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.