Transcript Rip Van Winkle”

*
Washington Irving
*1783-1859
*First international literary celebrity of the
U.S.
*Humorist and satirist (satire: literature
that mocks and scorns).
*A native of New York, Irving humorously
wrote of the history and landscape of that
state. He set much of his best-loved and
best-known fiction in the Catskill
Mountains, the Hudson River Valley, or in
the growing city of New York.
*Inspired by German Romantics and folklore
and legends.
*
* Travelled widely abroad; wrote much about his
travels and experiences in England, Spain, and
elsewhere in Europe.
* He never wavered in his loyalty and love for
the young United States.
* Although popular in Europe, his fluid and
expressive prose paid homage to the liberty
and democracy that animated American society
in the early 19th century.
*
* Genius for inventing fictional narrators
(Diedrich Knickerbocker).
* Up until this point, we had no real FICTION from
America
* Borrowed openly from European writing
* New voice- the settings/sounds of America
* “Rip Van Winkle” is actually a German tale, but
Irving used American settings; the Catskill
Mountains and Revolution to make it his.
*
The main character in a story by
Washington Irving (1783-1859), who
bowls, drinks with some elves and
then falls asleep for 20 years. When
he awakes, he is an old man with a
long, gray beard and realizes that
many changes have occurred,
namely, his wife has died and the
AMERICAN REVOLUTION has taken
place. By association, a person who
sleeps a long time; a person who is
not up-to-date with the current
situation.
*
* Increased popularity of short story genre
* Added local settings
* Added humor
* Added rich atmosphere and tone
* Created independent genre
* Stripped it of educational/religious nature
* Fluid and beautiful writing style
* Individual characters (not stereotypes)
*
* The American Revolution
* Independence (both national and Rip’s personal
independence)
* Change
* Aging
* Importance of imagination
*
* Henpecked, but lovable, lazy
vagabond.
* Refuses to accept adult
responsibility as a husband,
father, and member of Sleepy
Hollow.
* Wife nags him for good reason – he
allows his farm to go to ruin and he
does little to provide for his large,
growing family.
* Kids and animals love his childish
personality.
* He is the adolescent who refuses
to grow up and he gets away with
it.
* The American hero frontiersman;
loved hunting in the woods with
his dog to escape from his wife
(the romantic journey).
*
* Characteristics of romantic
literature in “Rip Van
Winkle”:
* Setting
* misty “fairy” mountaintops
* a mysterious forest
* old-fashioned villages
* days gone by from a distant
era.
* Rip as a romantic hero
* Simple, good-natured,
innocent, unsophisticated,
close to nature, domesticated
by his wife, possessed youthful
qualities.
*
* “Rip Van Winkle” is important to the
development of American literature.
* This story, although modeled after British
traditions, was uniquely American, featuring
American settings (Catskill Mountains) and
themes (American Revolution).
* Irving was considered as a talented equal to
British authors, not an inferior.
*