I believe EthanFrome lost control of his life when his mother died.
After his mother's funeral, Ethan did not want to be left alone on the farm,
so he asked Zeena to stay with him. At first, Ethan enjoys her company.
However, Zeena soon becomes a nuisance to Ethan, and prevents him
from becoming an engineer in a large city. After being married a year,
Zeena becomes sick herself, and the only time she talks to Ethan is to
complain orshow her discontent. After Mattie comes to the farm, Ethan
does not love Zeena at all. He thinks the only pleasure she has left is to
inflict pain on him. Since Zeena is a burden on Ethan, he naturally wants
to improve his life. The reason he does not have control of his life is
because he is married to Zeena, and he is not brave enough to go away
with Mattie. The reason he is married to Zeenais because his mother
died. Since Zeena is why Ethan does not have control of his life, and
Ethan married her because his mother died, the point in time when Ethan
lost control of his life is when his mother died. I believe Ethan could
have changed the direction of his life if he had gone away from the farm
to marry Mattie. The reason he did not have control of his life was
because he was married to Zeena. If he would have married Mattie and
left Zeena, he would not have been in the sled accident, and
consequently, he would have lived a much happier life with Mattie. The
second way Ethan could have changed the direction of his life is if he
would have sold the farm and never have married Zeena. This would
have saved him many years of problems and unhappiness. He would
never have met Mattie, which means he would never have injured himself
in the sled accident.If he would have lived in another town besides
Starkfield, he might have beenan engineer and married a woman who
would treat him better than Zeena ever did.
. I believe Ethan Frome lost control of his life when his mother died.
After his mother's funeral, Ethan did not want to be left. mother
died. Since Zeena is why Ethan does not have control of his life, and
Ethan married her because his mother died, the point in time when Ethan
lost control of