An Analysis Of Ethan Frome From The Perspective Of New Historicism

Edith Wharton is the first female Pulitzer prize winner.She is a prolific writer whose works include poetry,novels,translation and literary criticism.Her novel,Ethan Frome,is very different from her usual works.She sets the story in the poor and backward town and presents the hardship of the poor people through a triangle love story among the three main characters.The novel is regarded by scholars as the most influential one among Edith Wharton's works.Since the publication of the novel,scholars have conducted continuous research.However,not many people have explored the deep meaning of the novel from the perspective of New Historicism.This paper employs the theory of New Historicism that is proposed by Professor Stephen Greenblatt and the “historicity of text” and “textuality of history” proposed by Professor Louis A.Montrose,to analyze the relationship between history and text.Based on a close reading of the novel,the paper begins from the perspective of historicity of text and analyzes the economic and cultural elements reflected in Wharton's writing,including the backward village,Wharton's personal life and traditional religion.From the perspective of textuality of history,this paper studies how Wharton textualizes her own story through three aspects: the fictionality of characterization,the restructuring of history and the negotiating strategies.Through the fusion of theory and text,we can further understand the intricate and complicated interactions of cultural,economic and historical factors embodied in the novel.