“Rip Van Winkle”, a short story written by Washington Irving, is known for being a tale that illustrates multiple aspects of life before and after the American Revolution. After spending twenty years in the forest asleep, Rip Van Wrinkle returns to his quaint village to find his home transformed into a bustling town. By the end of the story, he has become a local historian; telling the townspeople what the village was like in days before the revolution. The events of “Rip Van Winkle” occurred due to the actions of Rip Van Winkle’s wife: Dame Van Winkle. Dame Van Winkle can be viewed as the main antagonist in “Rip Van Winkle”, as well as a symbol of Great Britain before and after the American Revolution.
Little physical characteristics are known about Dame Van Wrinkle; what the reader’s know of her comes from the behavioral details given by the story’s omniscient narrator. It is stated in Robert A. Ferguson’s article, “Rip Van Winkle and the Generational Divide in American Culture”, that Dame Van Winkle’s actual name is never recognized (530). Dame Van Winkle’s character is first introduced when the narrator explains the life of Rip Van Winkle before he falls asleep for twenty years. Dame is described as Rip’s wife who is considered to be a woman who is overbearing, and is capable of acting harshly towards her husband. Dame is also labeled as a “curtain lecturer”. According to the story’s footnotes in the 8th edition of The Norton Anthology of American Literature, a curtain lecturer is a term for when a wife declines her husband’s need for sex after she has “closed the curtains” around her bed at night (Baym 472). Dame Van Winkle has no written quotes throughout the story; however, through the descriptions of the observan...
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... eventually overcomes this obstacle over a period of time. Dame Van Winkle’s controlling personality as well as the relationship she shares with her husband can be viewed as a symbol of Great Britain before and after the revolution.
Works Cited
Bradley, Patricia L. “Rip Van Winkle” and “Shiloh”: Why Resisting Readers Still Resist.” Critique 48.2 (2007): 137-148. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Ferguson, Robert A. "Rip Van Winkle and the Generational Divide in American Culture." Early American Literature. 40.3 (2005): 529-544. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Irving, Washington. "Rip Van Winkle." Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. . 8th ed. New York: Norton, 2012. 470-482. Print.
Wyman, Sarah. “Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle: A Dangerous Critique Of A New Nation.” Anq 23.4 (2010): 216-222. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Eder, Richard. "Pain on the Face of Middle America." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Daniel G. Marowski. Detroit: Gale Research Publishing, Inc., 1986. 103.
Magill, Frank N. Magill's Survey of American Literature, Volume 5. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1991. 29 Apr. 2011
Perkins, Geroge, and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature. 12th ed. Vol. 2. New York: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print
In conclusion, Ferguson’s article is explaining how Washington Irving’s story “Rip Van Winkle” has multiple meanings that many readers can draw conclusions from. His article also demonstrates the generational aspect to the story and how everyone that reads it can enjoy and find their imaginations in it. The mentions of the general population and their thought process of the time can also be interpreted in many ways from their addictions to dismay and ignorance of their
In Irving’s story, Dame Van Winkle was depicted negatively by Rip. Her concerned were primarily in the wellbeing of the family and in the absence of Rip, she was forced to take on more responsibilities at home raising and providing for her family which in turn led her to become bitter towards Rip, who seemed to busy helping everyone else. Her constant nagging resulted in Rip voyaging off to the mountains
Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print.
Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe were both writers who exemplified the writing style of the Romantic era. Both writers used their great talents to take the reader into the story. For example, Irving, in “Rip Van Winkle”, starts the story by saying, “Whoever has made a courage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill Mountains.” He also involves the reader in the story by taking us into the everyday lives of the Van Winkles and goes into some detail describing Rip’s “business”. Poe also demonstrates his ability to pull the reader into the story. In “The Fall of the House Usher” he uses extensive descriptions of the settings to give the reader the feeling of being there while the story is developing around them. The writers are also similar in the use of tone in their works. Irving’s use of tone in his stories is typically lighthearted, yet dramatic. This is demonstrated in “Rip Van Winkle” when Rip comes back from the “Kaatskills” and is talking to all the people in the town. There, he finds his son and daughter and asks, “Where’s your mother?” By asking this question, Irving implies both curiosity and even fear if Dame Van Winkle is still around. This humorous approach to the subject of Rip’s wife, makes light of ...
In Washington Irving’s work “Rip Van Winkle,” Irving demonstrates all characteristics of an American Mythology rather humorously. These characteristics affect the story attracting the attention of readers and impacting the reader’s experience of the story by relishing America’s unique attributes and values. In “Rip Van Winkle,” Irving incorporates attributes of American Mythology by setting the story in exciting pastimes, filling the story with strange and exaggerated characters, and featuring magical mysterious events.
Irving, Washington. “Rip Van Winkle.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Bayn. New York: Norton & Company, 1999.
In RIP Van Winkle, Dam Van Winkle is abusive, nagging, and sarcastic. In Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving states that “but what courage can with stand the ever-during and all besetting terrors of a woman’s tongue.” He seems to imply that he did not like women who gave their opinions and spoke their mind. It seems that Rip is going into the woods to escape his wife.
Next the story introduces Dame Van Winkle, Rip’s stern wife. She maintains contempt for her husband’s “insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor” (Irving). This tyrannic...
Ferguson, Robert A. "Rip Van Winkle and the Generational Divide in American Culture." Early American Literature (2006): 529-544. Web.
Berkin, Carol, Lisa Olson. Paddock, and Carl E. Rollyson. Encyclopedia of American Literature. New York: Facts on File, 2002. Print.
Washington Irving’s story Rip Van Winkle is about a man named Rip Van Winkle, who lived in a small town near the Hudson Valley. All of the towns’ people really like Rip Van Winkle because he would assist anyone or anything in need of help. Others see Van Winkle as a kind neighbor, and an obedient henpecked husband. Everyone who knows him is happy with Rip Van Winkle except for his awful wife, Dame, their marriage is a symbol for the American Revolution. Dame Van Winkle, his wife, is the main source of their marital conflict. She would nag Rip to death over his duties so much that he would seek freedom from these tirades and run away. Irving uses the character of Dame Van Winkle as a symbol to represent
Baym, Franklin, Gottesman, Holland, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. New York: Norton, 1994.