Anagnorisis in Ethan Frome:In the Aporia of Determinism and Moral Inertia

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  • 『イーサン・フロム』におけるアナグノリシス - 決定論と道徳的イナーシャの狭間で

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Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton’s widely-known novel, can be read as a naturalistic work. This novel has a deterministic tendency and amorality in the plot as its characteristics, in other words, “inevitability” and Wharton’s morally non-judgmental attitude. The tragedy of Ethan Frome (1911) can be fairly attributed to the socially, culturally, and environmentally deterministic factors in the protagonist’s settings. Besides, Ethan does not actively make moral decisions, which Trilling calls “moral inertia.” This tendency, on top of his inclination for giving himself to fantasy, finally leads him to a tragedy. Wagner and Demoor contend with the interpellation theory that “the narrative story is … no more than a fabricated picture framed to defend a manufactured hero.” In fact, the narrator’s presentation provides the evidence which is far from his being a hero. Furthermore, Ethan’s tragedy has something to do with his weakness, the tendency to escape reality to the world of illusion, which leads him to avoid making moral decisions. Ethan and Mattie, finding no way out, take sled-rides into the world of beauty, silence and rest, which tempts them to escape from the severe reality of this world. Ethan’s anagnorisis, recognition about who he is in the actual world, occurs when he finds no way out of Starkfield and Zeena, where the peripeteia (sudden fall) of the plot starts.

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