Chapter IV Practice Quiz — Ethan Frome
by Edith Wharton — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter IV
Where does Zeena go at the beginning of Chapter IV, and why?
She departs for Bettsbridge to consult a new doctor about her ailments.
What does Ethan ask Andrew Hale for at the builder’s yard?
An advance of fifty dollars on his lumber load, which Hale refuses.
Why does Ethan need the money from Hale?
He rashly told Zeena he would receive cash for the lumber, and now must cover the lie.
Who does Ethan see heading toward his farm, triggering jealousy?
Denis Eady, driving Michael Eady’s roan colt in a cutter.
Whom does Ethan surprise kissing near the Varnum spruces?
Ned Hale and Ruth Varnum, an engaged couple.
What does Mattie use to serve Ethan’s favorite pickles at supper?
Zeena’s prized red glass pickle-dish, a wedding present she never allowed to be used.
How does the pickle-dish get broken?
The cat backs into it while retreating from the milk-jug, knocking it off the table.
What does Ethan do with the broken pieces of the pickle-dish?
He reassembles them on the top shelf of the china-closet so the damage is invisible from below.
Why did Ethan originally marry Zeena?
He was seized by an unreasoning dread of being left alone on the farm after his mother’s death in winter.
What was Ethan’s original career ambition before marrying Zeena?
He wanted to be an engineer and live in a city with lectures, libraries, and “fellows doing things.”
Why couldn’t Ethan and Zeena move to a larger town as they planned?
Zeena could not thrive in a place that did not know her; she needed a community aware of her status.
What detail in Mattie’s appearance shows she has prepared for the evening?
She has run a streak of crimson ribbon through her hair.
How did Ethan’s mother behave during her final illness?
She fell silent, sometimes saying she was “listening” to voices, and on stormy nights complained that “they” were talking too loudly outside.
What does the red glass pickle-dish symbolize?
The Frome marriage—precious, unused, kept on a high shelf—and its shattering represents the marriage fracturing under the pressure of Ethan and Mattie’s attraction.
What does the headstone inscription “Ethan Frome and Endurance his wife” suggest?
That marriage in the Frome family is a matter of enduring rather than thriving, foreshadowing Ethan’s own trapped existence with Zeena.
What recurring motif does Ethan’s mother’s silence, Zeena’s silence, and the isolated farm represent?
The motif of silence and emotional isolation that traps the Frome family across generations.
What literary device does Wharton use when Mattie opens the door in the same pose as Zeena?
Parallelism—the identical staging highlights the stark contrast between the two women.
What is ironic about Ethan’s confident reassurance that the broken dish won’t be discovered?
It is dramatic irony: the reader senses the concealment will inevitably fail, making Ethan’s relief feel precarious.
What symbolic role does the cat play during the supper scene?
It functions as a proxy for the absent Zeena, sitting in her chair and ultimately disrupting Ethan and Mattie’s intimacy by breaking the pickle-dish.
What does the word “volubility” mean in the context of Zeena’s arrival?
Fluency and eagerness in speaking. Zeena’s talkativeness was a relief to Ethan after his mother’s prolonged silence.
What does “taciturnity” mean as applied to Ethan’s mother?
Habitual silence or reluctance to speak.
What does “convivial” mean in the phrase “convivial loiterings in the village”?
Friendly, sociable, and enjoyable—relating to feasting or good company.
What feeling does Ethan experience when he sees Denis Eady’s cutter heading toward his farm?
A storm of jealousy—he fears Denis is taking advantage of Zeena’s absence to visit Mattie.
What does Ethan mean when he reflects that his mother’s death in spring instead of winter would have changed everything?
Spring would have broken his isolation naturally, so he would not have been desperate enough to marry Zeena just to avoid being alone.
What emotion does Ethan feel when he successfully hides the broken dish and returns to Mattie?
A thrilling sense of mastery, compared to steering a big log down the mountain—the strongest feeling of control he has known.