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“Rip Van Winkle” is a short-story by Washington Irving, which was first published in 1819.
Initially, Irving depicts Rip Van Winkle as a fairly average person: “a simple, good-natured fellow.” However, what makes Rip appear a bit more interesting is the fact that the author describes him as not being in charge of his own household, which was fairly unusual in the time the short-story was written. In those days, the husband was usually...
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seen as the head of the family. This does not appear to be the case in Rip’s marriage, as he is described as “an obedient, henpecked husband,” which clearly means that his wife is in charge at home, and not Rip.
Another occasion where Rip is portrayed as an interesting character is when he is being described as being very popular with everyone in his hometown, even with the kids, as they “shout with joy whenever he approached.”
Unfortunately, the reader also finds out that Rip is not very good at looking after his family financially, as he is not working enough on the farm: “but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible.” Again, this is a rather unusual characteristic, intended to make the reader more interested in the character or Rip and setting the scene for the events to come.
How does the author depict Rip Van Winkle as interesting?
Washington Irving first makes Rip an interesting character to us by treating him as a comic figure—a happy-go-lucky man whose children and farm are going to ruin while he is out fishing, helping a neighboring housewife with a minor chore, or hunting for squirrels. Irving also makes Rip a sympathetic character by telling the story from his point of view. From Rip's perspective, he has to escape as far from his household as possible as often as possible because his wife is a relentless shrew. She might have a different version of the story, but it is not one we hear.
Our interest in Rip increases as we follow him one day deep into a part of the Catskills that seems enchanted, filled with odd people in old-fashioned Dutch costumes who are bowling and drinking beer. We wonder what adventure Rip is going to have, but, he being Rip, we are not surprised when he goes to sleep.
Our interest increases, however, when he awakes and returns to the village, only to find out that he has been asleep for twenty years and everything—including himself—has changed. This piques our interest because it is relatable: we, too, might begin to wonder what we would do in Rip's shoes, suddenly twenty years older and having to cope with a whole new world.
Rip's happy-go-lucky but sympathetic character and his unusual adventures keep us interested in him.
Discuss the character of Rip Van Winkle.
Like Ichabod Crane of Washington Irving's other famous story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," Rip van Winkle is a would-be hero. While he resembles somewhat the Romantic hero who is greatly involved with nature and the enjoyment of its beauty as he loves to wander away from the town, Rip is flawed because he is lazy and immature and unable to deal with reality. In Irving's America, it seems that there is little room for the imagination. For, when Rip returns to town after his twenty-year sleep, he cannot relate to anyone. In his essay "Rip Van Winkle: Rip, Ichabod, and the American Imagination," Terrence Martin writes or Irving's heroes,
They defeat themselves. It would appear that for Irving there is no place, or a very limited place, for the hero of the imagination.....A nation of Rips and Ichabods, Americans might reason, would soon be no nation at all.
Martin further argues that Rip and Ichabod fail as heroes because they do not recognize
‘‘fact and doctrine,’’ which are at once the prerequisite for and the evidence of personal and cultural maturity.
When Rip returns after twenty years, he seeks no "fact and doctrine"; instead his nostalgia for the "drowsy tranquility" of the past overtakes him and he feels as though he has lost his identity:
"I was myself last night; but I fell asleep on the mountain--and they've changed my gun--and everything's changed--and I'm changed--and I can't tell what's my name, or who I am!"
In becoming a new nation, the old colonies as represented by Rip van Winkle and his friends have lost their romantic charm with tales of fantasy and the supernatural. Instead they are replaced with a "bustling disputatious" populace who pass out handbills and harangue arout the rights of citizens.
What are the traits of Rip Van Winkle?
The character Rip Van Winkle is a happy-go-lucky man without much drive or ambition. He lives in the moment and likes to do small tasks for neighboring housewives. However, he neglects his own house, farm, and children, creating financial difficulties for them. Rather than apply himself to work that will better his family's future, he prefers to hunt, fish, or sit around in front of the inn, discussing old news. The narrator describes him as
one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself, he would have whistled life away in perfect contentment.
When Rip falls asleep for twenty years and then rejoins society, he is treated as a relic of a bygone age of colonialism. While he has slept, the United States has sprung into being:
The very character of the people seemed changed. There was a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed phlegm and drowsy tranquillity.
The new feelings of energy, initiative, and agency that being part of a democracy brings to young people in his village is lost on Rip. He becomes a symbol of a former, more apathetic, and "drowsy" time when Americans were content to be hen-pecked by England.
In terms of the story, it is a humorous tale with tongue-in-cheek narration that combines comic with supernatural elements, such as falling asleep for twenty years. Part fairy tale, part comic yarn, it also, and most importantly, contributes to building a mythology of the young United States as a future-oriented country that has gained new vigor since becoming independent.