Analysis Of Rip Van Winkle

1147 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: On the characterization of rip van winkle

In his short story, “Rip Van Winkle, Irving used the literary element of setting to illustrate the changes that occurred. There are examples of each of the three types of setting: historical, geographical and physical. The historical period in which it took place is not given, however though “clues in the story and their knowledge of history” critics have estimated that the tale began between 1769 and 1774 (Galens 229). During that time, the characters in the story have no strong political views, there is nothing to indicate that they “are aware of politics, or concerned about it in any way”, instead they spend time discussing “village gossip, or telling endless sleepy stories of nothing” (229; Irving 5). At the end of the story, Winkle “awakens …show more content…

Some of these changes are minor, as suggested by the change to Rip Van Winkle, himself. He has gotten old, shown by the stiff joints and the greater length of beard, however, there does not appear to be any changes to his attitude, he is still willing to gossip and to tell “endless sleepy stories of nothing” (Irving 5; 8-9). Change is more evident in the differences within the village; his wife has died, his children have grown, his daughter has a family of her own, and “many of his friends” were dead or gone (Galens 228; Viette 132). The change that Winkle may have had the hardest time adjusting to was that he returned to find he was a “citizen of a republic rather than a subject of a king” (Moss …show more content…

At the beginning of the story, “the country was yet a province of Great Britain”; whereas at the end, the “American Revolution has come and gone” (228). Steven Blakemore comments in "Rip Van Winkle." American History Through Literature 1820 - 1870:
Irving highlights the change from colonial America to independent America in the scene where the Union Hotel has replaced Nicholaus Vedder’s colonial inn and the portrait of George Washington has replaced that of George III. That it is now the Union Hotel puns on the new national “union” that is under new management” (991)
Many of the changes that Winkle experienced can be attributed to the transformation of a “peaceful pre-Revolutionary colony” into a “bustling post-Revolutionary America” (Blakemore

Show More
Related

  • The Battle of Fox Hill and Toktong Pass

    873 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edward, Rebecca and Henretta, James and Self, Robert. America A Concise History. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2012.

    Read More

  • An Allegorical Reading of Rip Van Winkle

    1509 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle,” an allegorical reading can be seen. The genius of Irving shines through, in not only his representation in the story, but also in his ability to represent both sides of the hot political issues of the day. Because it was written during the revolutionary times, Irving had to cater to a mixed audience of Colonists and Tories. The reader’s political interest, whether British or Colonial, is mutually represented allegorically in “Rip Van Winkle,” depending on who is reading it. Irving uses Rip, Dame, and his setting to relate these allegorical images on both sides. Irving would achieve success in both England and America, in large part because his political satires had individual allegorical meanings.

    Read More

  • Undaunted Courage By Stephen E. Ambrose: Chapter Analysis

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book Undaunted Courage is written by Stephen E. Ambrose. In the chapter “Thomas Jefferson’s America 1801,” the text mainly discusses the president Thomas Jefferson. The author’s purpose of this chapter is to persuade the readers to respect, admire, and acknowledge the works of Jefferson. Ambrose wants the readers to mainly take away that the United States would not be what it is today if it was not for this specific president. He reveals his persuasive purpose in the chapter through different events, individuals, and languages.

    Read More

  • NAACP Impact on Civil Rights

    1698 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Reader's Companion to American History. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1991. Print. The. The "Modernist Journals Project.

    Read More

  • Differences Between John Adams And Hamiltonian Federalists

    1523 Words  | 4 Pages

    The last decade of the eighteenth century was a period of intense political strife in the United States in large part because the stakes were so high. People were fighting to shape the nature of the newly formed national government. They were struggling to define the place of the United States in a world of international revolutionary upheaval. And they were seeking to preserve and extend their particular version of the American Revolution. For all the fluidity and unevenness of parties, the substantive polarity of the political realm cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, it is the very stuff of political dissension that is generally absent in Freeman's

    Read More

  • How Does Rip Van Winkle Relate To Self Reliance

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving he writes about a simple man, Rip Van Winkle, who does just enough to get by in life. He lives in a village by the catskill mountains, and is loved by everyone in the village. He is an easy going man, who spends most of his days at the village inn talking with his neighbors, fishing all day, and wandering the mountains with his dog to refuge from his wife the thorn on his side. On one of his trips to the mountains Rip Van Winkle stumbles upon a group of men who offer him a drink, and that drink changes everything for Van Winkle. He later wakes up, twenty years later, and returns to his village were he notices nothing is the same from when he left. He learns that King George III is no longer in charge,

    Read More

  • An Examination of Rip's Character in Irving's Rip Van Winkle

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    Washington Irving wrote Rip Van Winkle with the American people in mind. At this time society was changing drastically. America was attempting to go through a struggle with forming their own identity. America was wanting to have an identity that would set them free from English culture and rule. Irving uses his main character, Rip Van Winkle, to symbolize America. Rip goes through the same struggles that America was going through at this time before and after the Revolution. Irving uses such great symbolism in this story to describe the changes that American society went through. This story covers a wide variety of time periods including: America before English rule, early American colonies under English rule, and America after the Revolutionary War.

    Read More

  • Strange And Exaggerated Characters In Rip Van Winkle

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Character of Significant Growth in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

    885 Words  | 2 Pages

    All in all, the most noticeable, but probably overlooked, change is the fact that he no longer has a dream. So much of his life had depended on his and Lennie’s dream. The dream was a constant topic of conversation between him and Lennie (and eventually Candy as well). The stories and the planning all gone to waste because he had given up on his dream. That is the most noticeable difference. The abandonment of this fantasy changed everything and was at the heart of most of the developments seen in his character.

    Read More

  • Rip Van Winkle and the American Dream

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Rip Van Winkle, Irving shows his doubts in the American Identity and the American dream. After the Revolutionary war, America was trying to develop its own course. They were free to govern their own course of development; however, some of them had an air of uncertainties on their own identity in this new country. Irving was born among this generation in the newly created United States of America, and also felt uncertainty about the American identity. Irving might be the writer that is the least positive about being an American. The main reason for this uncertainty is the new born American has no history and tradition while the Europe has a great one accumulated for thousands of years. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, Irving borrows an old European tale to make it take place in America. This tale related to the Dutch colonists haunts the kaatskill mountains. In order to highlight the American identity, Irving praises the “majestic” mountains which Europe lacks. He describes the mountains that “their summits…will glow and light up like a crown of glory” Nevertheless, the use of these ancient explorers into Rip Van Winkle only to show that although American has formed its own identity, no one can cut its connection with Europe. No wonder when America was still under tyranny of the British rule, some people still cannot cut the blood relationship with Europe. Therefore, the American identity is blurred by their relationship with Europe since then.

    Read More

  • The Round, Flat, and Stock Characters of Rip Van Winkle

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    One particular criterion character effectively supports the central idea in “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving. The character's type develops with the personality development throughout the story. Three types of characters: round, flat, and stock, appear in most stories. The round character displays a fully developed personality and full emotions. Flat characters, also known as supporting characters, do not develop fully or express complex emotions. A stock character, also known as a stereotype, fits an established characterization from real life or literature. With these three types of characters leading the reader through the story, the reader learns the events taking place as well as the changes in the character’s lives. The author keeps the reader informed of the changes affecting the characters throughout the narrative through style. When a character undergoes a fundamental change in nature or personality during the story, the character has dynamic style. However, a character without change defines a static character. Although all characters have a style and type sometimes understanding the differences appears complicated. A chart often helps establish a better understanding of character type and style.

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Rip Van Winkle And The Sleepy Hollow

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever imagined being asleep in the forest for twenty years, coming back home and not knowing what has gone on all those years of your absence? Rip Van Winkle went through that, and had to come back home and face some real changes. The author Washington Irving has some interesting characters whom he puts in his short stories. Irving puts some characters in his short stories to reflect on some of his life. For example, Irving has similarities between Rip Van Winkle being asleep in the forest 20 years and Irving was in Europe for seventeen writing short stories and being the governor’s aid and military secretary. These two situations are similar, because they both didn’t know what they were going to come back too and were gone for such a long period of time. Irving does put some of his own life into his short stories and with a reason for his self-reflective works.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Rip Van Winkkle And Rip Van Winkle

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first way being, that the main characters go on dark journeys and return with new attitudes. In "Rip Van Winkle" the character comes back and the people in the village are much more different than when he left. For example, his wife has died, and most of his kids are gone. " 'Ah, poor man, Rip Van Winkle was his name, but it 's twenty years since he went away from home with his gun, and never has been heard of since -- his dog came home without him; but whether he shot himself, or was carried away by the Indians, nobody can tell. I was then but a little girl. ' Rip had but one question more to ask; but he put it with a faltering voice: 'Where 's your mother? ' 'Oh she too had died but a short time since; she broke a blood-vessel in a fit of passion at a New-England peddler '" (Irving ). Rip Van Winkle had come back to village expecting things to be the same as when he left. But little did he know, that he had been gone much longer than he

    Read More

  • Transformation and Freedom in Rip Van Winkle

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dame Van Winkle represented the Revolutionary War. "The changes of states and empires made but little

    Read More

  • Confusion and Personal Identity in Rip Van Winkle

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rip Van Winkle tells the story of a man who, on a trek into the Kaatskill mountains, mysteriously sleeps away twenty years of his life during the Revolutionary War. When he returns home, he finds that things have dramatically changed; King George no longer has control over the colonies, and many of his friends have either died or left town. At this point, the story reaches its climax, where Van Winkle realizes that his life may be forever changed.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Rip Van Winkle

Open Document