Towards an Aristotelian Model of the Tragic Hero in Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

Abstract

The tragic mode of Edith Wharton's 1911 novella Ethan Frome has long been recognized and celebrated but its critical reception remains rather appreciative and focuses almost exclusively on the physical setting rather than on character as the ultimate source of the work's tragic coloring. The novella was frequently compared to Greek tragedy but the comparison never goes beyond a general appreciation of its tragic magnitude and originality. The technicalities of the Aristotelian model of Greek tragedy are never present in any such comparison. This study tries to approach the character of Wharton's tragic hero from the vantage point of Aristotle's textual paradigm of the tragic hero as outlined in his Poetics.