Rip Van Winkle
by Washington Irving
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At a glance:
- Author: Washington Irving
- First Published: 1819
- Type of Plot: Folktale
- Time of Work: The late eighteenth century
- Setting: The Catskill Mountains of New York
- Characters: Rip Van Winkle, Dame Van Winkle, Judith Van Winkle Gardenier
- 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: United States, North America, Catskills, New York
The Story
Rip Van Winkle is a good-natured but unassertive descendant of the Dutch settlers who assisted Peter Stuyvesant in his military exploits. Every small community has someone like Rip: the entertainer of local children, the willing helper of his neighbor, the desultory fisherman—but a man constitutionally unable to work on his own behalf. Rip’s farm falls into ruin, his children run ragged, and his wife’s bad temper mounts. He takes refuge from Dame Van Winkle in protracted discussions at the village inn, all-day fishing expeditions, and rambles in the mountains...
(The entire page is 2037 words.)
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