The Irony Of Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle

Rip Van Winkle, a story written by Washington Irving in the early 1800s, demonstrates the emergence and development of American Mythology. Packed full of mythological elements, Irving’s tale depicts a man who encounters mysterious and fantastical characters in equally intriguing settings. Rip Van Winkle displays three major factors that contribute to mythology: mysterious, historical setting, remarkable and strange characters, and heroic, magical events and their consequences.

Irving used satire in his stories to send the readers a message. He used humor to describe his wife and their relationship. When Rip awakened from his deep sleep he found that his wife had passed and the revolution war was over. Irving compared the two events, the Americans were free from the King’s rule and Rip was free from his nagging wife. He used satire to better tell his stories and to connect the two incidents.

She has a lot of contempt for Rip due to his unwillingness to work and carefree lifestyle. Her abusive control over Rip represents King George and the British rule of the colonies. Even though the colonies were mistreated by the King they still stayed faithful and attached to the crown same as Rip stayed by his critical wife. Here the irony lies in Rip’s absence of feeling towards his wife Dame Van Winkle. Even though he was lectured and bossed around by her he still felt content.

            If there's one passage in this story that would summarize the entire story it would be this one. Every theme throughout Rip Van Winkle is touched on somewhere in here and the constant theme of "who Rip is" is the underlying question of both this story and this passage. In the beginning of the story I think we all took a liking to such a friendly character who cares so much about pleasing everyone. However, towards the end of the story Rip seems to examine his life and realizes that he doesn't like everything about himself, and that quite possibly some changes are in order.

Rip Van Winkle’s positive traits also symbolically represent the ideal of what “New Americans” wanted to be; beloved, free-spirited, and kind. No one has no problem with Rip Van Winkle and his eagerness to do anything for anyone, except his wife. Irving states, “Morning, noon and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and everything he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence” (2). Yes, Rip was extremely caring and helpful but he also came with his own bad traits. Rip was stubborn, very irresponsible, and he lacked ambition. All of these bad traits which happened to get on Dame Van Winkle’s nerves. Rip can never catch a break with Dame Van Winkle. Dame Van Winkle would get angry at him for anything and everything he did, it was a never ending tirade “sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener by constant use” (2). Dame Van Winkle would nag Rip to death over his chores and duties so much that his only refuge would come from running away. Washington uses the character of Dame Van Winkle as a symbol for Royal England and its treatment of the Colonies. Rip Van Winkle's character portrays

The character of Rip Van Winkle was one who was considered lazy and unproductive. He was "one of the happy mortals...who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, which ever he can be got with least thought or trouble..." (Irving 983). Winkle was the kind of

Rip Van Winkle is described as a man who “was 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” (46). He was a stubborn man

Through the course of “Rip Van Winkle” you stumble upon many remarkable and strange characters. Washington Irving reveals these complex characters through humor and exaggeration. Irving not only gives readers the characters

Furthermore, Rip Van Winkle’s identity itself represents America’s journey before and after the American Revolution and the difficulties that were faced. When the reader is first introduced to Rip Van Winkle, he is a well-known man. The community loves him and he has made a name for himself based off the needs of others. He is very dependent on the community and the community is dependent on him. The following citation how well-liked Rip Van Winkle is before he takes his trip to Kaatskill mountains. “Certain it is, that he was a great favorite among all the good wives of the village […] The children of the village, too, would shout with joy whenever he approached.”(https://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Irving/Winkle/Irving_Winkle.pdf, Page 8) When Rip returns, he is faced with the reality that he has lost any form of identity he once had. Nobody recognized him, the children laughed at him, and even the dogs barked after him, none of these were the case before his trip. Irving used Rip Van Winkle to represent America

Washington Irving’s tale Rip Van Winkle is about a man named Rip Van Winkle, who lived in a small town. Everyone in the town was very fond of Rip because he was always eager to help anyone and everyone, which ended up being his downfall on his walk through the mountains,

Before the American Revolution, people used to have determined beliefs, traditions and government, but after the war, society was confused. For example, the website saylor.org stated, “Politically, the American Revolution carried significant and historic consequences … established a republican form of government out of what had been a monarchical and colonial political system. It altered the position of American people from being subjects of the British crown to citizens and political participants of a republic” (How Revolutionary Was The American Revolution?). Now, people had more freedom and the ability to express their thoughts on what they wanted for their country. As a result, people was struggling to leave old habits. The symbolism in this quote emphasizes how America had to adapt: “Rip now resumed his old walks and habits; he soon found many of his former cronies, though all rather the worse for the wear and tear of time; and preferred making friends among the rising generation, with whom he soon grew into great favor” (Irving, 1014). This quote is of great importance because it shows the reader that Rip Van Winkle himself represents the old country. Since all the news about the revolution and his family happened so fast to him, he does not know how to deal with them. For this reason, he kept his “old habits”, while at the same time, he adapted to his environment. Given these points, “Rip Van Winkle” can be analyzed as a story about the struggle for identity because of the

Rip Van Winkle is the very embodiment of freedom, a very unsightly version of freedom but freedom nonetheless. Running through the story, it is learned that Rip Van Winkle is a lazy and unproductive member of society. He doesn’t do any beneficial work for his family, his terribly passive behavior rubbed off of on his son, and so forth. Even then, he’s still being terrorized by various kinds of tyrannical powers: the tyranny of marriage (his very uptight wife, Dame Van Winkle, nags on him a lot), the tyranny of social expectations (a man in his prime is expected to do something beneficial), and the tyranny of government (he is under direct rule of King George III). Thankfully, a magical nap solved all of these issues.

In Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle," Rip's character is closely correlated with the theme of nature and its prominence over the ever-changing world. The story is set in the Kaatskill Mountains, an important setting with a luminance that does not falter throughout. Similarly, Rip is immediately described as a respectable and well liked man in his mountainous setting. Right off the bat, the two can be easily associated. The magical elements in the story cause Rip to fall asleep for twenty years, and upon waking, he is in a world completely changed by the progression of time. However, despite the extreme alterations, only Rip and the nature that he is so familiar with are able to prevail, remaining ultimately unaffected by the

This comment is used to show the significance of Irving's fictional works to American literature. He used styles such as manipulation and imagery to captivate the reader. Imagery such as in Chapter 1 of "Rip Van Winkle" is enchanting and grabs the reader:

Rip Van Winkle knew how to make the most out of his freedom and this aura about him led other people to follow