When Ethan Frome lost control of his life, from Edith Wharton's novel

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 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 …

…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 been an engineer and married a woman who would treat him better than Zeena ever did.