edith wharton

Biographical Sketch Edith Wharton was born on January 24, 1862 in New York City. She was born to an upper class family that traveled frequently to and through Europe. Wharton had private tutors, therefore she did not attend public school. (“Edith Wharton” 1). At the early age of sixteen she already had numerous poems published. (“Edith Wharton” 1)According to Dwight, “She was born a storyteller”, this is seen through her over forty books, including Ethan Frome, and The Age of Innocence, which won the Pulitzer Prize. Wharton was also very passionate about architecture, she wrote books on how to design and ultimately designed her own house, formally known as, the Mount. (“Edith Wharton” 1). She was married early, at the age of 23, on April 29, 1885 to Edward Wharton in New York City. (Campbell 1). Ethan Frome written by Wharton in 1911 is highly influenced by the atmosphere, people, and situations during Wharton’s residency in Berkshire. To begin, the location of Berkshire alone had tremendous influence in the New England setting of Ethan Frome. This quote from Wharton’s, A Backward Glance reveals how that came to be, “My two New England tales, ‘Ethan Frome’ and ‘Summer,’ were the result of explorations among villages still bedrowsed in a decaying rural existence, and sad slow-speaking people living in conditions hardly changed since their forbears held those villages against the Indians. (Wharton 153-154). This quote reveals how Wharton felt while staying in Bershire, just before she moved and wrote Ethan Frome in Paris. Wharton was born into an aristocratic family, which differed from most of the residents in Berkshire. (“Edith Wharton” 1). This is significant because most if not all the characters in the story were poor and worked on farms, just like the residents of Berkshire. Also in the quote, Wharton says, “living in conditions hardly changed since their forbears” (Wharton 154), which could have influenced the Frome family. The Frome’s have done the same thing on the same farm for generations in the story. Moving right along, the state of Wharton’s marriage in Berkshire proved to be the main influence in Ethan Frome. However, before her marriage the constant travel of Wharton had to put a halt in her writing. (Gale 1). This connects to Ethan having to put off going to college to take care of his sick mother. Wharton’s valued traveling and writing and her marriage brought this. (“Edith Wharton Facts” 1). Her marriage however, did not end well; Edward grew sick and “he had none of her artistic or intellectual interests and their marriage was very unhappy.” (Dwight 1). The marriage, after Wharton was forced to care for Edward, ultimately ended in a divorce. This is a major event of Wharton’s life, which leads the reader to infer that Wharton’s marriage is seen in Ethan’s marriage. They are almost exact in that Zeenoba grew sick before making Mattie depart, and the failing marriage between Ethan and Zeena. Before the divorce Wharton had a relationship, well friendship, with a man named James. In her autobiography Wharton states that she remembers spending extra time getting ready when meeting James. (Wharton 172-173). This could have influenced the extra time Ethan takes in shaving and grooming himself every morning before meeting Mattie. The decision to attempt to commit suicide by Ethan and Mattie was influenced by a true event that occurred in Berkshire. Four teens sledding on a hill slammed into a pole, which killing one girl and injuring other teens. This affected Edith Wharton and may have influenced her to include that part at the end of Ethan Frome. (Campbell 1). In conclusion, Ethan Frome can be summarized by the time Edith Wharton spent in Berkshire. The area influenced the setting, characters, and even the main conflict in the story. The obvious difference between Wharton’s social class and the residents of Berkshire influenced the characters of the story. Tragedies in Berkshire also influenced Edith. Marriage, a very important aspect in anybodies life, did not end well for Wharton. This leads the reader to believe that this dismaying event in her life, just before moving to Paris where she wrote Ethan Frome, clearly influenced the conflict in the story.