Within Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome there is one consistent ideal that stands out, the ideal of human suffering. Ethan Frome is chained to his horrible, annoying wife Zeena and has to take care of her constantly. Frome also suffered the same treatment at the hands of his mother and the transition of suffering from his mother to Zeena is almost seamless. When it seems he can escape his suffering with the temptress, Mattie Silver, he is humiliated and restored to his humble position. Zeena herself suffers because she is constantly ill and cannot take care of herself. Mattie is also in excruciating pain and is almost completely paralyzed and forced to be treated by Zeena and Ethan. However, as can be seen, of the three circumstances in which everyone suffers severely, Ethan suffers the worst. Ethan Frome, throughout the titular novel, suffers horribly and is responsible for only very little; he is simply a victim of circumstance. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One of the main ways in which Ethan Frome suffers is that he is constantly a slave to his wife and mother. Ethan had a supposedly normal childhood, however, when he tries to escape Starkfield for good, he is brought back from college to care for his ailing mother who treats him badly. As said by Harmon Gow, “Someone had to stay and take care of the people. There was never anyone but Ethan” (Wharton 6). It is during this time that he meets Zeena, who will eventually become his wife. Soon after her mother's death, Zeena takes the place of Ethan's mother, increasing his misery and suffering. Ethan cannot control the events that happen to him. He is the victim of a horrible circumstance and is completely trapped in his morality of decency. The fact that Ethan is a decent man is the only thing that can be controlled by him, and by making the moral choice to stick to his morals he finds himself in a position of agony. The reader can see his apprehension in leaving Zeena due to her morals, and even after his near-death experience Ethan says that he "should give him his food" showing his compassion towards a simple horse and if we delve deeper his compassion towards the terrible Zeena. This continued prolongation of Ethan's horrible human condition and abusive treatment from both his mother and Zeena lead Ethan to dream and hope to escape Starkfield, which leads to more pain and suffering. Ethan Frome's suffering continues and to this day is not caused by Ethan but by the temptress, albeit involuntary, Mattie Silver. Mattie is everything Ethan dreams and desires, yet he cannot escape the horrible tyrant Zeena who has him under her control. Ethan dreams of escape, as any physical person in his situation would, and sees Mattie as his true love and his chance to escape. It's not Ethan's fault because he's been repressed and tortured for so long that all he has is hope and Mattie herself personifies hope. Ethan sees her as “taller, fuller, and more feminine in form and movement” (Wharton 71), and she is all that is missing from his life. This causes Ethan enormous suffering as his hope and love for Mattie grows, only to be horribly stripped away as the fruit of Tantalus. This creates such horrible suffering and none of it is directly the result of Ethan. Another major way in which Ethan suffers as a victim of circumstance is in the abysmal results of the great Starkfield incident. Ethan himself is physically paralyzed and maimed for life, adding great pain to his daily suffering, and no longer has the…..