Isolation as portrayed in Ethan Frome and Acquainted With the Night
             In both the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton and the poem Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost, the theme of isolation was quite evident. In the two
             of these literary works, the main characters are isolated both emotionally and physically.
             In Ethan Frome, the setting of Starkfield, Massachusetts isolates Ethan physically from a life of happiness. The author's specific use of Starkfield, in
             its etymology, is the essence of isolation. Starkfield can be disjoined into two words; "Stark" and "field". Stark, according to Webster's Dictionary means- barren, blunt, harsh and grim. These four adjectives very much describe Ethan and his hometown,
             Starkfield. Not only is Starkfield isolated figuratively, but also it is isolated geographically. It is a mountainous and snow-ridden area with very few inhabitants. The lack of movement and difficulty of travel in and around Starkfield isolate Ethan from the
             In the novel Ethan Frome, Ethan's relationship with his wife, Zeena, also contributes to his isolation. By characterization, Zeena isolates Ethan emotionally
             from his newly found love interest, Mattie. Zeena is characterized as being cold and unable to love anyone else but herself and therefore Ethan subconsciously searched for the missing affection elsewhere. Zeena was also a very sick woman with incurable sickness that strained Ethan's already pinched wallet. The simple economics of her illness, never being diagnosed, isolated Ethan from ever leaving the homestead for entertainment-related reasons.
             The poem "Acquainted with the Night", by Robert Frost, also stresses isolation of its main character, but symbolically. In line twelve, the poem reads as follows, "One luminary clock against the sky." Frost used symbolic language of the moon or luminary clock to emphasize night and darkness;
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