Critique of The Ideology of The Past Generation in Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving

The year 1819 produced some of the greatest literary works known today, including those written by Lord Byron, John Keats and Percy Shelley. While these literary experts wrote great works of literature or poetry, few have managed to outlast the test of time. Some works, however, such as Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle”, continue thriving for generations to come due to its striking ability to reflect actions of the characters and depict how they have the potential to mirror the times these works were written. Irving uses the main character, Rip, to critique the idea that previous generations grow old and thus become obsolete to the newer ways of life. Cases such as “Rip Van Winkle” and his actions depicted in Irving’s short story may also be brought into modern times, aiding in the immortality of these works.

Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle” follows a man aptly named Rip through his twenty-year sleep into a new world. As the story begins, Irving is already hard at work describing the type of man that not only Rip is, but the type of man he represents. Irving paints the picture of Rip being quite lazy, yet content in life, writing that Rip “was ready to attend to any body’s business but his own; but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible”. Essentially, Rip isn’t the type of man to work on his own land but will happily volunteer to do anything for any one of his neighbors in town. Irving also illustrates the village that Rip lives in, reflecting the attitude that Irving suggests this generation has. As Irving says, the village was “built of small yellow bricks from Holland, having latticed windows and gable fronts… (which to tell the precise truth, was sadly time-worn and weather beaten)”. With this description, Irving insinuates that this older generation works hard to sustain themselves, as seen with Rip working on his neighbor’s farms, yet don’t seem to put much effort into anything else, such as their own dwellings for the generations to come. In a sense, this older generation is much like the authors and poets of the time who write in ‘the today’ like Byron writing mock epics to comment on the rumors of the League of Incest or, though admittedly less known, Polidori writing “Vampyre” to highlight the mistreatment he received from Lord Byron.

Lloyd Daigrepont’s article “Rip Van Winkle and the Gnostic Vision of History” also explains that Rip is “neighborly and close to Nature”, a common idea of poetry during this time of the Romantic Era. The Romantic poets were known to be in touch with nature and often speaking of it in their works, using themes of simplicity and naturalness in poetry. Irving includes this description of Rip that Daigrepont points out to link the short story and the common idea of the era together. Interestingly, while having qualities of the Romantic period, Rip also seems to be opposite of the society as well; as everyone in the village seems hard at work mending fields, Rip is content simply sleeping the days away. While the short story explains this is a way for Rip to get away from his wife, Irving may be pointing to the idea that older generations were solely focused on the today rather than what the future held. People of this time were much more focused on what was happening in the moment, giving little concern to anything that could prove to be either beneficial or detrimental in the future.

Rip’s twenty-year nap may also be Irving’s way to critique the ideology of the past generation. To escape his wife, Rip ventures off into the Catskill Mountains and through a series of imaginary figures and unusual drink, falls victim to an almost comatose state, rending Rip unconscious for several years. The idea behind this scene, Irving suggests, is that change was avoided at all costs by the older generation. Along with Rip’s “insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor” and Rip’s wife, symbolizing the inevitable change unbeknownst to this generation, Irving illustrates what he believes will happen in the coming times. Likewise, Rip’s sleep is Irving demonstrating the common practice of the generation; if they continue to act how they have been for their lives, that is pretending that their actions - or lack thereof - will not have repercussions, the change of the times simply won’t happen.

Irving also has a knack for not only using “Rip Van Winkle” to suggest the general attitude of the older generation being satisfied with being narrow minded and focused on their daily tasks rather than their future, but with an allegory provides a concrete example of this. As previously mentioned, Dame Van Winkle, Rip’s ‘nagging wife’ expresses anger with Rip because he is unproductive, refuses to keep up with his own land, and generally won't do what she asks of him. Irving suggests that Dame Van Winkle represents England in this allegory. Before the American Revolution, the English regarded Americans in an identical way that Rip’s wife views him; they believed that Americans were lethargic and unmotivated. England was constantly telling the colonists what to do or how to do it which often didn't go well with the Americans. On the other hand, Rip represents America and the colonists or rather how England saw them. He's lazy and won’t listen to his wife or her demands. He does what he wants, when he wants, and would rather just spend his days relaxing. He's not very educated if he’s educated at all and spends his free time talking with his friends and getting drunk. Irving expresses that Rip represents the way that Americans wouldn't listen to the English government.