A Character Analysis of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a festive short story by Washington Irving circa 1820. The story takes place in a quaint town named “Tarry Town,” which has the eerie valley of Sleepy Hollow nearby. Moreover, among the townspeople, Sleepy Hollow is renowned for its superstitious and speculative happenings since the town’s creation. Most importantly, the legend of the Headless Horseman is the most prominently spoken of. The story follows a single man, Ichabod, and the conflicts he experiences externally leading to his assumed death. In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Ichabod’s characteristics of overconfidence, false expectations, and naïveté are the reasons for his demise at the end of the …show more content…
Over the course of the story, Ichabod fantasizes frequently about a female for which he seeks courtship due to his lustfulness and greed. For example, sourcing from his confidence, Ichabod greedily believed he was entitled to an abundant lifestyle from inheriting Katrina’s father’s wealth for his gain. Moreover, Ichabod’s attraction to Katrina is secondarily supported exclusively from physical appearance. It is after the story discloses Ichabod having an interest in Katrina does his unrealistic ideals show; in verbatim, the narrator says: “Ichabod Crane had a soft and foolish heart toward the sex [Katrina Van Tassel]” (4). In other words, Ichabod becoming interested in Katrina was the cause of him having facilitate false expectations. The mention of these perverse incentives foreshadow the failure of the main character due to its deviation on commonality that many similarly-structured stories will portray. To digress, Ichabod is thinking far into the future with care solely of self-interest, and having these false expectations perpetuated his confidence and ultimate decision to pursue the Headless Horseman that would end his …show more content…
It is explicitly mentioned early in the story that Ichabod’s imagination is powerful, yet naive. For instance, when Ichabod is walking on an eerie path towards his farmhouse, it was revealed that “every sound of nature… fluttered his excited imagination” (3). In other words, Ichabod, although behaving formally and maturely as a front, is revealed to have a childlike imagination. For example, while tracking the Headless Horseman in the vale, Ichabod becomes frightened and scared from the relatively unnerving ambiance much like a child would. In the encounter with the Headless Horseman, and inadvertently “shutting his eyes, [he] broke forth with involuntary fervor into a psalm tune” (11). In an unfortunate turn of events, it was the action of singing his psalm tune to calm himself that triggered the Hessian Horseman to focus its attention to Ichabod. From singing the psalm tune, “the shadowy object of alarm put itself in motion… jogging along on the blind side of old Gunpowder [Ichabod’s horse]” (11). After a short time, the Horseman attacked Ichabod, leaving his whereabouts unknown; however, it is assumed he had died following the encounter. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a tragedy about a man named Ichabod who, in light of enamoration and naïveté, pursued a speculated lusus naturae; however, was killed due to having too much confidence and fallacious
The story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, was written by Washington Irving, and the story is about a man name Ichabod Crane who was trying to win Katherina Van Tassel’s hand in marriage, but he is failing. The small town named Sleepy Hollow has a folklore about the Headless Horseman, who rides through the town at night to find his head. Irving explains that Sleepy Hollow has many ghost stories, but the Headless Horseman is the most popular in the town. Ichabod Crane was a school master, and he was killed by the town’s ghost. The townspeople believed Crane was taken by the Galloping Hessian, so the story of the Headless Horseman would not be associated with Crane’s disappearance. As the news about Ichabod’s disappearance rummage through the town, the Brom Bones’ reaction to the news made people question the Galloping Hessian’s part
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.
...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.
Even though he seems lank, he had “dilating powers of an anaconda” (3). He loves to describe physical things by imagining them as food. When he sees Katrina Van Tassel, he describes her as “plump as a partridge, ripe and melting and rosy-cheeked as one of her father's peaches” (4). In a beautiful way he scrutinizes Katrina and explains how well she is raised. He also held her hand and thought, “well buttered and garnished with honey”(8). While dancing, he compares Katrina’s hand to soft and delicate pancakes. His innocent heart fell for Katrina’s “mere trick to secure her conquest of his rival [Brom Bones]” (10) and make him jealous. Ichabod described anything he loved in terms of food. His desire for food made him blind and he fell for Katrina’s
Many evenings during the winter, Ichabod spent with the old Dutch wives. They would tell ghost stories as well as other super natural beings and demons while sitting by the fire. There was a certain story that was never left out, the legendary Headless Horseman, or sometimes known as the Hessian of the Hollow. The story went on that there was a soldier who with a cannon ball had gotten his head shot off and since roamed through Sleepy Hollow looking for his lost head while on his horse. The Headless Horseman has a jack-o-lantern that sits in replacement of his head. In addition, a love story is part of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” however many find it to be more of a pure lust or greed story. There was girl named Katrina Van Tassel who was
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.
The original story by Washington Irving starts out in a small town of Sleepy Hollow. Irving paints an image of bountiful crops, beautiful scenery, and prosperous landowners. Ichabod Crane was a local pedagogue, who taught at the local schoolhouse. He was known for his strict ways and yet he was very popular amongst the families of his students- especially the ones who had ?pretty sisters.? Ichabod enjoyed spending fall evenings with the old widows as they sat by a fire and told stories of ghosts and demons and other supernatural beings. One story that was always told was one of the legendary Headless Horsemen. The tale tells of a soldier who had his head shot off with a cannon ball. His ghost now roamed Sleepy Hollow on his horse, looking for his lost head. In place of his head, sits a jack-o-lantern, which had a fiery glow.
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...
in creating his vision of the town of Sleepy Hollow and the headless horseman, Katrina,
Benoit, Raymond. Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The Explicator. Washington: Heldref Publications, 1996. "
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.
The improbable plots and unlikely characterization showed how much they used creativity. According to a Romanticism article, “The Romantics tended to define and to present the imagination as our ultimate ‘shaping’ or creative power, the approximate human equivalent of the creative powers of nature or even deity” (“Romanticism”). They believe that imagination is an essential and amazing ability that humans possess. Romantic authors often included examples of imagination and creativity within their works. In the short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” the supernatural plot and improbable characters illustrate the imagination of Romanticism writers (Irving). Washington Irving must have used a significant amount of creativity to come up with a story that involves a headless ghost riding a horse. He thought outside of his reality and environment in order to create an impossible and fascinating character. The Romantics favored imagination and creativity because they realized how invaluable it truly
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
EXPOSITION: Orsino expresses his love for Olivia: While Olivia is mourning for her dead brother; Orsino falls in love with her. He is trying to get her to marry him but she refuses. Since she mourns for the loss of her brother for seven years, Olivia will not see anybody who seeks a relationship with her.
...than usual and Katerina seems to disappoint him and leaves him crestfallen. On his way home he finds a dark and creepy path he takes and sees a dark figure nearby that passes. He finally notices that the man on the horse has no head. He tries to get his horse to go faster but fails, because he is not a skilled rider. He ends up by the church where the Headless Horseman is known to be seen. The Headless Horseman follows and with his detached head throws it at Ichabod forcing him to fall off his horse. The next day, there is no sign of Ichabod, but the horse returns back to the owner’s farm. Later a group of people go looking for Ichabod and all they find is his hat next to a smashed pumpkin. Some people believe that Brom pulled a great prank, but the local folklore and old women know he was taken by the Headless Horseman. Ichabod is never seen again in Sleepy Hallow.