Washington Irving, 1783-1859
1. Irving is the first belletrist in American literature, writing for pleasure at a time when writing was practical and for useful purposes.
2. He is the first American literary humorist.
3. He has written the first modern short stories.
4. He is the first to write history and biography as entertainment.
5. He introduced the nonfiction prose as a literary genre.
6. His use of the gothic looks forward to Poe.
"The first great American writer of this period was Washington Irving, whose Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, first published in 1819, was a sensation in England and helped build the United States' reputation for creative literature. Over the remainder of his career, which included Tales of the Alhambra and many other books, Irving was the most famous and most widely respected literary figure in America. Thanks in part to developments in publishing technology, Irving also was one of the few Americans to make substantial money from writing. By 1829, he had made more than $23,000 from his writing, and he eventually bought the plates from which his works were published in order to protect his own rights to proceeds from them.
"A transitional figure, Irving somewhat ironically contributed to America's literary independence while producing work that was distinctively European in content and style. Like his contemporary James Fenimore Cooper, Irving proved that Americans could write European literature as well as Europeans could. His masterful use of personae, stylized prose, and use of European legend all demonstrate the strong influence of the Old World on his work. Indeed, the sketches and tales in The Sketch Book show Irving's affection for the antiquity of Europe and for the past in general. This attention to the past, as Irving scholar William P. Kelly has noted, was one reason for Irving's success with his American audience. Kelly points out that Americans, recently severed from their European heritage, were struggling with an identity crisis at the time they were reading Irving's work, which itself looks both forward and backward. (xii).
"Irving is a major figure in the history of the short story in America. Indeed, Fred Lewis Pattee begins his book The Development of the American Short Story with Irving and identifies The Sketch Book, which contains "Rip Van Winkle" and the "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," as the starting point for this literary form in the United States. Pattee notes that the short story suited Irving, who tended to write in "spurts and dashes": "He did not deliberately choose the shortened form: he fell into it automatically because of his temperament, his natural indolence that forbade long-continued efforts, his powerful yet volatile emotions, and his early literary training in the school of Addison and Goldsmith and Dr. Johnson" (6). Another striking characteristic of Irving's writing is the preponderance of visual imagery. A painter himself, Irving often drew verbal pictures in his essays and stories, and the title of his most famous work makes a double reference to visual art: The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon."
From: Mark Canada. Homepage. U of North Carolina at Pembroke. 2006. Web. 9 Sept. 2009 [with permission].
The American Elements of Rip Van Winkle
* Rip Van Winkle kick-started America's love of the short story form. *Irving writes with a sense of humor that would become an American standard.
* Love of folklore is intertwined with American pride
"Fiction, particularly the short story form, invigorated the American spirit by pronouncing a sense of creativity previously unknown to the rest of the world. Folklore set readers’ minds ablaze with idealistic imagination that continues to influence American judgment to this day. Satire, requiring keen wit and insight, assisted in projecting the image of an enlightened and intelligent society along with the short story form. Together, these three elements worked to enhance the positives of the American image and solidified the literary credentials of its people. Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” personifies all three defining characteristics, allowing following generations to refer to Irving’s most well known work as a foundation for the American style.
The short story form is quite young compared to its brethren the novel, the poem, or the ballad; it doesn’t even come close to the heroic epic. Yet, even with age, wisdom, and experience behind these forms of writing, the short story quickly trumped each with a surge of popularity during the revolutionary period. America, in its genesis, wished to separate itself from all that came before in a successful attempt to promote the country’s significance.
"Rip Van Winkle" is "the American version of an ancient folk tale in which Irving keeps very close to the folk version and with which he makes his greatest contribution to and use of American folklore.” As literacy rates rose, so did the valuing of American symbolism. Folklore and imagination alike were prided in American literature, and Irving became a prime representation of the American author for his usage of each. Irving created—it may be thought inadvertently—a symbol of the mythic American. The usage of allegorical symbols build up Rip to be a man who would be happier without the tired icons he lives with. His wife Dame is likened to an old crow, his kids run ragged and wild showing no respect to their parents , and his village is antiquated. By any interpretation, Irving shows distaste for the world before the revolution. When Rip awakens on a green knoll, everything he knew has faded, replaced by a sunny morning and twittering birds, together with the powerful image of the majestic Bald Eagle circling overhead. Happiness and freedom are in the air, as the image of the famous American Bald Eagle confirms; Rip just does not yet know it. He finds his gun, rusted over and useless, by his side. With the war over, peace and freedom reign, so Irving suggests that the need for bloodshed has passed. Rip’s home, an institution that once separated him from the rest of the village, is now crumbling beyond repair. In the Calvinist period, religion was meant to be an assuring comfort zone, but like Rip’s home life, what was supposed to be and what actually came to pass was not one in the same. After the revolution, Irving suggests, Calvinist attitudes and beliefs were ancient and no longer necessary, allowing Rip to experience the benefits of the enlightened way of life. When Rip returns to the new version of his village, he is welcomed with open arms and accepted, ending the story with reverence to America’s policy of cultural acceptance.
"The most notable aspect of 'Rip Van Winkle' is Irving’s use of satire. Until the revolution, the sense of humor of the populace, at least in a literary sense, was malnourished. Irving shows a complete reversal in morale, packing his folktale with enough humorous observations to cause readers to 'kill [themselves] laughing at it.' Though contextual changes over time have disabled the effectiveness of portions of Irving’s wit, funny moments still make readers smile. Rip himself is jabbed several times in a deprecating manner; he apparently has not inherited the “martial character of his ancestors,” he doesn’t stand up to his nagging wife, and his 'great error' is 'an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor.' In modern terms, Rip Van Winkle is a lazy dreamer with nothing to look forward to. John Clendenning [Professor of English at California State University, Northridge] supports the idea of Rip Van Winkle the dreamer, claiming that Rip’s problem was that he was a dreamer in a world where dreams were not valued (256). Interestingly enough, Irving never gives his readers a solid physical description of Rip. We know he naturally wears outdated clothing and he has an overgrown beard, but these aspects merely refer to his past self and how times have changed. Instead, Irving intentionally leaves Rip as a blank slate, enabling the reader to fill in the gaps, or, more likely, step into his shoes. The deprecating humor expressed about Rip then becomes self-depreciating, humbling the reader and inspiring future humorists like Mark Twain to develop self-deprecation further and establishing it as a staple of American humor.
"Washington Irving does indeed represent many of the qualities that Americans proudly claim as their own. From the affection of folklore to the pride in American symbolism to the usage of witty satire, 'Rip Van Winkle' certainly paves the way for later American writers to explore with gusto. That exploration has changed the face of the American people from Calvinists to Satirists to Romanticists, Industrialists, and Revisionists. Thanks to the international appeal and success of 'Rip Van Winkle,' traditional folklore has been preserved, idealism has been engrained in western culture, and satire has warmed the hearts of many feeling pain. These results are just what Irving had wanted. Irving knew from the time he heard his very first folktale that stories have a way of uplifting and satisfying readers, and in his own words, 'If, however, I can by some lucky chance, rub out one wrinkle from the brow of care, or beguile the heart of one moment of sorrow… I shall not have written in vain.' 'Rip Van Winkle' isn’t just inspiration to all of America, or even to all the world; no, Irving’s stories are a celebration of inspiration."
From:
Tomberly, Gregory “Rip Van Winkle and the American Elements.” Associated Content 7 June 2006. Web. 5 September 2009 [with permission].
1. Irving is the first belletrist in American literature, writing for pleasure at a time when writing was practical and for useful purposes.
2. He is the first American literary humorist.
3. He has written the first modern short stories.
4. He is the first to write history and biography as entertainment.
5. He introduced the nonfiction prose as a literary genre.
6. His use of the gothic looks forward to Poe.
"The first great American writer of this period was Washington Irving, whose Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, first published in 1819, was a sensation in England and helped build the United States' reputation for creative literature. Over the remainder of his career, which included Tales of the Alhambra and many other books, Irving was the most famous and most widely respected literary figure in America. Thanks in part to developments in publishing technology, Irving also was one of the few Americans to make substantial money from writing. By 1829, he had made more than $23,000 from his writing, and he eventually bought the plates from which his works were published in order to protect his own rights to proceeds from them.
"A transitional figure, Irving somewhat ironically contributed to America's literary independence while producing work that was distinctively European in content and style. Like his contemporary James Fenimore Cooper, Irving proved that Americans could write European literature as well as Europeans could. His masterful use of personae, stylized prose, and use of European legend all demonstrate the strong influence of the Old World on his work. Indeed, the sketches and tales in The Sketch Book show Irving's affection for the antiquity of Europe and for the past in general. This attention to the past, as Irving scholar William P. Kelly has noted, was one reason for Irving's success with his American audience. Kelly points out that Americans, recently severed from their European heritage, were struggling with an identity crisis at the time they were reading Irving's work, which itself looks both forward and backward. (xii).
"Irving is a major figure in the history of the short story in America. Indeed, Fred Lewis Pattee begins his book The Development of the American Short Story with Irving and identifies The Sketch Book, which contains "Rip Van Winkle" and the "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," as the starting point for this literary form in the United States. Pattee notes that the short story suited Irving, who tended to write in "spurts and dashes": "He did not deliberately choose the shortened form: he fell into it automatically because of his temperament, his natural indolence that forbade long-continued efforts, his powerful yet volatile emotions, and his early literary training in the school of Addison and Goldsmith and Dr. Johnson" (6). Another striking characteristic of Irving's writing is the preponderance of visual imagery. A painter himself, Irving often drew verbal pictures in his essays and stories, and the title of his most famous work makes a double reference to visual art: The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon."
From: Mark Canada. Homepage. U of North Carolina at Pembroke. 2006. Web. 9 Sept. 2009 [with permission].
The American Elements of Rip Van Winkle
* Rip Van Winkle kick-started America's love of the short story form. *Irving writes with a sense of humor that would become an American standard.
* Love of folklore is intertwined with American pride
"Fiction, particularly the short story form, invigorated the American spirit by pronouncing a sense of creativity previously unknown to the rest of the world. Folklore set readers’ minds ablaze with idealistic imagination that continues to influence American judgment to this day. Satire, requiring keen wit and insight, assisted in projecting the image of an enlightened and intelligent society along with the short story form. Together, these three elements worked to enhance the positives of the American image and solidified the literary credentials of its people. Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” personifies all three defining characteristics, allowing following generations to refer to Irving’s most well known work as a foundation for the American style.
The short story form is quite young compared to its brethren the novel, the poem, or the ballad; it doesn’t even come close to the heroic epic. Yet, even with age, wisdom, and experience behind these forms of writing, the short story quickly trumped each with a surge of popularity during the revolutionary period. America, in its genesis, wished to separate itself from all that came before in a successful attempt to promote the country’s significance.
"Rip Van Winkle" is "the American version of an ancient folk tale in which Irving keeps very close to the folk version and with which he makes his greatest contribution to and use of American folklore.” As literacy rates rose, so did the valuing of American symbolism. Folklore and imagination alike were prided in American literature, and Irving became a prime representation of the American author for his usage of each. Irving created—it may be thought inadvertently—a symbol of the mythic American. The usage of allegorical symbols build up Rip to be a man who would be happier without the tired icons he lives with. His wife Dame is likened to an old crow, his kids run ragged and wild showing no respect to their parents , and his village is antiquated. By any interpretation, Irving shows distaste for the world before the revolution. When Rip awakens on a green knoll, everything he knew has faded, replaced by a sunny morning and twittering birds, together with the powerful image of the majestic Bald Eagle circling overhead. Happiness and freedom are in the air, as the image of the famous American Bald Eagle confirms; Rip just does not yet know it. He finds his gun, rusted over and useless, by his side. With the war over, peace and freedom reign, so Irving suggests that the need for bloodshed has passed. Rip’s home, an institution that once separated him from the rest of the village, is now crumbling beyond repair. In the Calvinist period, religion was meant to be an assuring comfort zone, but like Rip’s home life, what was supposed to be and what actually came to pass was not one in the same. After the revolution, Irving suggests, Calvinist attitudes and beliefs were ancient and no longer necessary, allowing Rip to experience the benefits of the enlightened way of life. When Rip returns to the new version of his village, he is welcomed with open arms and accepted, ending the story with reverence to America’s policy of cultural acceptance.
"The most notable aspect of 'Rip Van Winkle' is Irving’s use of satire. Until the revolution, the sense of humor of the populace, at least in a literary sense, was malnourished. Irving shows a complete reversal in morale, packing his folktale with enough humorous observations to cause readers to 'kill [themselves] laughing at it.' Though contextual changes over time have disabled the effectiveness of portions of Irving’s wit, funny moments still make readers smile. Rip himself is jabbed several times in a deprecating manner; he apparently has not inherited the “martial character of his ancestors,” he doesn’t stand up to his nagging wife, and his 'great error' is 'an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor.' In modern terms, Rip Van Winkle is a lazy dreamer with nothing to look forward to. John Clendenning [Professor of English at California State University, Northridge] supports the idea of Rip Van Winkle the dreamer, claiming that Rip’s problem was that he was a dreamer in a world where dreams were not valued (256). Interestingly enough, Irving never gives his readers a solid physical description of Rip. We know he naturally wears outdated clothing and he has an overgrown beard, but these aspects merely refer to his past self and how times have changed. Instead, Irving intentionally leaves Rip as a blank slate, enabling the reader to fill in the gaps, or, more likely, step into his shoes. The deprecating humor expressed about Rip then becomes self-depreciating, humbling the reader and inspiring future humorists like Mark Twain to develop self-deprecation further and establishing it as a staple of American humor.
"Washington Irving does indeed represent many of the qualities that Americans proudly claim as their own. From the affection of folklore to the pride in American symbolism to the usage of witty satire, 'Rip Van Winkle' certainly paves the way for later American writers to explore with gusto. That exploration has changed the face of the American people from Calvinists to Satirists to Romanticists, Industrialists, and Revisionists. Thanks to the international appeal and success of 'Rip Van Winkle,' traditional folklore has been preserved, idealism has been engrained in western culture, and satire has warmed the hearts of many feeling pain. These results are just what Irving had wanted. Irving knew from the time he heard his very first folktale that stories have a way of uplifting and satisfying readers, and in his own words, 'If, however, I can by some lucky chance, rub out one wrinkle from the brow of care, or beguile the heart of one moment of sorrow… I shall not have written in vain.' 'Rip Van Winkle' isn’t just inspiration to all of America, or even to all the world; no, Irving’s stories are a celebration of inspiration."
From:
Tomberly, Gregory “Rip Van Winkle and the American Elements.” Associated Content 7 June 2006. Web. 5 September 2009 [with permission].
