Comparison of Jane Eyre and Ethan Frome
Strength of character is a predominant theme in Edith Wharton's novelEthan Frome and Charlotte BrontA«'s novel, Jane Eyre. While bothprotagonists experience hardships and difficulties, they deal with them invery different ways. Ethan Frome is paralyzed by his depressingcircumstances and never recovers from his personal tragedy. On the otherhand, Jane Eyre gains strength from her negative experiences and ultimatelyemerges triumphant and happy. This paper will examine the character ofEthan and Jane and how they cope with difficult situations. Ethan was an inward, sensitive person. We are told that he "had alwaysbeen more sensitive than the people about him to the appeal of naturalbeauty" (33). "He did not even know whether any one else in the world feltas he did, or whether he was the sole victim of this mournful privilege"(33-4). This description allows us to see that Ethan was a caring personand also felt obligated to take care of his ailing wife, regardless of his When Zeena tells Ethan that she never agreed to take Mattie on for life,Ethan begins to see Zeena's true nature. Zeena's harshness cause us tofeel sympathy for Ethan, especially after Zeena tells him, that
Despite her position and the way that society treats women in thenineteenth century, Jane believes that women can achieve great things. Jane is well aware that she is in control of her destiny. He was not only willing to take his own life but hers aswell. When Mattie confesses her love for him,the only thing he can come up with is following her advice to run the sledinto the tree. All the long misery of his baffled past, of his youth of failure, hardship and vain effort, rose up in his soul in bitterness and seemed to take shape before him in the woman who at every turn had barred his way. For instance, as a child, she is locked in the red room for her assertivebehavior. Our feelings for Ethan are acombination of sympathy for his awful situation and anger at him forallowing things to become as bad as they have. The more solitary, the morefriendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself"(231). Jane expresses an independent attitude that was almost unheard of inher time. I shall continue to act as Adele's governess:by that I shall earn my board and lodgings" (198). When he attacks her by asking who would care for her in thisworld, she tells, him "I care for myself. PerhapsZeena made him feel as though he never deserved a good life. We are told herreply was: like a knife-cut across the sinews and he felt suddenly weak and powerless . When Jane discovers the truth about Rochester's wife, she againexperiences serious doubts about her life.
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Acceptance Essays
