Essays on Rip Van Winkle

1819, by Washington Irving

Short story

The story follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains. He awakes 20 years later to a very changed world, having missed the American Revolution.

'Rip Van Winkle'' has three major themes. One theme is freedom, or the ability to make your own decisions. Another theme is progress, or moving forward. The final theme is change, which happens when things become different.

Rip Van Winkle, Dame Van Winkle, Rip Van Winkle, Jr., Judith Gardenier, Derrick Van Bummel, Nicholas Vedder, Van Schaick, Jonathan Doolittle, Wolf, Brom Dutcher, Man carrying a keg up the mountain, Ninepin bowlers, Old woman, Peter Vanderdonk

Inspired by a conversation on nostalgia with his American expatriate brother-in-law, Irving wrote the story while temporarily living in Birmingham, England. Though set in the Dutch culture of pre-Revolutionary War New York state, the story of Rip Van Winkle is based on a German folktale "Peter Klaus".

Historically, "Rip Van Winkle" sparked the success of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., which assured the reputation of Irving and for the first time in history made American literature worthy of international esteem. Never has a single short story been more responsible for establishing a rising culture's literary respectability. The story has been adapted for other media for the last two centuries, in cartoons, films, stage plays, music, and other media.

“A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.”
“But what courage can withstand the ever-during and all-besetting terrors of a woman's tongue?”
“Would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.”