Symbolism in the Ethan Frome Novel by Edith Wharton - Research Paper Example

Symbolism of the Cat, the Red Scarf, and the Pickle Dish in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome Outline Contents Contents The Cat 1 The Pickle Dish 3 Introduction Symbols are things or objects that represent an idea or concept. Symbolism is a style used to express a given concept figuratively (Foster 107). In the novel Ethan Frome, there are many uses of symbolism. Some of the symbols the author uses include the winter and cold, the dead cucumber vine over the door, darkness, birds, the landscape and setting, the elm tree, the cat, the pickle dish and the red scarf and ribbon. All these represent something in the life of Ethan, who is the main character. The Cat The author portrays the cat as being loyal to Zeena. Even in her absence, the cat comes out as Zeena’s eyes. It represents her presence in the house even when she is physically not present. Being an ally to Zeena, one may conclude that Ethan and Mattie’s actions in the absence of Zeena made the cat uncomfortable. The actions of the cat while in the presence of both Ethan and Mattie well demonstrates this notion. On the night Zeena goes to Bettsbridge to get her medicine, Ethan and Mattie have dinner together. However, it does not end well as the cat breaks Zeena’s pickle dish. During the meal, just when Ethan and Mattie are about to eat, the cat jumps between them and settles into Zeena’s empty seat (Wharton 48). That is a form of interruption to them. It is as if the cat does not approve what they are doing. That also shows that the cat may have sensed the desire between the two. The cat is also uncomfortable when Ethan and Mattie first make contact while reaching out for the handle. As it retreats from this scene, it backs into the pickle dish, which falls on the floor and breaks (Wharton 49). One may take that the cat may have broken the dish on purpose to demonstrate disapproval. With the pickle dish broken, the cat succeeds in exposing Ethan and Mattie’s adventures that evening. Zeena will now be able to know Mattie’s relationship with Ethan. After dinner, Ethan invites Mattie to sit close to him. That seems not to go down well with the cat as it jumps into Zeena’s chair and rolls itself into a ball. It lies there watching them with narrowed eyes. That further demonstrates Zeena’s presence in the house as the cat may have made Ethan and Mattie feel as though someone was watching them. The cat, therefore, is a constant reminder to Ethan of Zeena and the marriage. The Red Scarf The red scarf Mattie wears symbolizes many aspects especially in Mattie’s life. In the novel, the author implies that the red scarf makes her look beautiful and stand out even in a crowd. Ethan cannot help noticing Mattie and thus gets attracted to her. Due to its color, one may associate the scarf with passion, desire, lust, love, life, happiness and adventure (Conroy 9). The red scarf may therefore represent the sensual and passionate nature of Mattie. It may also symbolize Ethan’s passionate feelings for her. He is more passionate about her compared to his wife. In the instances where Ethan and Mattie are on their own, Mattie is wearing red. That greatly contributes to Ethan’s attraction to her. At the church, Ethan does not need to look so much for Mattie as she stands out with her red scarf. It may also seem that he is jealous as he watches her dance with someone else. That could be a clear sign of his attraction. When the two are having dinner together, Mattie has her red scarf on (Wharton 48). That does not escape Ethan’s attention as he later compliments her for it. One may conclude that Mattie wore the scarf on that night intentionally to seduce Ethan. The color red also symbolizes danger (Conroy 9). One may therefore conclude that the red scarf symbolized the danger Mattie posed to Ethan’s marriage. That is so because she eventually causes the breakup of the marriage. Though she may not be entirely to blame for the state of the marriage, she plays a role in the breakup. It is the events that occur during her stay in the homestead that lead to the end of the strenuous marriage. That leads to Zeena being bitter about her and wanting to send her away. Her betrayal of her cousin Zeena causes much harm to Zeena. The Pickle Dish During Zeena and Ethan’s wedding, a relative gave her a red pickle dish as a wedding present. The Pickle dish was Zeena’s favorite wedding present. She always placed it on an upper shelf of the closet and never used it. The Pickle dish, though ordinary, holds some sentimental value to Zeena. That is why she preserves it carefully only rarely using it. The dish plays a big symbolic role in the novel as it represents different aspects of Zeena and Ethan’s life. It symbolizes marriage and loyalty in the family. As a symbol of marriage, the red pickle dish represents the marriage between Zeena and Ethan. The colour of the dish is red. The color red is associated with desire, passion, love and seduction (Conroy 9). All these seem to be absent in Ethan’s marriage to Zeena. The unused pickle dish symbolizes this absent of passion and desire in their marriage, which, according to Ethan, makes his life pale. He finds his wife pale, unattractive and devoid of passion. The red color of the dish also has other attributes such as lust, seduction and sin. These come to the fore on the night when Ethan and Mattie are alone, and they have dinner together. Mattie sets the table and places the red pickle dish on the table to impress Ethan (Wharton 48). Ethan finds Mattie passionate, beautiful and lively. There is a growing lust within both of them. the fact that Mattie chooses to use the red pickle dish on that night may symbolize this growing lust and passion in them. During their dinner, the cat knocks the dish onto the floor, and it breaks (Wharton 49). Relating this incident to the marriage, one could argue that it symbolizes the breaking of Frome’s marriage. Given that the dish was rarely in use, it breaks on the day Mattie brings it out for use thus symbolizing the end of a marriage that was barely surviving. That devastates Zeena when she returns as she knows she has lost something she holds dear. That could also imply that she held the marriage dear and now that seems to have died too. The broken dish also marks the end of the pleasant evening that Ethan and Mattie were having. Mattie is distraught, and Ethan tries to calm her as he also tries to put the broken pieces together. One may interpret Ethan’s attempt to put the broken pieces together may be interpreted as a resolve by Ethan to try to mend his marriage. However, Zeena’s discovery of the broken dish upsets her. She treats it as though she were handling a dead being. She grieves probably in realization that her marriage is broken. The red pickle dish may also symbolize Mattie’s loyalty to Zeena. Being Zeena’s cousin, it would be expected that she would be loyal to her. She should therefore have done everything possible to help keep Zeena’s marriage alive. However, she uses the first chance she has to betray Zeena. When Zeena goes to get her medicine, she gets Zeena’s treasured dish out and sets to have dinner with Zeena’s husband. In so doing, she betrays Zeena and her marriage to Ethan. The breaking of the dish symbolizes this breaking of the relationship between the two women. That prompts Zeena to want to send Mattie away. Works Cited Beebe, Maurice. Literary Symbolism: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Literature. Literary Licensing, LLC, 2011. Conroy, Ellen. The Symbolism of Colour. Cornerstone Book Publishers, 2013. Ferber, Michael. A Dictionary of Literary Symbols 2 ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Foster, Thomas, C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor Revised Edition: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines. Harper Perennial, 2014. Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome. Dover Thrift ed. New York: Dover Publications. 1991. Print. Read More