Happiness comes from both internal and external factors. Though most would like to believe that happiness comes only from internal factors, there are multiple external factors along with internal that make happiness much easier to achieve. If you don't have internal happiness the external factors will not bring much happiness. You have to want to be happy in order for full or almost full happiness to come along. Though external factors could bring a hollow and short term happiness, through different perspectives, internal happiness will bring happiness to different aspects of life. Ethan seems to mainly rely on Mattie as an external factor of happiness, making his life without her, miserable.
     

This proves that you need to have internal happiness in order to achieve a fulfilling and longer lasting happiness. "The only thing we have control over is ourselves.... We set ourselves up for misery (happiness is an internal process)." In order for us to have an internal happiness we must have control over ourselves first. We are the reason we are happy or not. If we did not have control over our own happiness then where would we be? Miserable right? Sometimes "our mind associates this person leaving with our unhappiness (happiness in relationships). This shows that we really need to have control over ourselves and ask ourselves was this really causing me happiness or did I think it was just to be happy? In Ethan Frome, Ethan doesn't really have a sense of internal happiness he did at one point when his wife Zeena finally came to live with him while his mother was sick. "The wave of warmth that went though him was live with the prolongation of his vision (Ethan Frome)
    

Than again happiness is easiest achieved with both internal and external factors in your life, Ethan mainly has external factors, which make is life seem unfulfilling. "Frome's heart was beating fast. He had been straining for a glimpse of the dark under the cherry-colored scarf and it vexed him that another eye should have been quicker than his (Ethan Frome)." Ethan longs for a girl everyday therefore he doesn't seem happy with his wife anymore. He has no control over his internal happiness anymore. He automatically lets outside sources consume his happiness and never thinks it over. When Mattie, the girl he loves, has to move out and leave town "he could get mrs. Hales ear he felt certain of success and with fifty dollars in his pocket nothing could keep him from Mattie (Ethan Frome)." Ethan shows that he will do anything to be with Mattie, getting money, moving west, and divorcing Zeena. He is showing that his happiness only is with Mattie nothing else makes him happy, not even himself. In real life "when our wants and needs or met, we are happy (happiness is an internal process)." Our external happiness is important in life but we need to have an equal balance. We need to do things that make us happy that others don't control. For example reading your favorite book, playing your favorite sport, and even just taking a walk.

In addition, happiness could not be found with only external factors. In Ethan Frome, Ethan shows that he is still not happy with his life even though he has a lot in life. "There was something bleak and unapproachable in his face, and he was so stiffened and grizzled that I took him for an old man and I was surprised to hear that he was no more then fifty-two (Ethan Frome)." Ethan is beaten up by life. He seems as if he has been depressed for quite some time which in turn has aged him in the process. Ethan should be happy due to the fact that he has Mattie but his wife is taking Mattie away from him. Yet he still is trying everything in his power to still be with her, it is putting a strain on him. In reality "there isn't pain of being alone, but there is a belief that it is painful (happiness in relationships)." Ethan is scared of being alone but he is only making it that way for himself. There is more to life then being with someone, it's doing things you love. As stated in the article Happiness in Relationships, "the truth is that you make yourself happy."
     

These are just a few examples in Ethan Frome that show that happiness comes from both external and internal factors. The articles Happiness in Relationships and Happiness is an internal process also show that happiness in life come from both factors and not just one alone. Ethan is only unhappy due to the fact that he only lets external factors contribute to his happiness when in turn he should let both contribute to his happiness.