The Frome farmhouse held the simplest of people, or at least it would seem. The characters of Ethan Frome led the most complex lives, with sorrow and grief. The story of Ethan Frome, was about a timid man that married his cousin, Zeena, and regretted it. He wished to move to the big cities where he could leave his troubles behind. Then, he fell in love with Mattie Silver, his second cousin, and forgot about Zeena, leaving her cooped up in their farmhouse constantly grieving for her husband. As Ethan and Mattie tried to commit suicide we had to be reminded of the scenery that adds sorrow and doubt to the characters" lives. The house and the places around the land increase the complex lives of our three main characters. Edith Wharton uses gorgeous setting and description to add sorrow and complexity to her characters" lives.
Living in the small town of Starkfield Ethan had economic hardship galore, which added a certain element of discontent and sorrow to his life. He longed to move away from Starkfield early, when Zeena and he had the chance. But " Ethan learned the impossibility of transplanting her." Zeena wanted to look down on the town, not be looked down on. She would not live " in the greater cities which attracted Ethan ." And he was stuck, longing to get away, and not a chance of that ever happening, not for him, not in Starkfield. Stuck there, he went about his normal routine. Haul the wood, get it on the sleigh, and take it to the builder's house. Here he learns that " his seven years with Zeena seemed to Starkfield not so long." He realized then that he had to get away, and yet he knew he couldn't, and he became deranged with doubt and grief. And all the while Zeena sat at home, waiting for the man that would not come.
The dilapidated Frome farmhouse kept Zeena cooped up all day, longing to see her husband, and as she sat there the house filled her with grief. She was the happiest of things when she came to nurse his silent mother until the woman's death.