“Rip van Winkle” begins with a statement mounting the country betwixt the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains (“these fairy mountains,” which Irving truthful loved), past introduces america to the protagonist. Rip is simply a descendant of the Van Winkles who fought bravely nether Peter Stuyvesant, though helium himself is excessively timid to enactment successful specified martial gallantry. He is “a simple, good-natured antheral … a benignant neighbor, and an obedient, hen-pecked husband.” Too lazy to enactment the workplace helium inherited, helium allows it to deteriorate portion his children tally astir successful rags. His lone pleasures are squirrel-shooting, fishing, and hanging retired successful the section tavern, but adjacent these activities are curtailed by his “termagant” wife, who torments him with scoldings. He has nary enactment but to get distant from her by wandering done the woods with his trusty canine Wolf.
One day, aft taking a nap successful the forest, helium comes upon a radical of men who are strangely dressed successful old-fashioned Dutch outfits and playing ninepins. They connection him immoderate of their liquor, which puts him into a heavy sleep. When helium awakens, his canine is gone and his trusty musket has rusted. He wanders into his aged Dutch village, lone to find it overmuch changed. No 1 seems to admit him, nor are immoderate of his aged friends around.
Rip’s main relation present is oral historian, telling his communicative on with “a chronicle of the aged times ‘before the war’” to each who volition listen.
When helium asks astir them, helium learns that they died agelong ago. In fact, 20 years person passed portion helium slept, and during that clip the American Revolution was fought and the colonists were freed from British rule. The aged tavern sign, which utilized to diagnostic a representation of King George III, present sports the representation of different George—George Washington. The disputatious “tavern politicians” request to cognize connected which broadside Rip voted, “Federal oregon Democrat,” and helium naively confesses that helium is simply a “loyal taxable of the king, God bless him!”
Naturally, they impeach him of being a Tory and a spy, but successful clip they judge his communicative that helium has simply been asleep. Unsure who helium is anymore, Rip learns to his large alleviation that his woman has died and helium is present arsenic escaped of that “petticoat government” arsenic the American provinces liberated from their British despots. He is taken successful by his girl and lives retired his past years arsenic a contented antheral and “one of the patriarchs of the village.”
There’s that connection again, “patriarch.” As successful The History of New York, the Dutch patriarchs are invariably idle and quiescent. Rip’s main relation present is oral historian, telling his communicative on with “a chronicle of the aged times ‘before the war’” to each who volition listen. That this mean man, this “loser,” arsenic 1 of our presidents is fond of saying, should triumph and yet go 1 of the immortal figures of our civilization simply by taking a agelong nap tells america thing astir Americans’ seemingly unconscious hunger for resisting the heroic.
Steven Blakemore has argued successful his thoughtful insubstantial “Family Resemblance: The Text and Contexts of ‘Rip Van Winkle,’” that determination is besides a governmental magnitude to the tale. A fig of pasts—Dutch, Puritan English, and revolutionary era—have been subsumed successful the telling, and the changes Rip finds connected returning to his colony suggest Irving’s ain ambivalence astir the absorption the United States was taking.
The hero, oregon antihero, of the communicative is Ichabod Crane, a alternatively ridiculous-looking schoolmaster who has acceptable his headdress for Katrina Van Tassel, the beautiful, coquettish girl of a affluent Dutch farmer.
Although, noting a “covert resemblance” betwixt the 2 Georges, the king and Washington, Irving whitethorn besides beryllium suggesting that, successful a sense, thing has changed. All this whitethorn beryllium true, but it is not wherefore I support going backmost to this tale. Long aft I’ve absorbed the seriocomedy of Rip’s agelong slumber and instrumentality to reality, I americium charmed by the storyteller’s fluency, his controlled irony, his operation of briskness and leisurely relaxation arsenic helium pauses to archer america yet different caller item of situation and identity.
Irving tells america that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was besides successful the papers recovered by the precocious Diedrich Knickerbocker. The communicative begins with a tribute to the Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow country hard by the Hudson River. “If ever I should privation for a retreat,” Irving says, “whither I mightiness bargain from the satellite and its distractions, and imagination softly distant the remnant of a troubled life, I cognize of nary much promising than this small valley.” In fact, this country is precisely wherever helium would aboriginal physique his house, Sunnyside. Irving past alerts america to the prevalence of bewitchment successful the region, mounting america up for the Gothic communicative to follow. “Certain it is, the spot inactive continues nether the sway of immoderate witching power. … The full vicinity abounds with section tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions.”
The hero, oregon antihero, of the communicative is Ichabod Crane, a alternatively ridiculous-looking schoolmaster who has acceptable his headdress for Katrina Van Tassel, the beautiful, coquettish girl of a affluent Dutch farmer. That Ichabod’s favourite publication is Cotton Mather’s History of New England Witchcraft shows him to beryllium “an unusual substance of tiny shrewdness and elemental credulity.” (Irving himself had a thorough dislike of Puritanism.)
Ichabod is besides a glutton, and helium tin hardly incorporate himself erstwhile helium contemplates not lone the good fig of Katrina but each the nutrient helium would beryllium capable to devour arsenic her husband. Employing a method of comic elaboration specified arsenic Charles Lamb mightiness use, Irving develops it to a precocious transportation successful this story’s prose:
The pedagogue’s rima watered, arsenic helium looked upon this sumptuous committedness of luxurious wintertime fare. In his devouring mind’s eye, helium pictured to himself each roasting pig moving astir with a pudding successful his belly, and an pome successful his mouth; the pigeons were snugly enactment to furniture successful a comfy pie, and tucked successful with a coverlet of crust; the geese were swimming successful their ain gravy; and the ducks pairing cozily successful dishes, similar snug joined couples, with a decent competency of bulb sauce; successful the porkers helium saw carved retired the aboriginal sleek broadside of bacon, and juicy roasting ham; not a turkey, but helium beheld daintily trussed up, with its gizzard nether its wing, and, peradventure, a necklace of savoury sausages; and adjacent agleam chanticleer himself laic sprawling connected his back, successful a broadside dish, with uplifted claws, arsenic if craving that quarter, which his chivalrous tone disdained to inquire portion living.
Ichabod has a definite courting vantage successful that, arsenic a schoolmaster and singing master, helium is regarded by the villagers arsenic a man of cultivation: “Our antheral of letters, therefore, was peculiarly blessed successful the smiles of each the state damsels.” (Was Irving referring to his ain experience?)
His main occupation successful winning Katrina is the beingness of rivals for her hand, particularly the brawny, Herculean Brom Van Brunt, known arsenic Brom Bones. Ichabod does what helium tin to spiff himself up, adjacent borrowing a horse, an aged nag, to thrust to the shindig to which helium and Brom person been invited. The writer interjects: “I confess not to cognize however women’s hearts are wooed and won. To maine they person ever been matters of riddle and admiration. Some look to person but 1 susceptible point, oregon doorway of access; portion others person a 1000 avenues, and whitethorn beryllium captured successful a 1000 antithetic ways.” Alas, thing Ichabod tries succeeds; Katrina turns him down, and helium leaves the enactment dejected.
Beyond supplying readymade plots, these oral traditions were acceptable to manus successful his efforts to found an American literature, 1 absent each the affluent past and defined people operation of England.
At this constituent occurs the climax of the tale, Ichabod’s brushwood with the headless horseman, whom the scholar assumes is Brom Bones playing a mischievous instrumentality connected him. Ichabod tries to outrun the ghost, but helium is deed successful the caput with a pumpkin and thrown disconnected his horse. After that helium disappears, ne'er to beryllium seen successful the colony again.
The aged women successful the colony presume that helium has been “spirited distant by supernatural means. … As helium was a bachelor, and successful nobody’s debt, cipher troubled his caput immoderate much astir him, the schoolhouse was removed to a antithetic 4th of the hollow, and different pedagogue reigned successful his stead.” Irving has managed to marque america laughter astatine Ichabod portion sympathizing with and rooting for him—perhaps due to the fact that galore readers place with the hapless Ichabod much than the strongman Brom.
In a postscript we are told that a listener challenged the storyteller to proviso the motivation of the communicative and expressed doubts astir its veracity. “Faith, sir,” replied the storyteller, “as to that matter, I don’t judge 1 fractional of it myself.” Thus Irving manages to person his barroom and devour it too, by insisting connected the tale’s authenticity portion asserting his ain skepticism. Is this what mightiness beryllium called postmodernism avant la lettre? In immoderate case, 1 would ne'er expect specified a decision to a communicative by Edgar Allan Poe, whose oeuvre was excessively invested successful readers’ suspension of disbelief to hazard disturbing it.
Both of these tales were derived from the people legends and mythologies involving witches and ghosts that were inactive prevalent on the Hudson Valley. Though Irving didn’t judge successful the supernatural, helium recovered each this worldly refreshing. Beyond supplying readymade plots, these oral traditions were acceptable to manus successful his efforts to found an American literature, 1 absent each the affluent past and defined people operation of England. (This was little of a occupation for Hawthorne, who solved it by going backmost to the Puritans and the Salem witch trials.) Longfellow did the aforesaid by borrowing from American Indian legends successful Hiawatha.
The nineteenth period saw authors successful different countries (Germany, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Norway) attempting to steadfast up their nationalist claims by ransacking fashionable ballads, rustic legends, and oral traditions. Idealizing the “common folk” of preliterate cultures was portion and parcel of the Romantics’ affectional rebellion against the blase rationalism of Samuel Johnson, David Hume, and Alexander Pope.
Walter Scott (whom Robert Louis Stevenson called “the king of the romantics”) told Irving astatine Abbotsford, “I don’t take to contradict the communicative … for I americium consenting to person my water stocked with immoderate fish, flesh, oregon fowl that my neighbors deliberation due to enactment successful it; and these aged wives’ fables are a benignant of spot successful Scotland that beryllium to the estates and spell with the soil. Our streams and lochs are similar the rivers and pools successful Germany, that person each their Wasser Nixe, oregon h2o witches, and I person a fancy for these benignant of amphibious bogles and hobgoblins.” Soon aft Scott besides urged Irving to familiarize himself with German folktales, of which helium had a ample library, Irving tried to thatch himself German successful bid to bash so.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” contains overmuch lush, elaborately beauteous writing, galore heightened quality descriptions, and a comic irony that percolates done each sentence. It is astir a shame that the climactic representation of the headless horseman is what astir of america remember, since determination is besides truthful overmuch bonzer wit and statement on the way.
“His stories of Rip Van Winkle and Sleepy Hollow are possibly the finest pieces of archetypal fictitious penning that this period has produced adjacent to the enactment of Scott,” said Chambers’s Cyclopaedia of English Literature. Remember, the period was inactive young erstwhile the anonymous professional made that judgment; helium tin beryllium forgiven for not anticipating the wonders of Dickens, the Brontës, William Thackeray, George Eliot, Robert Louis Stevenson, Anthony Trollope, Joseph Conrad, Henry James, and George Gissing.
The critic’s remarks reflected the precocious esteem successful which Irving was held astatine the time. He has adjacent been credited with founding the American abbreviated communicative (a tribute I would deliberation belongs much appropriately to Nathaniel Hawthorne). It indispensable person galled Irving to beryllium praised ever for those 2 gems, each of which helium wrote astir automatically, successful 1 oregon 2 sittings. He was ne'er capable to duplicate that happily inspired, imaginative crook arsenic a fabrication writer, though helium did insert stories arsenic a instrumentality to alteration his effort collections.
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From A Washington Irving Sketch Book: Reflections connected an American Writer. Used with the support of the publisher, Princeton University Press. Copyright © 2026 by Phillip Lopate
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