In contrast to the warm, summer imagery associated with Mattie is the imagery that represents the cold, isolation, and death of spirit inherent during the winter months and apparently present in the Frome farmhouse. Returning home from the church, Ethan and Mattie see farmhouses that seem to be “mute and cold as a gravestone.” They see the dead cucumber vine at the Frome farmhouse that looks “like the crape streamer tied to the door for death.” And, the kitchen has “the deadly chill of a vault after the dry cold of the night.” These images are related to the fascination that Ethan finds in his family graveyard, and they are also appropriate to the living death that Ethan and Mattie experience after their accident. Their lives become cold and dead and Ethan experiences more intense silence and isolation than he did before Mattie came into his life.
Wharton reveals important aspects of Ethan’s character and introduces readers to Zeena and Mattie. Ethan is an intelligent man; he spent time at a technological college, but had to quit and return home when his father died. His schooling “made him aware of huge cloudy meanings behind the daily face of things.” Ethan learned that he has the freedom to think and his thoughts have become his world and his life. He retreats into his thoughts to avoid the pain of reality. Ethan’s thoughts are sometimes imprecise and irrational—they too often consist of illusions or half-truths rather than clear intuitions or reasoned conclusions. Ethan constantly tries to analyze and control what is happening in the present and dreams and wonders about the future.
Wharton introduces Mattie through Ethan’s thoughts while he is waiting for her by the church window. Mattie is first identified as Zeena’s cousin, who has come to Starkfield as a household helper, and is allowed to go into town from the farm to attend social activities. According to Ethan’s perspective, Mattie is the happy opposite of the cold and complaining Zeena. The tense silence and isolation that dominates Ethan’s marriage to Zeena is not present in his relationship with Mattie. In contrast to Zeena, Mattie has a sensitive nature and is able to communicate with Ethan and Ethan with her. Mattie shares his appreciation of natural beauty. When Mattie exclaims that a sunset looks “just as if it was painted,” Ethan feels as though he has found his soul mate. As a result of his secret feelings for Mattie, Ethan often tries to escape the reality of his marriage by indulging in self-illusion, or fantasies.
As Ethan continues to watch Mattie from outside the window of the church, he feels fearful because Eady is flirting with Mattie. The fears that Ethan forces on himself are an example of his use of self-illusion as an escape. In his mind, Mattie’s smiles and gestures have been just for him. Ethan’s unhappy thoughts turn to thoughts of Zeena.
Wharton characterizes Zeena as “sickly.” Ethan is suspicious of how sick she really is, suspecting that she may be feigning part of her illness. Ethan’s memory of the morning when Zeena watched him shaving serves to foreshadow her character and physical appearance before her dramatic appearance on the Frome back porch: she has a gray complexion, high cheek bones, and a drawling voice. Zeena’s vindictive nature casts a pall of dominance over Ethan and Mattie throughout the novel.
As Mattie and Ethan walk home, Wharton emphasizes the difficulty Ethan has in communicating with Mattie. He is unable to express his affection in words or action. When provided the opportunity to reveal his feelings to Mattie, he can only say, “Come along.” The isolation and silence that Ethan experiences (a result of the lack of communication in his marriage), have become barriers that inhibit him. Because Ethan is incapable of telling Mattie that he loves her, he “attach(es) a fantastic importance to every change in her look and tone.” He needs her approval to fuel his romantic illusions. Ethan’s insecurity causes him to intimate that her rejection of him is because she intends to marry Eady and leave the Frome farm.
Ethan’s love for Mattie as yet remains one-sided and is fed on illusion. The closest Ethan can come to telling Mattie how he feels is to pull her to him and whisper that they will always be together. Ironically, they are passing the graveyard as he pronounces these words, and Wharton foreshadows their death in life.
