Character Analysis of Dame Van Winkle

“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.