Rip Van Winkle (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
At a glance:
- Author: Washington Irving
- First Published: 1819
- Type of Work: Short fiction
- Type of Plot: Tall tale
- Time of Work: Eighteenth century
- Genres: Short fiction, Regional fiction, Folklore, Fantasy, Tall tale
- Subjects: Husbands, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Wives, Philosophy or philosophers, Magic or magicians, Marriage, Villages, Time travel, Eighteenth century, Storytelling, Adultery, Fantasy, Drinking or drunkenness, Fairy tales, Sleep
- Locales: Catskills, NY
Places Discussed
Dutch village. Unnamed village of Dutch settlers in New York that is the home of Rip Van Winkle, who sleeps in the woods for twenty years and then returns to the village. Rip’s twenty-year absence from the village gives Irving a chance to reflect and comment on changes that occurred in the United States between the period shortly before the American Revolution and the early years of the independent republic.
Irving first describes the village as one of “great antiquity,” founded by the original Dutch colonists who settled in New York. The village...
[The entire page is 897 words long]
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- Rip Van Winkle (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
- Rip Van Winkle (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
- Rip Van Winkle (Magill Book Reviews)
- Rip Van Winkle (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
- Rip Van Winkle (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
- Rip Van Winkle (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
See Also:
Washington Irving (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Washington Irving (Short Fiction)Washington Irving (Dictionary of World Biography)Theory of Short Fiction (Topical Overview--Short Fiction)
See Also:
- - Rip Van Winkle summary and study guide in the eNotes.
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