Rip Van Winkle

“Rip Van Winkle” and the Emergence of an American Mythology. By Danise Bachman Rip van winkle in indeed a classic piece of American mythology. Washington Irving set this story in the past and filled it with exaggerated and sometimes, strange characters. It also features a mysterious and magical occurrence that put the main character to sleep for twenty years!

The writings by Washington seemed as though only the head females were the ones that had the darker personalities. In Rip Van Winkle, Irving tells the readers that a great deal of the woman wanted to have Rip. The difference between these women and the woman he was already married to was that these other women were a great deal nicer, and would not abuse Rip the way she did. Moreover, after thinking for a while, I had a realization that maybe Washington had not had the greatest relationships with women. He might have always had the abusive wife who always found a way to yell at him, accordingly having seen all of these other women being extraordinarily kind to anybody around them.

Beatty’s negative life experiences led him to a depressing life dedicated to destroying books, and eventually led him to his willing demise. Although their situations are extremely contradictory, both characters were subjected to strong life changes because of their interest in

Transformation of the Tale: Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” and Robert Coover’s Rip Awake An American folklore that established Washington Irving as one of the first American authors, “Rip Van Winkle” is a short story about a local Dutch-American villager and the mysterious event that kept him away from home for twenty years. Narrated in the third person omniscient, the narrator depicts a panoramic view of the natural landscape as well as provides an objective view of the main character’s thoughts. To provide a closer view of his personal thoughts, Robert Coover reintroduces Rip Van Winkle with his own monologue in Rip Awake to give him a voice to describe the aftermath of his experience when he returns home.

When his enemy wanted to attack he went up and talked to the Indian leader (as cited previously) and made a deal “Deerslayer met his offered friendship in a proper spirit, and they shook hands cordially, each endeavoring to assure the other of his sincerity and desire to be at peace” (pg.167). Rip Van Winkle’s wife had a reason to henpeck him and it was because he was too lazy at home “… but as doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible… Rip Van Winkle however was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound” (pg.151). Deerslayer was the opposite of lazy, he liked to work hard in his job “Then indeed, the long practice of Deerslayer as a hunter did him good service. Accustomed to fire with the deer on the bound, and often when the precise position of the animal’s body had in a manner to be guessed at, he used the same expedients here”

Rip declared that it was no use to work on his farm because it was already the ugliest. Dame Van Winkle was always the one who took care of the children, while Rip sat under the tree. Lastly, the readers

Imagery is defined as the use of “figurative language to represent objects, actions, and ideas” in a way to “appeal to our physical senses” (LiteraryDevices Editors). Washington Irving is an American author during the early ages of an independent America. Taking place before and after the American Revolution, Irving offers offers a unique perspective on small American towns. Throughout his short story Rip Van Winkle, Irving incorporates the element of imagery to connect the audience to the setting, relate the character to the audience, and enhance the reader's experience. Irving writes as the main character, Rip Van Winkle.

Rip Van Winkle pursues a very seldom lifestyle with no pursuit and no ambition. He displays almost no willingness to change from his traditional ways after realizing the American colonies were independent from British Tyranny. He even still accepts the rule of King George III when he enters the town greeting the towns people with saying he is a loyal subject of the king. The reader can see his total disembodiment from the situation when the narrator says “instead of being a subject of his Majesty George the Third, he was now a free citizen of the United States. Rip, in fact, was no politician;

Jack the Ripper was an anonymous killer in 1888 who brutally murdered about five women, wrote merid letters, and might’ve been a man known as Aaron Kosminsky. He was a murderous man of mystery, and historians might still be asking who he was and what his motives were in the decades to

Rip Van Winkle is incredibly lazy and his dislike for responsibility mirrors that of America not wanting to be a servant of England. Before Rip falls asleep on the mountain, the town is considered to be quiet and peaceful. However, when he wakes, the town has changed into a bustling, excited little area. Even the tavern is different; King George's name has been replaced by General Washington.

The Great American Dream is an ideal that states through hard work and dedication, every American citizen has the opportunity to accomplish personal goals and achieve success. The amount of effort put forth to obtain these goals, and achieve individualized success is decided upon by that citizen. Some of the more common goals and successes are ownership of property, obtaining wealth, enjoying liberties, experiencing patriotism, and raising a family. In “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving, the main character Rip is able to obtain the Great American Dream through laziness. Washington Irving satirizes the Great American Dream in his short story, and in this paper I will analyze how “Rip Van Winkle” can be read as a parody.

Irving’s Character Alikeness Biographical and short story writer, Washington Irving is known for his works “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” However, he does have additional short stories. Between 1819 and 1820, Washington Irving published The Sketch Book, which was made up of approximately 30 short stories. Within those works were characters such as John Bull, Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow, and several other unnamed characters. Now, the nameless characters in Washington Irving’s tales had just as deep impacts in their stories as named characters; from those deep impacts came about noticeable character resemblances between those characters.

In novels focusing on parody of European attributes of romanticism Washington Irving created the unexampled masterpieces. “Rip Van Winkle” being one of the unexampled works of Washington Irving combines gentle and perfect humor. This story is Irving’s imaginative reworking of an old German tale in which his valuable parody professionally covered. In the story Washington Irving gave the national shade to the description of events and outlandish beings for America.

Washington Irving’s, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. is a collection of thirty-four of his essays and short stories. Attributed to the fictional Dutch historian character, Diedrich Knickerbocker, are two of Irving’s most popular stories, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Rip Van Winkle is the story of a Dutch villager, living at the foot of the Catskill mountains before and after the American Revolutionary War. Van Winkle is genuinely loved by the people of his village, especially by the children whom he tells ghost stories to, plays with, and gives toys. However, this simple, easy-going man has one great error in his character: he is incredibly lazy, despising work in all forms.

Hugh S. Dawson also added some thoughts to the ideas of Young, Fetterley and Fiedler about Rip Van Winkle that Rip Van Winkle being Gothic story once more shows the advantage of marriage to avoid from wasting life in impenetrable forest [6, 14/08/2015]. Another bestseller work of Washington Irving is “The Spectre Bridegroom” that also included in “The Sketch Book by Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.”. If Irving in “Rip Van Winkle” headed to mix the physical and metaphorical dream reflecting the sigh of freedom in colony, in this work he brought the new American breath to the old Europe. Unlike other works, Irving described the happened events in Germany. All these hinted at that Irving wanted to ruin the old fences around Europe that formulated for many years.