# of Words: 232

Ethan Frome, first published in 1911, shows off Edith Wharton's down in the dumps chops. This lady was as successful as they come, and most of her things wasn't at the super uplifting category of literature. In addition to the zillions of other things she composed, you may have known of her Pulitzer Prize-winning society novel The Age of Innocence.

Kind of a big deal, because she was the first woman ever awarded the Pulitzer. And in case that wasn't baller sufficient, she was also the first woman to be given an honorary doctorate by Yale University.

But back to Ethan Frome. This novella is one of Wharton's most famous stories, in part because of its extremely raw portrait of the poverty-stricken inhabitants of the fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. And by exceptionally raw, we imply really raw. These folks are not happy. Throw in a creepy and kind of incestuous love triangle, and you've got yourself a treasure chest of broken dreams.

Wharton probably didn't pull this love triangle business out of her hat, either. Before her divorce from the emotionally and physically ailing Teddy Wharton, and before the publication of Ethan Frome, she had an affair with Morton Fullerton, a journalist for The London Times (origin). Write what you know, we suppose?

Bottom line: if you would like to feel better about your life, Ethan Frome is the place to start.

Related Papers

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Jules Verne

Everyone in Europe and America is speaking about a mysterious monster which has been sinking ships. Last, the United States government decides to intervene and commissions the Abraham Lincoln to catch and identify the monster. The three guys find themselves on top of the mysterious monster, which is in fact a submarine vessel. They are taken on board and put in a cellphone. The guys meet Captain Nemo, the commander of the boat, known as the Nautilus. He informs them they could remain on board......Read More

Endgame Samuel Beckett

Endgame was Samuel Beckett's very first full-length play following his renowned Waiting for Godot. When it first came out in 1958 it received somewhat mixed reviews (as had Godot a couple of years before), with a few critics charging that Beckett was just doing the exact same thing repeatedly. Renowned literary critic Harold Bloom composed that Endgame "stays a bigger play than any other dramatist has given us in this century." For one thing, Endgame is a good example of theatrical......Read More

Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller

Ambition. It is one of those things which may be either your best friend or your worst enemy. On one hand, ambition can inspire us to get out of bed in the morning and follow our dreams. On the other hand, ambition will keep us from recognizing our own limitations, trapping us at the delusional grandeur of envisioned achievements. Death of a Salesman is a tragedy about the gaps between the Loman family's fantasies and the reality of their own lives. The play is a scathing review of the......Read More

Related Topics