Browse all of the Salem on Literature series

Ethan Frome (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)

At a glance:

Form and Content

Ethan Frome is unique among Edith Wharton’s works in that it tells the tale of an isolated drama, far from the urban and societal concerns of her longer novels. It is also distinctive in that it is a “framework story,” that is, a story within a story. Wharton’s “frame” takes the form of a narrator who introduces the end of the story (Ethan is seen in the present, at age fifty-two) and then provides a “vision” of prior events that becomes the story proper. Although some framework stories never return to the frame, such as Henry James’s...

[The entire page is 2422 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

Dictionary Tip:

Lookup any word on eNotes with our dictionary. Highlight the word and press SHIFT + D for a definition, or SHIFT + T for a synonym.