Ethan Frome

Plot synopsis:
The novel is framed by the literary device of an extended flashback. The prologue opens with an unnamed male narrator spending a winter in Starkfield, a fictional town in New England, while in the area on business. He spots a limping, quiet man around the village, who is somehow compelling in his demeanor and carriage. Curious, the narrator sets out to learn about him. He learns that Frome's limp arose from having been injured in a "smash-up" twenty-four years before, but further details are not forthcoming.
Chance circumstances arise that allow the narrator to hire Frome as his driver for a week. A severe snowstorm during one of their journeys forces Frome to allow the narrator to shelter at his home one night. Just as the two are entering Frome's house, the prologue ends. We then embark on the "first" chapter (Chapter I), which takes place twenty-four years prior. The narration switches from the first-person narrator of the prologue to a limited third-person narrator.
In Chapter I, Ethan is waiting outside a church dance to walk home Mattie, his wife’s cousin, who has for a year lived with Ethan and his sickly wife, Zeena (Zenobia), in order to help out around the house and farm. It is quickly clear that Ethan has feelings for Mattie. It also becomes clear that Zeena has observed enough to understand that he has these feelings and resents them.
When Zeena leaves for an overnight visit to a doctor in a neighboring town, Ethan is excited to have an evening alone with Mattie. Mattie makes supper using Zeena's treasured pickle dish which she received as a wedding present. Unfortunately, the Frome's cat jumps on the table and knocks off the pickle dish, shattering it beyond repair. Ethan decides to hide the damage until he is able to purchase glue by setting the dish's pieces neatly in the cupboard.
In the morning, Ethan goes into town to buy glue for the broken pickle dish and, upon his return, finds that Zeena has already come home. Zeena informs Ethan that the doctor told her she needed to do as little work as possible and that she has already hired another girl to replace Mattie, who will be forced to leave.
Ethan is angry and frustrated by the thought of losing Mattie and accidentally tells Mattie of Zeena’s plans to send her away. Mattie reacts with shock but rapid acceptance, trying to calm Ethan, while Ethan becomes more agitated and begins to insist that he will not let her go. Ethan kisses her. Moments later, they are interrupted by Zeena.
After supper, Zeena discovers the broken pickle dish and is enraged. Ethan, miserable at the thought of losing Mattie, considers running away with Mattie, but he lacks the money to do so.
The next morning, Zeena describes her imminent plans for sending Mattie away. Panicked, Ethan rushes into town to try to get a cash advance from a customer for a load of lumber in order to have the money with which to run away with Mattie. He changes his mind after the customer’s wife expresses compassion for his lot and he realizes that he cannot lie to this kindly woman and her husband.
Ethan returns to the farm and picks up Mattie to take her to the train station. They stop at a hill upon which they had once planned to go sledding and decide to sled together as a way of delaying their sad parting. After their first run, Mattie suggests a suicide pact: that they go down again, and steer the sled directly into a tree, so they will never be parted and so that they may spend their last moments together. At first, Ethan refuses the plan, but, in his despair, he ultimately agrees. On the way down the hill, a vision of Zeena's face startles Ethan into swerving a bit, but he corrects their course, and they crash into the elm tree. Ethan regains consciousness after the accident, but Mattie lies beside him "cheeping" in pain like a small wounded animal. Ethan is also injured, and the reader is left to understand that this was the "smash-up" that left Ethan with a permanent limp.
The final chapter (or epilogue) switches back to the first-person narrator point of view of the prologue, as Frome and his visitor, the narrator, enter the Frome household two decades later. The narrator hears a complaining female voice which turns out to be Mattie, who now lives with the Fromes due to having been paralyzed in the accident. Zeena is now forced to care for her as well as Ethan. Ironically, Ethan and Mattie have gotten their wish to stay together, but in mutual discontent instead of happiness.

Tags: romantic, flashback

Review:
A satisfactorily uncomfortable adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel..
Ethan Frome is one of those stories that is meant to be uncomfortable and unattractive, so if you were put off by either the novel or the movie, it just shows that they succeeded in what they set out to do.
Before I go on, however, I would like to point out that I realize how much is lost in the transition from novel to film, in that the film is not able to capture Wharton's writing style and there are scenes that are taken out and artistic liberties taken with the material, but as far as a structured story, this is a worthwhile adaptation.Liam Neeson brilliantly portrays the fated Ethan Frome, a character who is in an unhappy marriage to a wife who is more interested in the social status achieved by being married than in Ethan as a person.
Zeena, his wife (played by Joan Allen), is a woman who has become embittered by her life as the wife of a poor man (as Ethan describes her at one point) and the fact that any scrap of love or passion has leaked completely out of her marriage, which was pretty dry to begin with.
When Mattie (Patricia Arquette) comes to live with them, things begin to fall apart much more seriously than the emotional way in which the marriage between Ethan and Zeena has long since crumbled.There are a lot of religious and social undertones throughout the film, as we struggle with Ethan and Mattie, watching them desperately falling in love with each other but each as helpless to do anything about it as the other.
And besides that, Ethan has moral reasons of his own for not wanting to leave Zeena, feeling that he has an obligation to her that prevents him from leaving her alone and helpless.
This obligation is, of course, derived mainly from Zeena having put so much effort into caring for Ethan's mother before she passed away, an extended act of charity of which she constantly reminds him.Patricia Arquette delivers a fine performance in the role as Mattie Silver, although her iconography since making this film has completely changed the way she is seen in movies and makes her role as Mattie slightly less believable.
But Liam Neeson is the actor here who deserves the most recognition, I can't even imagine someone portraying Ethan Frome more accurately as far as the way he was described in the book than what Neeson did in this film.
If you're studying this book in school, it would probably be a good idea to just go ahead and read the book, because this movie is not going to inform you enough to be able to pass a test on the novel, but it certainly works as far as entertainment or as a way to complement the book..
In particular, Joan Allen shines as the sickly wife and Liam Neeson is very sympathetic as Ethan.
The plot is faithful to the original although one character is changed from an engineer to a clergyman.
Watch this for Liam Neeson's performance.
Tate Donovan was a nice find as well, as the new preacher in town, I think I enjoyed him more here than in any other film in which I've seen him.Back, however, to Neeson.
He is THE reason to see this film.It could have been that I was home ill (ironic when you consider the plot) when I saw the film, but I'm not so sure the pace wasn't a little below the speed necessary for people to get truly wrapped into the story and characters.
Yet, I stuck through the whole thing, because I was transfixed by Neeson's performance.He is one of the greats!
When Richard Nelson set out to adapt Edith Wharton's classic novel Ethan Frome to the silver screen, he could have never imaged that he would surpass the novel in quality.
Marvelous casting and cinematography, as well as a befitting musical score by Rachel Portman, create the perfect audio/visual setting for an American classic.Ethan Frome is the story of a man broken by his illicit love for his wife's housekeeper cousin.
Starting from the present, the story flashes back to many years earlier before the accident that crippled Ethan.
Ethan and Mattie fall deeply in love while Zeena becomes sicker and sicker.While staying largely true to the novel, Richard Nelson makes changes to the story that perhaps Edith Wharton should have considered when writing her tragedy.
The identity of the character investigating into Ethan's past has been altered from an engineer to a preacher, a more sensible profession in the context of the story.
The depth of Ethan's relationship with Mattie also goes much deeper then in the novel.
One of these events, an attempted suicide by Ethan's lover Mattie, was absent from the book yet again helps the viewing audience to feel the intense emotions of the movie.
Well-chosen deletions from the book also help pacing while not infringing on its essence.Perhaps the greatest attribute of "Ethan Frome" is its high-quality acting.
Liam Neeson, staring as Ethan Frome, delivers an astounding performance.
Patricia Arquette equalizes Neeson's performance as Ethan's forbidden love Mattie Silver.
There are several scenes in which dialogue is not needed to understand what Arquette's character is feeling.
Lastly, Joan Allen does a phenomenal job in portraying Ethan's sickly wife Zeena.
Though not as antagonistic as in the novel, she none-the-less conveys a meaningful performance.What gives the movie version of Ethan Frome the edge over its book counterpart is the visual experience and the haunting soundtrack.
"Ethan Frome" wonderfully tells the story that Edith Wharton meant to in her novel.
Outstanding acting and beautiful camera work make "Ethan Frome" a deeply moving film.
Those who read the book will be mystified by the superiority of the movie over the novel.
As a whole, "Ethan Frome" is highly recommended..
Subtle and powerful adaptation of Edith Wharton's novella..
These are New England country folks, as quiet and as repressed as they are in Edith Wharton's novel.
Wharton chose to write a tragedy, and this movie captures the essence of Wharton's vision far better than The Age of Innocence, thanks largely to the direction and the superb cast.
Ethan Frome (1993)This is a classic Edith Wharton melodrama, a hyper-romantic short novel that has turned on and turned off many high schoolers and literature majors over the years.
It's a great story and it's hard to go totally wrong with it, but it's an old fashioned story, and more slow and steady than filled with amazing or surprising turns and emotional insights.Another way to put it is: it isn't a Bronte novel.So a movie version of Ethan Frome has to find some way of pulling us in very deeply, through characterization, through ambiance, through an attention so small things that make the main plot take on resonance.
We watch the title character, played by Liam Neeson, with a growing sense of calm partly because of the camera.
I think this is meant to imply a formality to life at the turn of the century (the book was written in 1911 and set a few years earlier).
I must say outright that this book is one of the best Edith Wharton books you could possibly read, so I was a little dubious going into this film.I was pleasantly surprised though by the detail and care that the director and actors put into it, although I would quibble with one point- I found that rather than the Whartonian 'repression', the performers seemed to be awkwardly stumbling with their emotions- it's a fine line to be sure.Liam Neeson does a wonderful job in this film, beautifully nuanced performance, and Joan Allen (as always) just about walks away with the film.Absolutely worth a viewing, but try the book first, it's superb..
I felt that Ethan Frome was EXTREMELY well acted by all; however, this bleak, depressing drama was very slow moving and lacked intensity which I think would have added to the romantic plot.
A deeply flawed adaption of Edith Wharton's novel.
The 1993 British-American television production ETHAN FROME is an adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1911 novel about star-crossed lovers in late 19th-century Massachusetts.
Though Wharton was a wealthy New York socialite, she had glimpses of New England village life, and it was the harsh winters, dire poverty and cruel gossip of this region that she sought to portray.
The eponymous character (played by Liam Neeson) is a young farmer in the fictional Massachusetts community of Starkfield, whose dreams of making something of himself are dashed by the early death of his parents and then his marriage to the sickly Zenobia "Zeena" Frome (Joan Allen).
When Zeena's cousin beautiful cousin Mattie Silver (Patricia Arquette) comes to help out in the house, Ethan's heart is thawed, but ultimately the uncompromising conditions of Starkfield life bring Ethan and Mattie to a tragedy.The plot of a pair of star-crossed lovers is rather overdone, but ETHAN FROME is interesting in its depiction of a Massachusetts village in the late 19th century, complete with characters speaking in dialect and a description of country farmhouses.
This adaptation does a decent job of presenting those strengths of the novel.
It also offers an improvement on the novel in that it tweaks Wharton's risible climax -- Ethan and Mattie deciding to escape this cruel world by sledding down a hill into a big elm tree, the stupidest means of suicide in all of literature -- to be more believable.The adaption is flawed, however, by a number of factors.
One is the decision to change the framing story of Wharton's novel.
In the book, the visitor to Starkfield who spurs the flashback is an engineer who wonders why Frome is so taciturn.
In this film, however, the visitor is the town's new preacher, just out of seminary, who protests against Frome being shunned by the town.
Wharton's portrayal of a man who walls himself off by the world after multiple tragedies is replaced, then, by an element completely unknown to the novel: the castigation of the villagers as ignoring basic Christian charity.
Another unwelcome change is that Ethan and Mattie sleep together, while in Wharton's novel the characters seem incapable under their dire circumstances of having even a physical relationship.
Also, Liam Neeson offers some of the best acting in the film, but he's 10 years too old to play this role.I first saw this film when it was shown on PBS nearly two decades ago, and it works well enough as passive entertainment on television, but this is a second-rate affair in many ways and I cannot recommend getting the DVD..
Very few movies or novels affect me this strongly nowadays!The depiction is bleak but romantic, tender, and very, very fine.
This is one of the more enjoyable novels I have read in high school and I think this film adaptation fits the book very well.
It is about the life of husband Ethan Frome (Liam Leeson) and his disabled wife, Zeena Frome (Joan Allen).
They hire a young woman, Mattie Silver (Patricia Arquette), to help tend to household needs and, as time passes, she and Ethan fall in love.I've found this movie to be quite enjoyable and engaging, as its drama and plot are enthralling and beautifully depicted.
The plot does flow well as the movie is faithfully executed in accordance with the novel and the acting is quite astounding for the most part.
The characters especially the three leads are sympathetic and phenomenal - you feel the suffering Zeena's illness is causing her and the complexity surrounding the forbidden love of Ethan and Mattie.
The simplicity of the Victorian town the movie is set in and the snowy weather give the story a solemn atmosphere.If you have read the novel before watching this film, you will still feel intrigued by the plot and find the course of the events suspenseful, wondering how everything will play out at the end.
It's a good piece of movie drama that is a must-see.Grade B+.
Based on the book by Edith Wharton, XIX century renowned American writer, is a drama that reflects in a painful way the sufferings of a poor peasant family in rural New England.
An unknown narrator takes care to present the story to the viewer in flashback after the arrival of a new pastor who decide to visit his parishioners one by one until it meets with the main characters.
Good performance by Liam Neeson.
ETHAN FROME (1993) *** Liam Neeson, Patricia Arquette, Joan Allen, Tate Donovan.
Edith Wharton's classic Gothic Tragedy comes to fruition in this bleak and romantic story of unadultarated forbidden love set in 19th century New England.
New England love triangle gone bad.
I always thought that Edith Wharton was an interesting author and I had been meaning to read the book since high school but never got around to doing so.
The interiors are dreary, the characters dreary, and the story dreary.
The crippled body and unfriendly personality of Ethan Frome greets a newly arrived visitor in that small New England town where Frome has a farm.
The town minister Tate Donovan tells the reason why.Back in the day Frome played here by Liam Neeson was a typical tightlipped New England farmer trying his best to eke out a living on the played out soil that characterized New England in the day.
He has to do the work of two because his wife Joan Allen is a sickly sort.
The fetching Patricia Arquette brings out some emotions that Neeson hasn't felt in years.
But this is a most conservative rural part of New England and besides Neeson has the usual guilt pangs in regard to Allen.
In the end it all turns out rather badly for Neeson and Arquette and let's say in the matter physical and mental well being the tables have been drastically turned.
Ethan Frome never got a big screen treatment before and I can see why, it's a real downer of a story.
There was also a TV special which starred Sterling Hayden as Ethan Frome, casting very much in line with using Liam Neeson here.The cinematography depicting New England of the 1890s was superb I don't think Edith Wharton would have any complaints.
I don't think it's the best of her novels though, I'm not even sure what the point of her story was.
Still Neeson, Arquette, and Allen deliver fine performances and devotees of Edith Wharton should be pleased..
Very good adaptation of the book.
Very good adaptation of a classic book.
The characters in the novel: Zeena, Maggie and Ethan, are etched on to full screen very much as they appear in Edith Wharton's novel.
The most intriguing aspects of the film center on Ethan's wife, Zeena, even though she is not a co-protagonist.
Poorly adapted, brilliantly acted.
Although I found the acting excellent, and the cinematography beautiful, I was extremely disappointed with the adaptation.One of the significant portions of the novella is the fact that Ethan and Mattie decide to kill themselves, rather than go on.
This is never presented in the movie, they show it as if it were a sledding accident.The character changes in Mattie and Zenna are almost non-existent.
While in the novella they almost change places, at the end of this adaptation it appears as if they are both invalids.Lastly that Mattie and Ethan consummate their relationship fully nearly destroys the power and poignancy of the finale.The change of the narrator being a preacher was one effective change.Neeson and Arquette are superb in their portrayals.
Joan Allen was also wonderful, however her character was much watered down from Whartons novella.I do not expect films to faithfully portray novels, but this one went to far and in the process nearly destroyed the story.Overall, I would not recommend watching this film unless you have read the book as you will come away confused and disappointed..
John Madden's cinematic interpretation of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome falls short of doing justice to a great literary piece.
While the story is maintained the elements that give the novella its soul are skewered and all in all lost in the film.
Madden fails to convey the innocence, and overall tragedy of Ethan and Mattie's relationship instead transforming it into a morality tale.
Zeena (Zenobia) in the book is almost completely the antagonist, the books least sympathetic figure, where in the movie she can be almost pitied though it's a stretch you kind of feel bad for this sick woman who is being cheated on.
The book more accurately describes Zeena's tyrannical control of the house and of Ethan.
Film mistakes: Ethan's elusiveness in the church dance scene, interactions with Denis Eady, addition of love scene, fox scene, store scene, saying his plans allowed, lack of displays of Ethan's inner emotions and thoughts, introduction of the priest instead of nameless engineer, let on to much that Zeena knows about the growing relationship where in novel reader never knows what Zeena is thinking or aware of.
Based on the novel, Ethan Frome (1911), by Edith Wharton.I watched the movie, then I read the book, then I watched the movie again (and again), it's easier than reading the book again, but I'm going to do that too.
The love story breaks through the arid shell of real life—oh, so brieflyEthan (Neeson) wants more, Mattie (Arquette) wants more, the viewer wants more Every other character in the story seems to, well, not "want" less but be all too righteously satisfied with less.
Except for a brief whirl of a dance scene, there are no smiles on the faces of any of the other characters who live dried up lives, and disdain the spark of love and life in Ethan and Mattie.
Doubtless, the town folk see a pitiless moral lesson in the damaged life of Ethan Frome and the love he must keep stuffed inside him.