In the essay “Calvinist Tortures in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome” by Carol J. Singley, Wharton’s connection to Calvinism is examined along with its effect on the novella. Wharton’s connection to modernism is also closely scrutinized. Singley believed that even though Wharton wasn’t associated with Calvinism or modernism, her experiences with these two ideas showed through prominently in the novella. In Wharton’s childhood, she was obsessed with morality and truthfulness. She was very spiritual from a young age, and was drawn to the doctrines of Calvinism. As she grew up, she still adhered to being truthful, but her love of Calvinism diminished due to its rigidity and strictness. Wharton saw her mother much like the oppressive God found in the Calvinist doctrines, and tried to push them away. Her mother’s characteristics are seen in the character of Zeena in the novella, acting as an oppressive force to Ethan’s true desires. While trying to live up to her mother’s standards, Wharton married a man that got her approval, but the marriage was loveless. Later on in her life, she met another man who she fell in love with. She had an affair with this man until the morality of it got to her. The standards that she lived by her whole life caught up to her, and she couldn’t live with the guilt. She began to believe that there was no hope for her spiritually. To overcome these issues, she wrote Ethan Frome with little to no option for any of the characters to gain spiritual redemption in order for her to make up for her wrongdoings. Her situation and struggles with her Calvinist moral codes showed through in the character of Ethan and what he had to endure. She believed there was no spiritual redemption for her, and made Ethan the same way. This novel is similar to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter in that respect. Wharton’s modernist message in the novella is that once a good thing is lost, it can never be regained even after death, which coincides with Ethan’s manner and situation after the accident.
Singley presents her argument thoroughly in this essay. All information presented gives insight into the mind of Wharton and the novella itself. A deeper meaning to Ethan Frome can be seen after the essay is read. I agree that Wharton both showed her Calvinist and modernist views through writing this novella, and it showed the thought behind it as a whole. Through reading this essay, I could gain a better understanding of Ethan’s mentality and the torture that he was going through. Viewing the novella in this way makes it an even bleaker story, as when put into this light, there was no hope for Ethan, or any of the characters for that matter, to ever be happy again.
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