Questions+&+Overview

= Introduction-Chapter 1 = The narrator is visiting Starkfield, Massachusetts, a cold small town where the main character Ethan Frome lives with his wife Zeena (or Zenobia). The narrator inquires about Ethan after he sees him going to pick up something from the town post office. After being getting help from Ethan on his farm with and L shaped house, he's asked to spend the night and the story begins. Ethan is watching a girl dance inside of a church with a charismatic man named Denis Eady. Ethan is picking up on the tiny details, like the red scarf she's wearing on her head. As the dancing comes to a close, the girl he was watching exits the building, is asked by Denis Eady to come home with him, but finally joins Ethan Frome instead. We discussed Ethan's secret adoration of Mattie Silver and how Denis Eady may affect that. We also mentioned what we think Ethan will do about his love for Mattie even though he is married to Zeena. We talked about the theme, vocabulary, symbols, archetypes, real-world connections, and questions.
 * __ Level One Questions __**
 * What is the 'L'?
 * Where is Mattie from and why did she move?
 * Why do they refer to Zeena as sickly?
 * __ Level Two Questions __**
 * What do you think will happen with Mattie and Denis Eady? Do you think they'll get married?
 * What do you think Ethan will do about the fact that he likes Mattie?
 * How are Ethan Frome and Denis Eady similar and different?
 * __ Level Three Questions __**
 * Is it ever okay to love/like someone else other than your husband or wife, and still be with them? Why or why not?
 * What would you do in Ethan's situation where you were married and started to love someone else?
 * Do people love with one eye open? Do we look for love even when we thought we found it? Explain.
 * __ Overview __**
 * __ Discussion Overview __**

= Chapter 2-Chapter 3 = Level one questions Level two questions Level three questions Overview After the dance lets out, Ethan hides from Mattie in the shadows until everyone had left. Eady offers Mattie a ride home, but still with a hope Ethan will show, she turns down his offer. Ethan emerges and they walk home together. They talk about going sledding and Ethan says he will take her when the moon is out next. Mattie slips and Ethan puts his arm around her to catch her. When they get to the back door, Zeena is still awake and grouchily lets them in. The next day Ethan goes to work without saying a word to Zeena. He returns home to find Zeena is leaving town to see a new doctor, and Ethan is relieved at this information. Discussion Overview We discussed Mattie and Ethan's relationship and how the author makes it sound like Mattie is fairly young compared to Ethan, who sounds much older. The author also makes it sound like Zeena is an old grouch, and that she is unpleasant and unlovable because it seems like she is coming between "true love" between Ethan and Mattie. We also predicted that Ethan and Mattie would go sledding, crash into the dangerous tree that killed another couple not too long ago, and Mattie would die while leaving only a scar on Ethan's head that the author had previously described in the introduction. Also, we predicted that after Mattie dies, Zeena will be mad at Ethan for going sledding with her, so she will break up with him.
 * Why didn't Zeena put out a key for Ethan and Mattie?
 * Why did Ethan lie to his wife so he didn't have to drive her to the train station?
 * Who was going to drive Zeena to the train station?
 * Why didn't Mattie ride with Eady when he offered her a ride?
 * Why did Ethan hide in the shadows when Mattie came out of the dance?
 * Why didn't Ethan kiss Mattie when he had the chance?
 * Does a wife have the right to be suspicious of her husband hanging out with another girl? Explain.
 * Is is necessary to ever give a test of faith to your spouse? Explain.
 * Can you ever hide true love? Explain.

Zeena and Jotham leave for Bettsbridge, leaving Ethan and Mattie in the house alone. Ethan leaves to receive his payment for lumber from Andrew Hale, as he told Zeena he would, but Hale is not able to due to financial struggles. In this section, we learn that Zeena helped nurse Ethan's sick mother, and Ethan married Zeena for comfort and to avoid loneliness when his mother died. During Ethan's walk back to the farm, he sees a couple kissing in the same spot he and Mattie were in the night before. As he walks, he continues to think about Mattie and passes by his ancestors' gravestone that writes, "dwelled together in peace for fifty years," and ponders if he and Zeena will have the same words. Ethan arrives home to Mattie and they begin to have dinner. During the dinner, Zeena's cat jumps up onto the table and breaks Zeena's treasured dish that Mattie has been forbidden to use. After supper, Mattie and Ethan sit down to conversate and the subject of sledding together comes up, again. During their conversation, Zeena's cat leaps from Zeena's rocking chair, startling Mattie and Ethan and reminding them of Zeena, leading the two to say goodnight and part to their separate rooms. During our discussion, summarized the section and talked about Ethan's reasons for his marriage with Zeena. We came to the conclusion that Ethan and Mattie's relationship will soon intensify and Zeena's arrival back home will only make Ethan and Mattie want to see each other more. We also connected the cat to Zeena and decided that the cat represents Zeena, watching over Ethan and Mattie and continuing to remind them that her presence is still there. The broken dish represents Ethan and Zeena's relationship, and as the dish broke in this section, it symbolizes Ethan and Zeena's relationship also starting to break and fall apart.
 * Chapter 4- Chapter 5 **
 * __ Level One Questions __**
 * Why did Ethan and Zeena get married?
 * Why were Ethan's dreams of selling the farm and moving to a bigger town hindered?
 * What was broken at the dinner table while Ethan and Mattie were having dinner? Who broke it?
 * __ Level Two Questions __**
 * Why is it ironic that Ethan passes by his ancestor's grave?
 * What is the significance of Mattie using Zeena's treasured plate?
 * What do the cat and plate symbolize?
 * __ Level Three Questions __**
 * Could you find true love or your "soul mate" more than once? Why do you think so/not?
 * Is it morally acceptable to marry somebody for security, prosperity, comfort, ect. even if you didn't truly love them? Why or why not?
 * When is it better to lie to someone rather than telling the truth?
 * __ Overview __**
 * __ Discussion Overview __**

= Chapter 6- Chapter 7 = **__Level One__** **__Level Two__** **__Level Three__** **__Overview__** Ethan is tying up loose ends with an old friend named Jotham, who’s going to pick his wife up from the doctors. Ethan is also trying to find a way to fix the wedding gift him and Mattie broke on their “date”. After scrambling to find some glue, he comes home only to find his wife has already arrived. He inquires her about her doctor’s visit and finds out that she has become sicker. Zeena also is not allowed to do any household chores anymore. She wants to hire a maid. Ethan, sick with love, wants Mattie to be the maid but Zeena says that she must be put out. Ethan battles with her, but in the end Zeena gets what she wants. Mattie asks them to come down for dinner. Ethan comes on down only to tell Mattie she must leave. In an odd turn of events, Mattie kisses him randomly. Zeena comes down stairs after all, and asks for the wedding gift to use for dinner. Solemnly Mattie does what she’s told and gets the broken dish down. In a rage Zeena tells Mattie she is to leave.
 * Who goes to get Zeena from the Doctors?
 * Where is Zeena’s doctor located?
 * What did Ethan plan on doing to fix Zeena’s wedding gift?
 * Will Mattie be able to stay or will she go?
 * What is Zeena’s real reason for not liking Mattie?
 * What in Ethan or in Zeena allows Zeena to run the household, and make the household decisions?
 * Why when something goes wrong, life makes it hard to cover up what you’ve done?
 * What in marriages or relationships can cause one spouse to dominate the other?
 * Could you ever put out a family member who means well but has a difficult way of showing it out on the streets? If so why? Explain.

**__Discussion Overview__** Our group answered the questions above just to get a feel for the chapter. We got into a debate over if Mattie and Ethan truly kiss one another. We ended up going back to the questions and working it out. We also discussed the few symbols and archetypes in the chapter. We all wonder if Ethan ever get to see Mattie ever again.

=** Chapter 8- Chapter 9 **= Ethan goes downstairs in a fit and starts thinking about a life with Mattie. He even gets to the point of writing a letter to Zeena telling her that he's left to find work in The West. Instead of giving it to her, he throws it away. After Zeena blew up at Mattie in the last chapter she arranges for Mattie to be picked up and dropped off by her friend Daniel Byrne. As Ethan prepares for Mattie's departure he begins to struggle with the fact that he may never see his true love again. After he talks it over with Zeena, he convinces her to let him drop off Mattie instead of her friend. On their way to the train station Mattie and Ethan are talking about how much they will miss each other. Little did Ethan know, Mattie found the letter he was to give to Zeena. Mattie confronts Ethan about it and Ethan asks if Mattie would've ran away with him. Once again the realization of them never seeing each other ever again hits them and they cry and sob on each other. To lighten the mood Ethan takes Mattie on that sled ride he promised her and they make it pass the Elm tree safely. However after they realize how much fun they had, they realize how much they'll miss each others company. In a fit of emotions they think it would be prudent if they committed suicide together by running into the Elm. They were about to hit it full on but Ethan steers at the last moment and accidentally saves their lives, but crippling them both in the process. In a daze both he and Mattie wake up and realize life goes on.
 * __ Level One __**
 * Who was supposed to take Mattie to the train station?
 * What poked Ethan when he laid down on the couch?
 * Who does Ethan run into while on his way to ask for money from Andrew Hale?
 * __ Level Two __**
 * How will Zeena react when she finds out about what Ethan and Mattie's accident?
 * What do you think Ethan will do when he has to go back to a loveless life with Zeena?
 * Where do you think Mattie will go after her accident? How will she react without Ethan?
 * __ Level Three __**
 * Is love ever worth dying for? Explain.
 * To what lengths should someone go to to stand up for what you believe in?
 * Is cheating ever right? Explain.
 * __ Overview __**

__**Discussion**__ At first when we discussed the chapter, we all tried to comprehend the ending to //Ethan Frome. A //fter we finally figured it out, we began to question why they would consider suicide. Some of our group members actually thought the ending was comical because neither one of them achieved the death they so passionately longed for. After going over all of the questions we summed up the book, and the overlying theme and tone of the book.