Ethan Frome, a novel written by Edith Wharton relies on the setting of Starkfield, Massachusetts to shape the life of the main character Ethan Frome, his behaviors, and his decisions. Starkfield provides a cold, lonely, dark, and isolated atmosphere, allowing the narrator to portray Ethan and his wife Zeena as unhappy and feeling trapped. Their lives are tragic and repetitive, similar to the unchanging setting of the town of Starkfield. Although winter only lasts 6 months, the novel only takes place during Starkfield's terrible weather and attributes Ethan's desperation. Throughout the novel, several examples of imagery are found to emphasize Ethan's constant work on the farm and around the house. As a result of his efforts to clean and arrange the house, Ethan's miserable mindset and dissatisfaction with his life represents an undesirable pattern. As the narrator learns the “Starkfield Chronicle,” he discovers Ethan's struggle to enjoy life and his inability to break through the literal gray clouds that limit him to his repetitive daily existence (Wharton 4). As Ethan's love for his wife's cousin Mattie grows in the presence of his insufferable wife Zeena, he struggles to break the patterns in his life and show his affection towards Mattie. Ultimately, the ever-changing setting and climate parallels life in the Frome family as it is the factor that prevents Ethan from evolving. As Ethan grows closer to Mattie, Zeena slowly fades from Ethan's mind as color and warmth gradually appear when he is with Mattie. Ethan already experiences repetition in his life, and now this new feeling with Mattie never manifests itself long enough for Ethan to taste lasting change. Ethan may only begin to feel like a changed man when he and Mattie are away from home, or when Zeena is out of town for medical reasons. Ethan feels he has made progress with Mattie, but his failure to solidify a relationship with her is another pattern in his life. As if Ethan's life wasn't pitiful enough, he "is part of the mute melancholic landscape, an embodiment of its frozen sorrow, with all that was warm and sentient in him firmly bound beneath the surface" (Wharton 5). Starkfield's description only amplifies the level of prevention that the setting and climate place in his relationship with Mattie. Starkfield prevents Ethan from feeling alive with Mattie by burying him under the cold snow and ice, which symbolizes his