In the following essay I will explain the numerous reasons why Ethan Frome is a tragedy while giving a brief summary of the novel but highlighting the more tragic parts. Ethan Frome, the main character in the book entitled Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, has many complex problems going on at the same time. His family has died and he has a wife that is continually sick, and the only form of happiness he has …showed first 75 words of 653 total…

…showed last 75 words of 653 total…his wife, the injured Mattie, and broken dreams. In these three way of marrying the wrong person, not being able to stand up to his wife, and incidents that come from the smash up, proves that the main theme of the book is failure. It appeared that everything Ethan tried to do worked against his favor. With all the incidents that happened, it seemed unavoidable that his life would always be a string of failure.