Red, White, and Love at First Sight: Color Imagery and Ethan’s Desperate Attempts at Love Anonymous 10th Grade

Those in poverty often find themselves frustrated by the lack of opportunity in their lives. In Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, a failing farmer named Ethan and his sick, estranged wife Zeena navigate personal and moral boundaries as life throws many obstacles in their way. The couple’s dynamic shifts when Mattie, Zeena’s cousin and their hired hand, moves in and steals Ethan’s affection. Mattie’s inefficient work in the home strains them further economically, and her youth and beauty make Zeena insecure. Ethan’s narrative illustrates how poverty drives people to pursue excitement and change; Wharton contrasts white and red throughout the novel to demonstrate how Mattie brings this color into Ethan’s life, despite the consequences.

In the beginning of the novel, Wharton utilized the color white to establish their hometown of Starkfield as a perpetual, bleak winter. She paired a description of the “grim” and harsh “white landscape” with the narrator’s observation of Starkfield’s “sluggish pulse”. The town’s climate reflects how Ethan is trapped in a loveless marriage with Zeena. He described her side of the bed as “winter darkness” (39) and admits that he wouldn’t marry her if his mother had died in the spring. This shows her...