In the novel Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton draws many parallels .

             between the plot of the novel and its setting. The setting of a cold .

             and gloomy winter makes for an inevitably cold and gloomy plot. Ethan, .

             Zeena, and Mattie all contribute to the gloominess of this plot by .

             either making it worse, or having the chance to improve their .

             circumstances and not taking it.

             Ethan Frome, a New England farmer, is a very complex, .

             sensitive, and emotional man, yet no one besides the reader is let in .

             on this little secret. He feels a great deal of love towards Mattie, .

             and a great deal of hate towards Zeena, but these feelings are unknown .

             to the women because he cannot express them. Like most men, Ethan is .

             afraid to express his feelings to anyone, and because of this problem, .

             he and Mattie end up crippled and in a constant state of misery, while .

             the one from whom they are trying to escape ends up as their .

             caretaker. Ethan's feelings are like the sun that does not shine .

             during this gloomy winter. And had this sun shone down on the trio, .

             they could have ended up in a much better state than they did. Perhaps .

             Mattie and Ethan wouldn't have felt that a double suicide was their .

             only way out, and maybe (but probably not) Zeena would have understood .

             that Ethan never loved her, and that it was a one-sided marriage from .

             the beginning.

             Zeena is a mean, bitter, hypochondriac who has nothing better .

             to do with her time than to make her husband's life a living hell. .

             Actually, she has better things to do with her time, but she's a .

             hypochondriac, so she always has an excuse for why she can't. She .

             shows no sensitivity towards anyone other than herself. Even when she .

             realizes that Ethan loves Mattie, instead of her, she shows no .

             sensitivity towards the couple, and instead ruins the fate of them and .

             herself by trying to send Mattie away. Zeena is much like the bitter .

             winter that shows no sympathy to the rest of the world.