Isolation is another important theme. Rural New England in winter is a land under siege, with tiny towns and tinier farms like little islands separated by vast expanses of cold and snow. The isolation is both physical and emotional. The isolation becomes personal for Ethan Frome, whose tragedy has removed him from the other people of Starkfield. The narrator remarks that in a town like Starkfield, people's lives are harsh enough so that they have little time to alleviate the pain and troubles of others.
Lost potential is a third theme, closely connected to the two themes listed above.
As Starkfield is not a nurturing world, Ethan's curiosity and intellect have had few outlets. It hints at Ethan's potential, which will be disclosed in later chapters. The disparity between his intellectual curiosity and the limitations of his environment is painful. Ethan is not only the ruin of the man that he was, but the ruin of the man that he could have been. Determinism is an important theme in this novel and in many of Wharton's other books.