Mrs. Wharton’s Mask Essay, Research Paper
Ethan FromeMarius Bewley "Mrs. Wharton’s Mask," The New York Review of
Books, Vol. 11, No. 3. 1964 7-9 Rpt. In Twentieth Century Literary Critixism Ed.
Dennis Poupard. Vol. 27. Detroit: Gale, 1988. Bewley’s thesis is that Ethan
Frome reflects Wharten’s private experiences in. her life. He supports this
weakly by showing no examples of Wharten’s life and why the book reflects it. He
only simply tells us that she had a divorce a year before the book was written.
This research didn’t help someone who was doing a paper on Wharten’s life
influences while writing Ethan Frome. I found this source in the Bangor Public
Library in the reference section. Blake Nevius, "Ethan Frome’ and the
themes of Edith Wharton" Fiction in the New England Quarterly, Vol. XXIV,
No. 2, June 2, 1951. 197-207. Rpt. In Twentieth Century Literary Criticism Ed.
Dennis Poupard. Vol. 27. Detroit: Gale, 1988. Nevius presents saying that Ethan
Frome carried Warton towards a tradition of writing techniques in her books to
come. He supports his thesis by quoting Ethan Frome and other of Wharten’s books
written after Ethan Frome and their simalarties to it. This reasearch wasn’t
helpful in my studies, because it didn’t touch upon characterazation at all. It
would be very helpful for someone studying Wharten’s technique or the
comparisions of Wharten’s works. I found this information in the Bangor Public
Library in the reference section. J.D. Thomas "Ethan Frome" American
Literature, Vol. 27. No. 3. 1955 405-09 Rpt. In Twentieth Century Literary
Criticism Ed. Dennis Poupard. Vol. 27. Detroit: Gale, 1988. Thomas diminishes
Wharten’s book Ethan Frome by saying that Wharten’s vaugeness on typical life
belittled the book. He supports this with many puotes from the book, that reveal
the character’s thought and actions pertaining to the life Wharten apparently
knew nothing about. This information helped me to see the differences of the
characters in Ethan Frome compared to the reality of people. This source would
help somone reasearching the ethical point to Ethan Frome. I found this book in
the reference section in the Bangor Public Library. Lional Trilling, "The
morality of Inertia," A Gathering of Fugitives 1956. Rpt. In Twentieth
Century Literary Criticism Ed. Dennis Poupard. Vol. 27. Detroit: Gale, 1988.
Trilling’s thesis is that Ethan Frome has no moral issues. He ver poorly
supports his thesis by simply stating his opinions without supporting them with
Quotes from the book. This source wasn’t helpful for my reasearch and I wouldn’t
reccomend it to others either. I found this at the Bangor Public Library in the
reference section. S.R. Spinivasa Iyengar, "A Note on ?Ethan Frome,’"
Literary Criterion, Vol. V, No. 3. 1962 168- 78. Rpt. In Twentieth Century
Literary Criticism Ed. Dennis Poupard. Vol. 27. Detroit: Gale, 1988. Iyengar
focuses on the fact that if it wern’t for the complicated and sophaticated
characters, Ethan Frome would be a dull force in the literature world. She
supports her thesis plentiful, drowning her essay with direct, indepth quotes
from each character of the book. It helped me immensly with my characterisation
reasearch, by showing me the way the characters develop and the depth behind
each one. This would help someone who was looking into studying the
"Love-Triangle" conflict in the book. I fould this source at the
Bangor Public Library in the reference section. Roberts Sheila, "Ethan
Frome" Twentieth Centur Literary Criticism Ed. Dennis Poupard. Vol. 27.
Detroit: Gale, 1988. Walton’s thesis is that the characters of Ethan Frome were
grim, and caricature. He supports this statement by showing the reader through
direct quotations, the liflessness of each character. This helped my reasearch
towards characterisation grow. It showed helped my own opinion of the chartchers
of Ethan Frome become more solid. This source would help someone reaserching the
background of each character. I found this source at the Bangor Public Library
in the reference section.