Ethan Frome
Ethan FromeEdith WhartonScribner Library, book 8
Characters in Ethan Frome
5 characters, main characters first.Main characters
Ethan Frome
A once-promising young man kept in Starkfield by family duty and poverty, worn down by decades of hardship and a loveless marriage to his ailing wife.
Antagonists
Zeena Frome
Ethan's older, chronically unwell wife, whose quiet suspicion of his growing closeness to her cousin Mattie overshadows the household.
Supporting characters
Mattie Silver
Zeena's orphaned young cousin, taken in to help around the farm, whose warmth and vitality draw Ethan's forbidden affection.
Ruth Varnum
A village friend of Mattie's who later marries Ned Hale and, years afterward, tells the visiting narrator what became of Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie.
Denis Eady
A prosperous young Starkfield storekeeper who courts Mattie Silver and stirs Ethan's jealousy.