Ethan Frome (main character of Ethan Frome) was a man who lived in his own world of silence. Ethan also lived in the small, dark town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. He was the "most striking figure" in his town yet he was but "the ruin of a man". By many people Ethan was mistaken for an old man though he was "not more than fifty-two. This narration is a far cry from the character of Newland Archer (main character in The Age of Innocence). Newland was a dashing young man who was part of New York's finest society. Though only thirty years old he "read more, thought more, and even seen a good deal more of the world than any other man of his Fifth Avenue set". However these two diametric characters can be compared with one another. Due to certain circumstances, the deviousness of their wives, and being tragic characters both men were unable to be with the women their hearts truly yearned for. Ethan Frome had lost his father to a horrendous accident. Soon after this ordeal Ethan's mother became ill. He was now left alone to carry the burden of the families' farm and mill. But there was a hope for Ethan- Zeena. Zeena was able to help Ethan take care of his ill mother. She "seemed to understand his case at a glance". Zeena would tell him to "go right out along" while she took care of things. This gave Ethan a restored sense of being and "magnified his sense of what he owed her". After Ethan's mother passed away he felt a sudden sense of loneliness; soon he asked Zeena to stay with him. Once they were married Ethan would sell the farm and become an engineer. He reasoned that with a "smart wife like Zeena, it would not be long before he had made himself a place in it". But this idea would soon come to a crashing halt. Ethan realized that Zeena knew so much about medicine because of her own symptoms. Zeena was now . . . "ugly and sickly cold l...