SettingEthan Frome is set in the fictional Starkfield, Massachusetts during the late 1800s to early 1900s. It is a brutal winter in the small town. Ethan lives on a large farm where there are no neighbors for quite a ways, which allows for him to stay secluded and become depressed as the story progresses because Starkfield is a place that you seemingly get stuck in. The time period allows for the reader to assume that the women of Ethan's town are not given as many opportunities as men because of limited education. This assumption is justified by the fact that Mattie's only job is a maid and Zeena has only been a housewife in the years that she has spent with Ethan, which has been the majority of her life.
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