Chapter IX Practice Quiz — Ethan Frome
by Edith Wharton — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter IX
What is Mattie doing when Ethan finds her in her room?
She is sitting on her trunk in her Sunday dress, crying, with her back to the door and her face in her hands.
Why does Ethan insist on driving Mattie to the station himself?
He wants to spend the last possible time with her and refuses to let Jotham Powell take her, despite Zeena's objections.
Where does Ethan detour to instead of going directly to the Flats?
He turns up the Bettsbridge road to Shadow Pond, where he and Mattie once attended a church picnic together.
What happened at Shadow Pond during the church picnic?
Mattie brought Ethan coffee before the others, and he found her lost gold locket in the moss. It was the moment their unspoken connection began.
What object does Mattie reveal she found, which proves Ethan's feelings?
She found the unfinished letter Ethan had written to Zeena the night before, which he had forgotten to destroy.
When does Mattie say she first fell in love with Ethan?
At Shadow Pond during the church picnic, saying: "The first time was at Shadow Pond."
What does Mattie beg Ethan to do after their first sled run?
She begs him to take her down the hill again, this time steering directly into the big elm tree so they will never have to be separated.
Why does Ethan want to sit in front of the sled on the final run?
He tells Mattie it is because he wants to feel her holding him, though it also means he will take the brunt of the impact.
What vision flashes before Ethan just as the sled approaches the elm?
He sees Zeena's face with "twisted monstrous lineaments" thrust itself between him and the tree, causing him to flinch momentarily.
What does Ethan think he hears after the crash?
He thinks he hears a small animal twittering in pain under the snow, but he discovers it is Mattie's lips making the sound.
Who are the two women the narrator finds in the Frome kitchen in the Epilogue?
Zeena Frome, who is gaunt and grey-haired, and Mattie Silver, who is crippled and huddled in an armchair with a spinal disease.
How has Mattie changed in the twenty years since the accident?
She has gone from a sweet, vibrant young woman to a bitter, querulous invalid with grey hair, a shriveled face, and a paralyzed body.
How did Zeena respond to the accident?
She was "raised right up" by the crisis, caring for both Ethan and Mattie for over twenty years despite her own health complaints.
What is Mrs. Hale's devastating final observation about the Fromes?
She says there is not much difference between the Fromes at the farm and the Fromes in the graveyard, except that the dead women "have got to hold their tongues."
What does the elm tree symbolize in this chapter?
The elm represents fate and inevitability. It is described as "lying in wait" and seeming to "know," functioning as the instrument of the characters' failed attempt to escape their circumstances.
How does the frame narrative structure pay off in the Epilogue?
The reader finally understands the source of Ethan's limp, facial scar, and the oppressive silence in the farmhouse that the narrator observed in the Prologue.
What is ironic about Ethan's boast that he can "measure distances to a hair's-breadth"?
His aim proves accurate enough to hit the elm, but the crash fails to kill them, making his precision a source of tragedy rather than triumph.
What is the dramatic irony of Mattie's transformation?
The woman Ethan loved because she was the opposite of Zeena becomes virtually indistinguishable from Zeena after the accident, bitter and complaining.
What role does the sorrel horse play in the climactic scene?
The sorrel's whinny reminds Ethan of mundane responsibility and ordinary life, anchoring him to the world even as he prepares for death.
What does Ethan mean when he says he is "tied hand and foot"?
He means he is trapped by his marriage to Zeena, his poverty, and his sense of duty, unable to leave with Mattie or provide for her.
What theme does the failed suicide attempt reinforce?
It reinforces the theme of entrapment: the act meant to liberate Ethan and Mattie instead imprisons all three characters in a living death far worse than separation.
What does "adjured" mean as used in "Tell me, Matt! Tell me!" he adjured her?
To adjure means to urge or request someone solemnly or earnestly, often with emotional intensity.
What does "querulous" mean as used to describe the voice in the Epilogue?
Querulous means habitually complaining or whining in a petulant, fretful manner.
What does "slatternly" mean in the description of Zeena's appearance?
Slatternly means slovenly, untidy, or characteristic of a woman who is careless about her appearance and household.