In both Frankenstein and Ethan Frome, the antagonists go off to college, but Ethan Frome is forced to return to Starkfield due to the death of his father and the illness of his mother. This again shows how Starkfield is a centre of isolation as Ethan can't leave it and it acts a place of entrapment. However, this also shows how illness is a cause of isolation. As well as his parent's illness, Zeena's illness holds him back from the outside world a he is caught up in her wellbeing, as well as farm work. This responsibility also inhibits him from having any other strong relationship with other characters as he is isolated in his own life. Mattie and Zeena are also isolated characters. Mattie is isolated by the deaths of both parents and the ill
