with?
The Narrator: Don’t forget our unnamed narrator. He’s just as important as the other characters in this story. As an educated outsider trying to understand what happened at Starkfield, he views Ethan Frome’s story with fresh eyes and acts as a bridge between Frome’s closely guarded tragedy and the reader. But can we trust his account?
If you don’t have a copy of Ethan Frome and want to join, you can download a free e-book from Project Gutenberg. There’s also a LibriVox recording if you prefer audiobooks over eBooks.
The reading schedule is very straightforward. We’ll spend the first couple of weeks each month reading each novella, with the last week of the month reserved for discussions, watching the adaptations, and catching up on reading.
There are movie adaptations of both novellas, and I’m curious to know if they’re any good. Summer was adapted into a TV series in 1981, starring Diane Lane as Charity Royall. I think I found the full series on YouTube if you'd like to check it out. And of course, there’s the 1993 adaptation of Ethan Frome starring Liam Neeson and Patricia Arquette. I requested the DVD from my local library, and it appears that you can stream it on Amazon and possibly even Netflix (sadly, it’s not available in the US).
I look forward to discussing both of these novellas with you over the next two months as part of my Year with Edith Wharton. I hope this little introduction has you ready to start reading, and perhaps you’re already making some connections and comparisons between the texts. I look forward to reading all your comments as we go along. As always, thank you for joining me on this literary journey.
Happy Reading!
