Ethan Frome Study Guide
Answer on a separate sheet of paper.
Due:_____________
Introduction
1. Who is the author of this novel? Edith Wharton
2. In what year was the novel published? 1911
3. What is the setting? Starkfield, Massachusetts- New England town, harsh and
beautiful
4. Describe Ethan as the narrator first sees him at the post office. Striking figure, ruin
of a man; careless, powerful look; lameness; old man look
5. Who is Harmon Gow? He drove the stage between Bettsbridge and Starkfield- knew
everything about the families on his line
6. Why is the narrator in town? Sent up by employers on a job with the big
powerhouseat Corbury Junction then because of a strike, he became stuck in
Starkfield
7. With whom does he lodge? Middle-aged widow- Mrs. Hale and her mother Who was
her father? The village lawyer
8. What is the lady's attitude toward gossip about Ethan? She wouldn’t talk about him
9. What do we find out about Ethan's mother? She went crazy because of loneliness;
depressed; died
10. What do we find out about Ethan's father? Got hurt out haying and went soft in the
brain and start giving away money before he died
11. How is Ethan compared to the landscape? Explain. He has become part of the frozen,
lonely landscape
12. How does the narrator end up at Ethan's house? The snowstorm was too bad for them
to continue so Frome offers the narrator shelter at his house
Chapter One
13. What do we find out about Ethan's education? Took one year in college, stopped
because of father’s death
14. Who leads the Virginia Reel? Denis Eady With whom? Mattie Silver
15. What is Ethan's relationship with Mattie Silver? His wife’s cousin; she helps at home
16. Why does he like her? She brought life to the house; he could show her things and
tell her things; she shared his love of nature
17. How does Ethan make Mattie seem like a more efficient housekeeper? He gets up early
to light the kitchen fire; neglects the mill to help around the house
18. What does Zeena hint about Mattie to Ethan? Denis Eady and Mattie are going to get
married
Chapter Two
19. Who tries to take Mattie home? Denis Eady
20. What does Ethan promise Mattie for the following evening? To go coasting/sledding
21. What almost happened to Ned Hale and Ruth Varnum? They almost have an accident/
run into the tree
22. Does Mattie plan to leave the Frome's? No, she has no family and no where to go
23. What is unusual about their return home? Zeena has not left the key out
24. Why does Zeena say she is awake? She has felt especially mean (sick) and she could
not sleep
Chapter Three
25. What is Mattie's history? Both of her parents have died and she is left with her
piano. She sells it for $50
26. What is meant by "Zenobia's fault-finding was of the silent kind"? she doesn’t speak
her disappointments
27. Why does Ethan expect trouble from Zenobia? She talks of Mattie’s faults
28. Where is Zeena going? Why? She is going to the new doctor in Bettsbridge because
she has gotten worse
29. Why can't Ethan drive her to catch the train? He has to cut wood for extra money
and wants to collect the money from Hale
30. Why does Ethan regret the lie? Zeena will spend the extra money on medicines if she
thinks he has money
31. How old is Zenobia? How old is Ethan? 35; 28
Chapter Four
32. How does Ethan visualize the upcoming evening? As if he and Mattie are husband and
wife
33. How was Zeena as a nurse? She was efficient; her household skills dazzled him
34. Why does Ethan marry Zeena? She took care of his mother and he needed someone
to take care of him and the household; he didn’t want to be alone
35. Why don't Ethan and Zeena move away from Starkfield? She becomes ill
36. What does Ethan think about Zeena's silences? either because of life on the farm or
because Ethan never listened
37. Why doesn't Hale pay Ethan for the logs? He’s fixing a place up for Ned and Ruth
38. How does Mattie "dress up"? She’s wearing a crimson ribbon
39. What is broken by the cat? The pickle dish
40. Why is it so serious that this "thing" is broken? It is Zeena’s prize possession and she
never takes it down from its spot. She and Ethan received it as a wedding gift and
they have never used it. She knows it was used by Ethan and Mattie.
Chapter Five
41. Why don't Mattie and Ethan go coasting? It’s too dark; there’s no moon
42. What is so dangerous about the Corbury Road sledding place? The big elm at the
bottom of the hill
43. Does anything happen between Mattie and Ethan that night? No; he realizes that he
hasn’t even touched her hand
Chapter Six
44. Who joins Mattie and Ethan for breakfast? Jotham Powell
45. Why does Ethan need glue? To put the pickle dish back together
46. Who is home for dinner? Zeena Frome
Chapter Seven
47. What had Dr. Buck told Zeena about her health? She has gotten worse
48. What does Zeena announce she is going to do? She is going to get a new hired girl
and get rid of Mattie
49. What do Ethan and Mattie fight about?
50. How does Zeena catch Ethan in his lie?
51. What does Zeena discover when she looks for her powders? The broken pickle dish
52. Whom does she blame and why? Mattie; she is already jealous of Mattie’s liveliness
and happiness, so this is something else to hold against her
Chapter Eight
53. What does Ethan tell Zeena in the letter? Maybe they’ll both do better separate
54. Why does he abandon the plan to run away with Mattie? He doesn’t have any money
55. Why doesn't Ethan ask the Hales for the money? He didn’t want to get money from
them by lying
Chapter Nine
56. What is Zeena's attitude during the dinner? She eats and feels better than she has
in a while
57. Who will drive Mattie to catch her train? Jotham is supposed to but Ethan does
58. How does Zenobia react to this? She is angry and tries to find work for Ethan but
he ignores her
59. What happened to Ethan's unfinished letter to Zeena? Mattie finds it and tears it up
60. Whose sled do they borrow? Ruth and Ned’s
61. Who suggests the suicide run? Mattie
62. What do Ethan and Mattie realize when they hear the bells chime? Mattie will miss
her train, but she has no where to go anyway
63. What is the result of the suicide run? They are not successful. They do not die;
they just severely injure themselves
Epilogue
64. When does this part of the story take place? Back in the present/ the flashback
ends and our frame story is completed
65. What is the status of the three main characters at the end of this story?
Ethan- takes care of the farm, has no quality of life, lives in misery because he took
everything away from the woman he loves
Zeena- takes care of Mattie, gets what she deserves
Mattie- cannot enjoy her life, paralyzed, is with Ethan but there is no love, they are
both sad