Isolation, another major theme in the novel, is not self-imposed before the tragedy that befalls Mattie and Ethan, but is enforced upon them by outside circumstances. They abandon rational thought as they attempt to commit suicide and enter a silent hell in which the only verbal communication to be heard is Zeena and Mattie's complaining. It isn't until Zeena forces Mattie to leave the Frome household that Ethan and Mattie express their feelings for each other.

After Mattie's arrival, Zeena forces a smothering silence on her also with her 'fault-finding (that is) of the silent kind.' Ethan is able to share his passion for the wonders of nature with Mattie however, when conversation takes a turn towards intimacy, silence returns and all Ethan can say is, 'Come along.' The characters are unable to communicate with each other to dispel their own loneliness. Communication between the couple is minimal and superficial. Because he is too busy working to make small talk with the villagers and his sick mother stops speaking, Ethan becomes imprisoned in a 'mortal silence.' He experiences a brief reprieve when Zeena arrives to care for his mother but after his mother's death and his subsequent marriage to Zeena, Zeena falls silent also. Ethan, a quiet man by nature, returns to Starkfield following the death of his father to run the family farm and sawmill. half emerged from the soil, and scarcely more articulate.' Each of the three major characters is encased in his/her own silence. In the introduction, the author describes her characters as 'granite outcroppings. Throughout the novel Wharton focuses on silence as a major theme. Wharton lived in a loveless marriage for years before she took a risk and divorced Teddy Wharton, her husband for almost thirty years. Societal rules also frowned upon divorce.

The rules of society did not condone a woman who was a member of the upper class working, much less as a professional writer. As a result, she was familiar with silence and isolation.

Throughout her life as a writer, Wharton would schedule the time that she wrote around social engagements and she did not readily discuss her writing. Wharton relies on personal experiences to relate her thematic messages. Major themes in Ethan Frome include silence, isolation, illusion, and the consequences that are the result of living according to the rules of society.

Ethan frome author wharton