What would happen to a lonely married old man, an ailing wife and a young cheerful girl when they were living together in a house? That's totally what happening to Ethan Frome, his wife Zeena Frome, and her companion Mattie Silver. I would like to tell you about the major characters individually.
             Ethan is a farmer whose family has been on the same farm for ages. He feels a strong connection to the young pretty girl, Mattie, his wife's cousin. He was attracted by Mattie on the day she came. He never has good mood with his wife, Zeena. Although he is not satisfied with his wife, he never dares to express his feeling. Once he wants to say "we shall never be alone again like this" to Zeena in the kitchen.
             Zeena Frome is Ethan's sickly wife. She is interested in the treatment of her own illness, displaying her imagined illness to catch others' attention. She loves to be the center of people. Because of her physical sickness, she holds the dominant position in their family. Her cousin, Mattie, is employed to be the dominant helper because Zeena is always sick and not able to do the housework.
             Matter is Zeena's cousin, who is employed as household help by Zeena. Her father and mother died when she was twenty. With her fifty dollars from the sale of her piano, she comes to assist the Fromes with their domestic tasks. She falls in love with Ethan as he is the only one who treats her well and being nice to her. When Zeena wants to adopt a kid and let the kid replace Mattie. Mattie and Ethan both find that they can't leave each other. Mattie wants to go down the coast with Ethan and never comes up anymore. But finally she and Ethan didn't die.
             The author, Edith Wharton's style is "characterized by simplicity and sometimes even barrenness appropriate to the stark and tragic quality of the whole story." She controls her style is the best using of words. "Her imagery is always ...