Character Analysis Of Rip Van Winkle

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Rip Van Winkle: The Revolutionary Conflict 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 …show more content…

He looks for a sense of comfort in his own life and the lives of those around him. Ms. Bily Cynthia explains that in Rips case “The hero does not necessarily want to become a hero, or to venture out on a quest that will separate him from the world he knows and change his life forever”. An example of Rip being such a hero would be his love of nature. His love for nature allows him to escape stress, and a big amount of the story takes place in the wilderness. Rip mainly uses his time in the wilderness to escape his wife Dame, “She scolds him to such an extent that he is at last reduced almost to despair, 'and finally his only alternative is to take up his gun and stroll away into the woods. ' (Bily)”. As a husband Rip is in a much damaged relationship with his wife Dame. In a marriage “A termagant wife may, therefore, in some respects, be considered a tolerable blessing; and if so, Rip Van Winkle was thrice blessed” (Irving …show more content…

When Rip awakens after a two decade slumber he is unaware of how much the world around him has changed. When Rip arrives to the town his only the only thing he is worrying about is the lecture he will be receiving from Dame “he dreaded to meet his wife” (Irving 86). Rip arrives in the town shocked when he finds the image of King George III replaced by George Washington. As Rip proceeds through the neighborhood that he once knew, he becomes confused and unable to comprehend the current government which he is now living under, so much that he is baffled when he is questioned by towns’ people as to “which side he voted?” (Irving 89). Although there were still plenty of loyalist around at the time of Rips awakening “The revolution awoke the fire within the American Spirit and the townspeople became alive with anticipation of their new government” (Freeman). Rip is now having to adapt to these patriotic

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