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Literary analysis of legend of sleepy hollow
Literary analysis of legend of sleepy hollow
Literary analysis of legend of sleepy hollow
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Washington Irving’s short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” was adapted into a movie titled “Sleepy Hollow” directed by Tim Burton nearly two centuries after the original publication. When the story was adapted as a film, several extensive changes were made. A short story easily read in one sitting was turned into a nearly two-hour thriller, mystery, and horror movie by incorporating new details and modifying the original version of the story. The short story relates the failed courtship of Katrina Van Tassel by Ichabod Crane. His courtship is cut short by the classic romance antagonist-the bigger, stronger, and better looking Broom Bones. Ichabod wishes to marry Katrina because of her beauty but also because of the wealthy inheritance she will receive when her father, Baltus Van Tassel and stepmother, Lady Van Tassel die. However, the film tells the story of Ichabod Crane as an investigator who is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the recent decapitations that are occurring. These modifications alter the original story entirely, thus failing to capture the Irving’s true interpretation of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The film and the original story have similarities and differences in the plot, characters, and setting.
Although the titles of the two works are relatively similar, the plot of each is different. If the film does not include the character, Ichabod Crane, and the reference to a Headless Horseman, the film would have no resemblance to Irving’s story. The difference in structure of plot in the two works changes the entire story. Every facet of the story is different between the two. The exposition offers the audience different stories because Ichabod has a new profession in the movie. The conflict in the two w...
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...as a film is far different from Irving’s original interpretation from 1820. By vastly changing the plot, Burton’s film fails to capture several of the elements that Irving incorporates. Both works have differences in plot, character, theme, point of view, but their setting allows the two to remain connected in their grim similarities.
Works Cited
Irving, Washington. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. Vol. B. New York: Norton &, 2007. 965-985. Print.
Sleepy Hollow, Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, and Miranda Richardson. Paramount Pictures, 1999. Film
Bernardo, Susan. “The Bloody Battle of the Sexes in Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow” EBSCO Publishing 39-43. Print.
Orr, Stanley, “A Dark Episode of Bonanza ‘Genre, Adaptation, and Historiography in Sleepy Hollow’” EBSCO Publishing 44-49. Print.
Although there are similarities and differences in the novel and the movie, I liked that Gene was crazy because he caused Finny. Both works of art demonstrated a good representation of the true message from John
In the story, Irving used characterization to create the backstory, characters, and character’s personalities. Irving used direct characterization, so he could describe each character in the beginning of the story. The main character is Ichabod Crane was pictured as a school teacher, love interest of Katherina Van Tassel, and newcomer of Sleepy Hollow. Few people did not like the fact Crane wanted Van Tassel’s hand in marriage because of his position in society. In the story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Crane was described as a simple person with no beautiful features and not the type of man that a woman like Katherina
The readings “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving and The Monster by Stephen Crane are to amazing readings. However, these two texts represent violence and conflicts in different ways, which shows that although they have the same concept their tactic for this same concept is used in a different approach.
In conclusion, details involving the characters and symbolic meanings to objects are the factors that make the novel better than the movie. Leaving out aspects of the novel limits the viewer’s appreciation for the story. One may favor the film over the novel or vice versa, but that person will not overlook the intense work that went into the making of both. The film and novel have their similarities and differences, but both effectively communicate their meaning to the public.
...rbidden love, whereas Irving’s tale is a tale of possible unrequited love. The characters are vaguely similar in both the written story and the movie, but the glaring difference is that while Ichabod possibly flees from Sleepy Hollow because he was frightened beyond his limits, the movie allows him to denounce any superstition in order to wed his beloved.
A philosopher named Paul Brunton said, “We should control our appetite, otherwise we will lose ourselves in the confusion of the world.” Washington Irving’s short story, “The legends of sleepy hollow” spins a tale about Ichabod Crane's experiences as a city teacher, while living in a magical place known as Sleepy Hollow. Appetite defines Ichabod Crane in the three following ways: food, wealth, and superstitions.
Instead, he made Ichabod Crane a detective who had his own vision on how to solve crimes. In the movie Ichabod is sent to the small village of Sleepy Hollow where a murder of three town’s people has occurred and they want him to solve it. Soon enough, he meets Katrina, whom Ichabod falls in love with, similar to Irving’s original story. Brom once again becomes jealous of this situation. The beginning of the story is very much similar to Washington Irving’s original. However, the main difference is that Ichabod is a detective; he is attempting to resolve a murder mystery. The murder consists of three people who had their heads cut off yet the heads are not being found anywhere. Even though Tim Burton did incorporate Washington Irving’s original story, he chose to include his own version of what happened. Only in the beginning does he chose to show Brom pretending to the cloaked horseman. Burton does include a sudden alteration; he decided to introduce magic and witchcraft. A witch controls an actual demon who was behind the killing who is the horseman. Katrina’s stepmother, who is the true witch, now possesses greed and
Fifteen years separate Washington Irving’s short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown.” The two share an eerie connection because of the trepidation the two protagonists endure throughout the story. The style of writing between the two is not similar because of the different literary elements they choose to exploit. Irving’s “Sleepy Hollow” chronicles Ichabod Crane’s failed courtship of Katrina Van Tassel as well as his obsession over the legend of the Headless Horseman. Hawthorne’s story follows the spiritual journey of the protagonist, Young Goodman Brown, through the woods of Puritan New England where he looses his religious faith. However, Hawthorne’s work with “Young Goodman Brown” is of higher quality than Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” because Hawthorne succeeds in exploiting symbols, developing characters, and incorporating worthwhile themes.
Over time the language of the original text of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Irving has been reworked to accommodate the change in audience. The Heath Anthology of American Literature has an unabridged version of the original wording (1354-1373). A complete copy of the original text of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" can be found in the young adolescent classic section of a bookstore or the juvenile section in the library. A juvenile edition of the text adapted by Arthur Rackham from 1928 was a replicate of the original it is filled with seven colored illustrations and numerous sketching. A young adolescent version adapted by Bryan Brown from 2001 has been abridged to accommodate the current young reader. The format is changed in Brownâs edition. The yo...
Irving does this to help readers realize how caught up the society of Sleepy Hollow is with their past. Irving frequently brings up the Revolutionary war and how the headless horseman was a Hessian soldier from the war. When he writes, “The dominant spirit that haunts this enchanted region is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head. It is said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannonball in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War… The specter is known, at all the country firesides, by the name of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow” (Irving 2). This is an allusion to the Revolutionary war because the headless horseman was a hessian soldier. This explains the theme of supernatural because the Headless Horseman haunts their town and the main character, Ichabod Crane, comes across the ghost of him. Another major allusion in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is Ichabod's belief in witches. The author supports this when saying, “He was, moreover, esteemed by the women as a man of great erudition, for he had read several books quite through, and was a perfect master of Cotton Mather's 'History of New England Witchcraft” (Irving 4). Ichabod also believes in the supernatural past. His belief in witches supports the theme of supernatural within the book. Referring to the past using allusion develops different themes within the
Benoit, Raymond. Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The Explicator. Washington: Heldref Publications, 1996. "
The film that was produced after the novel has a lot of differences and not as
Although at times it is easy to get carried away with the adventure of a story, noticing the elements a writer has put into his work is very important. In reading “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” you can see both similarities as well as differences of how both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving chose to illuminate their romantic writing styles. The writers both use a mystical woodsy setting with supernatural twists to draw in readers. Underlying you will find the differing romantic themes each writer used, as well as how each writer chose to end their work.
Irving uses many other images and scenes within this story that could be delved into further. However, I believe these three main points, along with the knowledge of the political climate of the times, shows Irving’s genius in representing both sides of the political gamut. Irving was able to cater to both the British and the Colonist without offending either side. Irving’s genius was that even though this was an allegory of its time, its elements could represent either or both sides of the conflict during the Revolution. This dual representation in an allegorical story ensured his success, in both countries as a writer. It allowed Irving to make a political statement without taking sides.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, one of the most classic books of all time, written by Washington Irving, was remade into a movie in 1999 by Director Tim Burton. Surprisingly there are many differences between the book and the movie, and little to no similarities. One of the major differences was that in the movie Tim Burton made Ichabod Crane a detective, while in the story he’s a nerdy teacher. Tim Burton did this to make the movie more interesting and for there to be a reason why Ichabod is so good at finding clues and solving the headless horseman case. Also they made Ichabod a little bit more brave in the movie so that there would be more action and drama in the movie. A total different between the story and the movie, is that they give a background of young Ichabod and his mother, but none of that was