At the beginning of the discussion, two songs were played entitled "The Hardest Thing" by 98 Degrees and "Tatlong Sulok by Iya Tomaro". The songs were about being in a relationship where a person wants another person unfortunately he can't go out of that situation. like the story Ethan Frome the song were about a love triangle.
lines from the songs:
1.) It's the hardest thing I'll ever have to do
To look you in the eye
And tell you I don't love you
It's the hardest thing I'll ever have to lie
To show no emotion when you start to cry
2.)I can't let you see what you mean to me
When my hands are tied and my heart's not free
3.)I've made up my mind
There is no turning back
She's been good to me
And she deserves better than that
4.)Pwede ba, kung pwede lang
gusto ka parating kasama
naiinis bat ganito.
5.)di na sana aamin ngunit damdamin di ko mapigil
nahulog na ang puso ko sayo
sa tuwing lumalayo hinahanap ka nito
hindi natutuwa sa piling ng iba ikaw ay nakikita
ayokong makulong sa tatlong sulok
kung pwede lang sana tayo lang dalawa
To look you in the eye
And tell you I don't love you
It's the hardest thing I'll ever have to lie
To show no emotion when you start to cry
2.)I can't let you see what you mean to me
When my hands are tied and my heart's not free
3.)I've made up my mind
There is no turning back
She's been good to me
And she deserves better than that
4.)Pwede ba, kung pwede lang
gusto ka parating kasama
naiinis bat ganito.
5.)di na sana aamin ngunit damdamin di ko mapigil
nahulog na ang puso ko sayo
sa tuwing lumalayo hinahanap ka nito
hindi natutuwa sa piling ng iba ikaw ay nakikita
ayokong makulong sa tatlong sulok
kung pwede lang sana tayo lang dalawa
The story was suggested by a member and was agreed by the group.
The narrator is a male engineer who visits the town of Starkfield twenty-four years after the tragic events of Ethan Frome happened. He has come to work at the electric power-house at Corbury Junction, but a carpenter’s strike ties him down to Starkfild for a long time. He encounters Ethan at the local post office. His thought Ethan was an unapproachable man but the most striking figure in Starkfield. By that he started to ask some people at Starkfield because he was so curious on who Ethan Frome really is. There came an epidemic which affected the stable horses which served as a way for him to know Ethan Frome when Harmon Gow prposed that he ask Ethan Frome to drive him to the station. At first Ethan was very silent and doesn’t utter any word but as the days pass by, Ethan Frome started to talk to the narrator. One day the train was delayed so Ethan Frome insisted on taking the narrator to his place of business. It was already late when they went back to Starkfield so Ethan offered the narrator to stay on his house until morning.
Ethan’s tragic story started at the village that rest on two feet of snow, with drifts at the windy corners. Ethan Frome was walking along the deserted street. At the darkened front of the church he stood and breathes heavily. He started to skirt the side of the building and went down the slope toward the basement door he saw the guests preparing to leave but when Denis Eady went to dance the musicians started to play their instruments again. Ethan focuses on Mattie and Denis’ dance. Ethan used to walk into Starkfield to fetch his wife’s cousin, Mattie, on rare evenings at the community church where dance is being held. Zeena was the one who decided to have Mattie with them for them to be helped on the household chores. Ethan is already falling for Mattie and tries to show off. Zeena have not shown any jealousy of Mattie. Zeena talked to Ethan about Mattie’s little knowledge about housekeeping because the doctor told her that she is not to do house chores because it’s bad for her health. She told Ethan about the girl which the doctor told her who is better than Mattie. When the dance ended, Ethan heard that someone call Mattie but decided to avoid contact though his heart gave a jump. While Mattie is wondering why Ethan did not show himself, Denis Eady appears to Mattie and asks he to give her a ride way home. Mattie refuses. When Eady left, Ethan jumps in and walks Mattie home. They were walking Ethan put his hands around Mattie. When they reach Frome’s house Ethan expect the key of the kitchen door under the mat because Zeena always go to bed as soon as she had her supper and leave the key there. But Zeena was still awake that night and was waiting for them to arrive home because she can’t sleep. Ethan woke up very early the next day for there was still some hauling to be done at the lower end of the wood-lot. Ethan had some thoughts. He noticed that he and Zeena had not exchanged a word after their bedroom door was closed and he was hearing Mattie move at her room and see her candle give some light on their room where he kept his eyes until it vanished. He remembered that he thought about Mattie’s warm shoulders and why had he not kissed Mattie. He also remembered his first meeting with Mattie and how she looked. When Ethan and Zeena were already awake, Zeena told Ethan that she has shooting pains and she nneds to spend her night at her aunt’s house to see her new doctor and if he’s too busy hauling then he might let Jotham Powell drive her over to the station to catch the train. Ethan agrees to Zeena’s suggestion and says that he can’t drive her there because he has to collect the cash for the lumber. As soon as Jotham has driven off her wife, Ethan went to deliver the loads to Andrew Hale all the way down to the village and thinks about Mattie and his first night alone together. But because he lied to her wife and he has never done this before, he decided to ask Andrew for a small advance on his load but when he already asked Andrew, he has no money to pay Ethan because he used his money for some reasons. Ethan decided to go home. He walked on to the church corner and entered the shade of Varnum Spruces where he had stood with her the night before. And saw Ned Hale and Ruth Varnum, an engaged couple, kiss. When Ethan reached his home, he found the door locked so he called out Mattie. Mattie hearing Ethan’s voice, she opened the door. When Mattie opened the door, Ethan notices that Mattie’s posture and Zeena’s are the same. When they are already inside Mattie prepares their dinner and the cat accidentally broke Zeena’s most favorite wedding presents which she forbids to be used. So Ethan consoled Mattie and thought of a way to fix the problem. When they have finished their dinner, Ethan takes a turn at the yard and Mattie clears up. When Ethan returned he asks Mattie to sit with him. She sits at Zeena’s rocking chair. They had a very good conversation about everyday things, of the prospect of snow, of the next church sociable, of the loves and quarrels of Starkfield and even about their plan to sled on the next moonlit and Zeena. Mattie opened up to Ethan about Zeena’s attitude towards her because Zeena had never spoke to her, not even a word. When the clock struck eleven they prepared to go to sleep. Ethan walked Mattie to her room and he headed straight to his room after. Next morning Jotham arrives at Ethan’s home and sits between Ethan and Mattie. Ethan was irrationally happy but he tries to hide his joy. There was a last load of lumber to be hauled to the village. But because the wet snow is melting into sleet he proposed to his assistant that they should load the the sledge at the wood-lot. He told Jotham to go out and harness up the grays, and for a moment he and Mattie was left alone in the kitchen. Ethan wanted to say “We shall never be alone again like this”, but what he said was “I guess I can make out to be home for dinner.” When Ethen was on his way he hear Mattie singing over the dishes. After his task at the village he went to the Eady store to get the glue for Zeena’s broken dish but the glue was not available so he went to Homan’s store and found a bottle of glue. When he went home, he noticed that the barn is empty and thought that Zeena is not yet home. When he went inside, Mattie whispered that Zeena has arrived. They stood at each other, as pale as culprits. Ethan called Zeena to eat but he she did not answer. He decided to go up and fetch Zeena. When ethen went inside they had a conversation about Zeena’s health and replacing Mattie because Mattie is inappropriate for her job. Ethan got mad secretly because he doesn’t want Mattie to go. Mattie calls them because the dinner was ready for half an hour. Mattie and Ethan ate together but Ethan was unable to eat because he feels disgusted. By that, Mattie knew something’s wrong. Ethan tells Mattie that everything’s okay but later on tells the truth. Zeena comes in and slowly takes her seat between them. Ethan took a walk outside and when he returned he found a mad Zeena at the door holding her broken pickle dish. Ethan told Zeena that it was the cat’s fault but Mattie told the truth that the reason why the cat broke the dish is because she took the pickle dish down even though Zeena forbid her which made Zeena tell bad things about Mattie. Zeena goes to her bed mad about her broken pickle dish while Mattie continues to clean the kitchen and Ethan bundled himself into his old coon-skin and lay down on the box-sofa to think. While sitting he remembers about a man over the mountain, just about his age, who had her wife divorce him for the woman he loves and gives his farm to his wife. Ethan thought about doing the same. Leaving Zeena and going away with Mattie. So he made a note saying “Zeena, I’ve done all I could for you, and I don’t see as it’s been any use. I don’t blame you if you, nor I don’t blame myself. Maybe both of us will do better separate. I’m going to try my luck West, and you can sell the farm and mill, and keep the money---” but he thought of how could he start properly if he has nothing and thinking that Mattie would rely on him because he knows no one could lend him money and Ethan falls asleep. He was awaken by the chill of the winter on the room and went downstairs. He hears a footstep behind him. It was Mattie! Both of them went to the kitchen to eat and talk about things. Ethan left Mattie to go to the cow-barn and saw Jotham walk up the hill through the morning mist. Jotham told Ethan that Daniel Byrne is going to take Mattie that noon for Mattie’s convenience but Ethan told Jotham that Mattie’s departure isn’t yet decided. When they were finished doing their work they went to the kitchen and found the women eating. Zeena had an air of unusual alertness and activity. After Ethan ate he informs Jotham that he needs to go to town and they should not wait for him for dinner. He plans to go to Andrew to ask and advance for the lumber for Zeena’s health but the truth is he plans to use it to run away with Mattie, but Andrew was not there instead he saw Andrew’s wife, Mrs. Hale. So he went back home and saw Daniel waiting for Mattie on his sleigh and his wife reading a book called “Kidney Troubles and Their Cure” at the kitchen, but where’s Mattie? When he asks his wife she answered that she’s upstairs packing her things. When he went up Mattie admits that she was afraid that she might not see him again because he said to Jotham that he won’t be back until dinner. He kisses her hair but was interrupted by Zeena telling that Mattie should hurry because Byrne’s is waiting for her. Ethan carries Mattie’s luggage down and whispered that he is the one to drive her over not Byrne. When he told his wife, his wife wants him home that afternoon but refuses because he wants to have more time spent with Mattie. When they went out of the gate, instead of heading to Starkfield, he turned to the right at Bettsbridge road. Ethan drove slowly up the road between the fields then bent to the right down a lane edged with spruce and larch. When they reached a part of the wood where the pines were more widely spaced, he drew up Mattie to get out of the sleigh. Ethan asks Mattie about her plans for the future and tells her how he feels. Mattie shows his letter for Zeena. At his surprise he asks Mattie if she feels the same way. But instead of answering she tore the letter in shreds and sent them fluttering off into the snow. She said that Ethan might write to her sometime when they are already apart but Ethan exclaimed what could writing do if he wants to put his hands out and touch her and would want her dead instead of knowing she would marry other man. Mattie agrees. When they reached the top of the hill Mattie asked Ethan if that was the same spot when he saw Hale and and Varnum kissed and kissed Ethan and said their goodbye to each other. Unable to bear the prospect of parting from Ethan, Mattie solemnly requests that Ethan steer the sled so they coast directly into the elm tree and die together. Because he loves Mattie so much and can’t take thinking of their separation, he agrees. He controlled the sled directly to the tree but he swayed the sled because he saw Zeena’s monstrous face. After the crash, Ethan heard a little animal twittering somewhere nearby under the snow and realizes that the twittering which felt like soft and springy came under his palm and forces to raise himself up but something huge seemed to be lying on him. He struggled to lift his hand up and discovers that what’s lying under his palm is Mattie’s face. That twittering came from Mattie’s lips which says his name.
When the narrator entered the Frome’s kitchen he saw two ladies. One huddled on an arm-chair and the other one is preparing the dinner. The narrator noticed the things inside the house and they did not look good. But because Mattie talked he could already identify who is Mattie and who is Zeena. Ethan introduced Zeena as his wife and Mattie as Mattie Silver. The next morning the narrator went back to Mrs. Hale and told about Ethan letting him stay for the night and that he received a great kindness that Frome made a bed for him in a room on the ground-floor. Mrs. Hale was amazed because he was the first stranger to set a foot on the Frome’s house for over twenty years. Nobody goes inside except her and the doctor. After dinner Mrs. Varnum had gone up straight to bed leaving Mrs. Hale and the narrator. The story ends on Mrs. Hale telling the narrator the story of Ethan, Mattie and Zeena.
Ethan Frome
He is the protagonist of the story. He is a poor man who is a husband of a sickly woman, Zeena; who fell in love to her cousin. According to the unnamed narrator, Ethan is a man of few words yet he did not seem unfriendly.
“He never turned his face to mine, or answered, except in monosyllables, the question I put, or such slight pleasantries as I ventured. He seems to be a part of the mute melancholy landscape, an incarnation of its frozen woe with all that was warm and sentient in him fast bound below the surface; but there was unfriendly in his silence.”
“He did not even turn his head even once as they were travelling.”
According also to the unnamed narrator, he is also a man not to be turned from his business by any commotion. In the scene where the unnamed narrator needs to pick up the train for the junction at the Corbury Flats, Denis Eady, who agreed to send him there, his horses became ill so Harmon Gow suggested that Ethan Frome might be able to send him there. When they were travelling he described Ethan as:
“Frome did not even turn his head as we drove by, and still in silence we began to mount the next slope.”
When his wife’s cousin, Mattie, started to live with them, Zeena asked him to fetch Mattie at the ball where she got interested in. Frome had the habit of walking to fetch Mattie to whom he fell in love with. He also helped Mattie to improve her household chores because Mattie has insufficient skills on this matter.
“He did his best to supplement her unskilled efforts, getting up earlier than usual to light the kitchen fire, carrying the wood overnight, and neglecting the mill for the farm that he might help her about the house during the day. He even crept down on Saturday nights to scrub the kitchen floor after the women had gone to bed.”
“‘I guess you’re always late, now you shave every morning.’” -Zeena
Ethan has big dreams but the death of his father hindered him from fulfilling those dreams.
“He is struggling under the burden of his barren farm and failing saw-mill left by his father. Ethan loves nature but it did not include love for agriculture because he had always wanted to be an engineer and to live in towns where there were lectures and big libraries.”
“Left alone, after his father’s accident, to carry the burden of the farm mill, he had no time for convivial loitering in the village”
“Ethan’s love for nature did not take a form of a taste in agriculture. He always wanted to be an engineer and to live in towns, where there were lectures and big libraries and ‘big fellows doing things.’”
He hates lying, he had no suppleness in deceiving and has never been convicted of it, but falling in love to Mattie made him a liar. He did not want to drive her wife to her doctor so he made a lie that he can’t because he’s going to get the payment for the load from Hale. When Hale told Ethan that he has nothing and if Ethan is having some trouble on money Ethan told him that he is not. Ethan has a high pride. He doesn’t want anybody to think that he is having a hard time so even if he needs something very important he won’t allow himself to make someone feel pity on him.
“Besides, he hated lying; if he wanted the money he wanted it, and it was nobody’s business to ask why. He therefore made his demand with the awkwardness of a proud man who will not admit to himself that he is stooping; and he was not much surprised at Hale’s refusal.”
“Ethan had no suppleness on deceiving. He had never before been convicted of a lie.”
“Ethan’s pride retorted before his reason had time to intervene.”
Ethan wants something new. Not a woman who is boring but a vibrant and lovely one he can’t even remember the wedding gifts given to them by their relatives. Ethan is confused on whom to choose because he knows that he loves Mattie so much but he can’t leave Zeena because he knows she can’t live by her own due to her delicate situation and he has nothing to use for starting a new life with Mattie.
“His pen paused on the word, which brought home to him the relentless conditions of his lot. If he gave the farm and mill to Zeena what would be left for him to start his own life with? Once in the west he was sure of picking up work—he would not have feared to try his chance alone. But with Mattie depending on him the case was different. And what of Zeena’s fate? Farm and mill were mortgage to the limit of their value, and even if she found a purchaser—in itself an unlikely chance—it was doubtful if she could clear a thousand dollars on the sale. Meanwhile how could she keep the farm going? It was only by the incessant labour and personal supervision that Ethan drew a meager living from his hand. And his wife, even if she were in better health than she imagined, could never carry such a burden alone
Zeenobia Pierce (Zeena)
She is considered to be the antagonist in the story who is the wife of Ethan Frome. When she and Ethan got married the author described her as someone who is not appealing. Her character is more dominant than Ethan's.
“Even when they first marry, she is older and no beauty”
“At 35, she has become hideously aged, with false teeth and thin hair”
She is also described by the narrator as someone who is hysterical and pathetic. Sometimes she says she feels bad though what she fells isn’t that bad.
“She is clearly a hysteric, a woman who fills the empty spaces in her life, possibly in her body, with doctoring and imaginary ailments.”
“Yet if Zeena is hysteric she is also pathetic.”
“She wanted sympathy, not consolation.”
She noticed that Ethan always wanted to look good. She noticed it because Ethan is always late and shaves every morning. Like Ethan, Zeena is also a woman of few words. Mattie told Ethan that she doesn’t tell anything.
“But if she’d only tell me I’d try. You know she hardly ever says anything and sometimes I can see she ain’t suited, and yet I don’t know why.”
“It was formed of Zeena’s obstinate silence…”
“Nobody can tell with Zeena.”
After supper she always goes straight up to her bedroom. Zeena is also asthmatic which makes her breathe heavily. The unnamed narrator also said that Zeena is narrow-minded.
“She was a hundred times bitterer and more discontented than when he had married her.”
“Twice of thrice before she had suddenly packed Ethan’s valise and started off to Bettsbridge, or even Springfield,*to seek the advice of some new doctor.”
Mattie Silver
Matt is the cousin of Zeena. She lived with the Fromes for almost a year. She came from Stamford but moved to Starkfield when asked by her cousin, Zeena, to be her aid. She lives with the Frome’s without a pay. The unnamed narrator described her as the woman who is no good in house-keeping.
“Mattie had no natural turn for housekeeping, and her training had done nothing to remedy the defect. She was quick to learn, but forgetful and dreamy, and not disposed to take the matter seriously.”
Mattie is actually a daughter of the cousin of Zeenobia but Zeena considers her as her cousin and is the daughter of a man who runs an illegal business. She began to live alone at the age of 20 because her parents died. What was left for her is her piano. Mattie earn her living by trimming a hat, making molasses candy. Mattie is hard headed; she defied Zeena’s word by using the pickle-dish Zeena values the most. Unfortunately, it got broken because Mattie wanted to amaze Ethan.
1.) Aldebaran - a bright star in constellation to Taurus.
2.) Taciturnity - Habitually untalkative
3.) Zero Day - a day when the temperature is zero degrees Fahrenheit (-18 degrees Celsius)
4.)Sirius - the brightest fixed star in the sky.
5.)Pleiades - constellation representing the seven daughters of Atlas, who were pursued by Orion.
At this moment, a lot of married persons are committing adultery or they are some who are committed to an emotional affair where there is no sexual intercourse but they love a person so much more than their partner. A member shared about his experience where he is in a relationship. At first he thought he loved his girlfriend and it will be forever but then he fell out love for his girlfriend and until now, due to some mistakes which forbids him to get out of the relationship, he suffers in that relationship because he can't love the girl just like how much she loves him. As of the moment he is currently trying his best, trying hard to fall in love with his girlfriend again because he said he knows he loves her but it's not as much as he did before.
An emotional affair is when a person not only invests more of their emotional energy outside their marriage, but also receives emotional support and companionship from the new relationship. In an emotional affair, a person feels closer to the other party and may experience increasing sexual tension. If you believe that a person's emotional energy is limited, then if your spouse is sharing intimate thoughts and feelings with someone else, an emotional affair has developed. Although cheaters are often guilt-free in an emotional affair because there is no sex involved, their spouses often view an emotional affair as damaging as a sexual affair. Much of the pain and hurt from an emotional affair is due to the deception, lies, and feelings of being betrayed. A platonic friendship can evolve into an emotional affair when the investment of intimate information crosses the boundaries set by the married couple. An emotional affair is opening a door that should remain closed. One of the differences between a platonic friendship and an emotional affair is that an emotional affair is kept secret. A third difference is that people involved in an emotional affair often feel a sexual attraction for one another. Sometimes the sexual attraction is acknowledged and sometimes it isn't.
There are several warning signs of an emotional affair.
You are withdrawing from your spouse.
You are preoccupied and daydream about your friend more and more.
You are not interested in being intimate with your spouse, either emotionally or sexually.
The amount of time you and your spouse spend together is less.
When confronted about the apparent emotional affair, you respond, "We're just friends."
You find yourself anticipating when you can communicate or be with your friend again. Alone time together is important to you.
You are sharing your thoughts, feelings, and problems with your friend instead of your spouse.
You find reasons to give your friend personal gifts.
Your friend seems to understand you better than your spouse does.
You are keeping your friendship a secret from your spouse.
A relationship is a bond between two persons who love each other. But there comes a time where we can't handle or prevent ourselves from falling to other person especially those who are with us during hard times. Most couple choose to break up if this happens because keeping a relationship with only one working for it is hard not just for them but also for the people around them.
