Free Essays on Rip Van Winkle

Literary analyses of â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† Rip Van Winkle is a man from a small village located at the foot Kaatskill Mountains. He lives with his wife, 2 kids, and his dog. His son, Rip Van Winkle, was just like his father. His dog, Wolf, was his best friend. They were always together and Wolf was always faithful. Rip Van Winkle is a man of many traits. He always helped others while his home remained pretty well run down. In the short story â€Å"Rip Van Winkle†, Washington Irving uses simple, henpecked, lazy and friendly to describe the main character Rip Van Winkle. The first thing that is used to describe Rip Van Winkle is simple. Rip is a simple man that just enjoys life. Irving says this by saying â€Å"Rip Van winkle 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†(36). This tells that Rip takes what he can get without much hassle for it. Then Irving states, â€Å"if left to himself, he would have whistled life away, in perfect contentment†(36). Rip just takes life as it comes and does not worry about nothing but what’s happening with him at that point and time. Rip seems to have no worries or regrets about his simple life. The second point that is portrayed by Rip Van Winkle is henpecked. Henpecked means that he’s nagged and yelled at all the time by his wife. One example of him being henpecked is when it says, â€Å"his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness and the ruin ha was bringing on his family†(36). His wife is always pestering him about how he is ruining his family because of how he is. It then says â€Å"He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing†(36). He has been so badly verbally abused that he would not say anything for fear of more yelling. Then Irving also quotes â€Å"he is fain to draw off his fo... Free Essays on Rip Van Winkle Free Essays on Rip Van Winkle Literary analyses of â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† Rip Van Winkle is a man from a small village located at the foot Kaatskill Mountains. He lives with his wife, 2 kids, and his dog. His son, Rip Van Winkle, was just like his father. His dog, Wolf, was his best friend. They were always together and Wolf was always faithful. Rip Van Winkle is a man of many traits. He always helped others while his home remained pretty well run down. In the short story â€Å"Rip Van Winkle†, Washington Irving uses simple, henpecked, lazy and friendly to describe the main character Rip Van Winkle. The first thing that is used to describe Rip Van Winkle is simple. Rip is a simple man that just enjoys life. Irving says this by saying â€Å"Rip Van winkle 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†(36). This tells that Rip takes what he can get without much hassle for it. Then Irving states, â€Å"if left to himself, he would have whistled life away, in perfect contentment†(36). Rip just takes life as it comes and does not worry about nothing but what’s happening with him at that point and time. Rip seems to have no worries or regrets about his simple life. The second point that is portrayed by Rip Van Winkle is henpecked. Henpecked means that he’s nagged and yelled at all the time by his wife. One example of him being henpecked is when it says, â€Å"his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness and the ruin ha was bringing on his family†(36). His wife is always pestering him about how he is ruining his family because of how he is. It then says â€Å"He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing†(36). He has been so badly verbally abused that he would not say anything for fear of more yelling. Then Irving also quotes â€Å"he is fain to draw off his fo... Free Essays on Rip Van Winkle Sentimentality In Changing Times In â€Å"Rip Van Winkle,† Washington Irving conveys the theme of a changing world with the essence of an underlying sentimentality. This story shows the radical changes that affect a small Dutch village in the Catskill Mountains after the Revolutionary War. The sense of sentimentality is shown in Rip’s yearning for the twenty years he missed while sleeping, and also in the simple times villagers lived in before the revolt against Great Britain. In The Reference Guide to American Literature, Daniel Hoffman says, â€Å"Irving’s pervasive theme of nostalgia for the unrecoverable past is here at once mythologized and made unforgettable† (456). This observation is the central idea in â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† made apparent to the reader through several specific occasions. The first occasion where Rip feels a strong sense of nostalgia is when he sees his dog, Wolf, whom he believed was dead or lost after not finding him in the mountains. Wolf is Rip’s closest companion, and together they suffer through many lectures from Rip’s wife, Dame Van Winkle. Rip finds solace in spending time with Wolf, whether they are taking leisurely walks or going hunting. Wolf is even present in Rip’s venture through the mystical mountains that would eventually result in his twenty-year slumber. As Rip returns to the village the morning after he wakes up, he is confused because he doesn’t recognize anyone walking on the street, and his own home is dilapidated and abandoned. When he sees Wolf he is immediately excited to return to his normal life and hopeful that everything is all right. However, Rip is disappointed when his best friend, Wolf, scoffs at him as if he were a stranger. Irving says, â€Å"Rip called him by name but the cur sn arled, showed his teeth, and passed on† (161). This outright display of hatred gives Rip his first pang of sentimentality for the old days he spent with Wolf. Although Rip does n... Free Essays on Rip Van Winkle Analysis of Dame Van Winkle In Washington Irving’s â€Å"Rip Van Winkle†, Dame Van Winkle is described as â€Å"a termagant wife† (p. 574) with â€Å"a tart temper† and â€Å"and sharp tongue† (p. 575). In fact, Dame Van Winkle was so domineering that Rip frequently sought solace outside of his own home. However, his wife could have simply been completely frustrated by his lack of initiative to assist in the upkeep of his home and family and stunned by the depth of laziness. Perhaps this was Dame Van Winkle’s attempt to get Rip to actually do something useful for his own family. Rip’s response to being confronted by his wife was to shrug his shoulders, shake his head, roll his eyes and remain silent (p. 575). During the time period this classic was written, a woman was dependent upon her husband as the sole financial supporter of the family. Dame Van Winkle may not have known the extent of Rip’s idleness prior to their marriage. Many marriages were arranged by parents versus entered into by consenting and in love adults. A wife was expected to keep the home and raise the children. A husband was to provide for the family. By Rip’s own admission in referring to the house, Dame Van Winkle â€Å"always kept in neat order† (p. 579). However, Rip was not willing to provide for his own family choosing instead to assist his neighbors (p. 374). Since his was not living up to his familial responsibilities, Dame Van Winkle took every occasion to bring his failings to his attention in the hopes of changing him. At the time, her options were limited and her dilemma maddening at best. Rip must have had some love for (or fear of) his wife for upon awakening from his sleep h is first thoughts were not of his faithful companion Wolf, but of his wife (p. 578). Yet consistent with his lazy nature, Rip’s thoughts were of the excuses he would use when he encountered the dreaded Dame Van Winkle. Upon Rip’s return from the moun...