The ruddy pickle dish represents the Frome’s matrimony. The pickle dish was a nuptials nowadays for Zeena and Ethan. Zeena considered it her most prized ownership. hive awaying it off at the top of the China cabinet. Just like the stored off dish. Ethan and Zeena’s love had been put away one time married. The first dark Zeena is gone ; Mattie takes out the home base and uses it during dinner. By withstanding her sister’s wants and utilizing the dish. Mattie accidentally defies Zeena and Ethan’s matrimony. The breakage of the dish can stand for different things. Harmonizing to Ethan. the broken dish represents his broken dinner programs with Mattie. A dark he was excited for ended up being an mean dark. The breakage of the dish. nevertheless. could besides stand for the breakage of Zeena and Ethan’s matrimony. since it was a clear symbol of their matrimony. The dish broke under the weight of Ethan and Mattie’s relationship.
Ethan so attempts to conceal the dish from Zeena. concealing the failure of their matrimony and his feelings for Mattie. His misrepresentation failed when Zeena found the broken dish. The broken home base was fundamentally dead to her. merely like her matrimony was dead. She cried at this find. demoing her human side. Zeena seems to understand the symbolism of the dish. and she calls when she eventually realizes the lone thing left she loved in her matrimony was broken. Alternatively of seeking to repair the dish. Zeena merely sulks over the leftovers of the tattered home base. Like the home base. she does non try to repair her matrimony either. The pickle dish becomes a clear symbol that the Frome matrimony has failed under the relationship between Mattie and Ethan. and neither Ethan nor Zeena attention to repair the broken matrimony. Although disquieted. they both move on.
Ethan’s head is being pulled in two waies and he battles between his love for Mattie and his responsibility to his married woman. When Ethan’s female parent got ill. Zeena came to assist take attention of her. Ethan like the feeling of company with person. so when his female parent died. he asked Zeena to get married him out of the fright of being entirely. Ethan felt a responsibility to take attention of Zeena when she got ill non merely because she is his married woman. but because she took attention of his female parent. Zeena. nevertheless. holds this over Ethan’s caput when she wants to engage a new house amah. She attempts to guilt him into it stating he should make everything to assist her since “I lost it [ her wellness ] nursing your ain female parent. ” Ethan is both taken back and angry at her usage of his mother’s decease as a manner to acquire what she wants. He does. nevertheless. fell it is his responsibility to assist her all that he can because of these factors. Ethan. on the other manus. loves Mattie. Mattie. foremost of all. is really nice to him. Unlike Zeena. Mattie likes to pass clip with Ethan. She does non sequester herself to her room everyday.
Mattie and Ethan can besides speak together freely and bask each other’s company. Mattie is his true love. but he can non interrupt off his matrimony because he knows it is morally incorrect to go forth person ill like Zeena. The significance of the novel is the conflict between responsibility and love. By get marrieding Zeena. Ethan made a promise to be by her side in illness and in wellness. He promised to be with her and he feels he can non give up her responsibility to Zeena for selfish grounds like love. In multiple cases. Ethan contemplated running off with Mattie. but he could non bear the idea of go forthing Zeena sick and helpless. Ethan’s love for Mattie. nevertheless. can non be controlled. He even thought about killing himself and Mattie so that they could be together. but at the last 2nd Ethan jerks the sled. Subconsciously. Ethan knows this is non an appropriate thing to make. He still has a responsibility to Zeena. Ethan Frome focuses around the conflict between a man’s responsibility to individual and his love for person else.
