Ethan Frome - Rushing into Marriage; the Wrong Decision essays

Ethan Frome - Rushing into Marriage; the Wrong Decision essays Marrying is a very delicate decision which affects a persons life forever; therefore, choosing a life-long mate should be a decision taken after pondering thoroughly. In the book Ethan Frome, the author, Edith Wharton describes very well how the main character ruins his life because he contemplated, and not other pressures and opinions like what family or society might think. In the novel, Ethan did not ponder enough and ended married to the wrong woman. The decision of whom to marry should be made personally without any pressures from anybody else; not from your parents, not from loneliness, and not even if the partner wants to. It is an issue that concerns a persons happiness forever and it should not be rushed into. In some cultures parents are the ones who choose their childrens mate. They search for an individual that comes from a good family. He must be able to support a family economically, and he must look appropriate to be a good husband or wife. These are not necessarily the qualities needed when a person is to spend his whole life with somebody. Sometimes individuals marry the wrong person only to please their familys expectations. Marriages can also be rushed in through other internal pressures. For example, in Edith Whartons Ethan Frome, the main character gets married to Zeena because he does not want to be alone anymore. He does not love her; he does not even like her very much. External conditions like the need of a woman in the house, and internal feelings such as loneliness are the ones that drive Ethan into getting married. This loneliness is expressed in this quote: After his mothers funeral, when he saw her preparing to go away, he was seized with an unreasoning dread of being left alone; and before he know what de was doing he asked her to stay here with him (Wharton 52). This mistake drives him to unhappiness in his life. Later, when he meets the wo...