“My Cousin Is Cheating On Me with My Maid” is something that you would expect to see at the beginning of “The Jerry Springer Show,” not in early American literature. But as I have seen in the movie “Ethan Frome,” it is possible for this situation to occur in colonial America. The main characters, Ethan, Zena, and Mattie, each have major character flaws, but in this essay, I will focus on Ethan. Ethan returns to his hometown to spend time with his dying mother. He sends for his distant cousin, Zena, to car ....