Scarlet Letter, Ethan From, Lesson Before Dying

Dignity and Respect

Many people try to escape the prison that suppresses them, but fail to because of their moral obligations to themselves and others. Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, Ernest J. Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying and Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, portray the struggles one acquires through their own conduct. Ethan in Ethan Frome, Grant in A Lesson Before Dying and Hester in Scarlet Letter each try to elude their life dilemma's, but are hindered due to their obligations. Ethan is obligated to his wife though he loves Mattie, while Grant is obligated to his society, but wants to leave. Hester accepts her punishment but wants to be within society though they shunned her. Wharton, Gaines and Hawthorne all use various language devices to accentuate the gain of dignity and respect through moral struggle.

In Ethan Frome, Wharton uses symbols and archetypes to create Ethan's anguish to his moral obligation to his wife Zeena which keeps him from his true love, Mattie. His moral prison is established with the headstone of another Ethan Frome and his wife that bores that they "dwelled