Rip Van Winkle Critical Analysis

Rip Van Winkle written by Washington Irving, Is a story about a man who does good things in his village. The children adore Rip. It takes place starting before the revolutionary war, but after a series of events Rip falls asleep for 20 years. When he awakes the revolutionary war is done and America Is Its whole new nation. Rip Van Winkle is a mysterious type of book. The story of “Rip Van Winkle” is set in a remote place during the reign of George the Third. It is set in a small village underlying the Catskill Mountains.

At the foot of these mountains, there was light smoke swirling up from the village, and gleaming roofs along the trees. It was founded by some of the Dutch Colonists. The settled during the time of George the Third. This was during the yoke of old England, where some myths originated. All of the remote places, remarkable and exaggerated characters, and magical and mysterious events largely impact the story’s setting. It puts one’s mind into a mysterious place and time. The characters in “Rip Van Winkle” are very strange.

Specifically, Rip Van Winkle. Of all the characters he stands out the most. Rip is a very peculiar being. He is lazy kind and helpful. He is described in a silly manner in the story. The fact that he is helping kids play a game of marbles shows his age. At a certain point during the story, Rip meets some men on a mountain. They were a bit odd. Not to mention unreal and mythical people. They had magical liquor. Rip’s wife was also an exaggerating character. She was always nagging Rip to do this and to do that. He was so annoyed by her.

The characters also had an huge impact on the story. The story of “Rip Van Winkle” definitely featured magical and mysterious events. The main event has to do with Rip Van Winkle. It started with him being fed up with his wife’s constant nagging. Rip got so tired of it, he went for a long walk into the mountain. While he was in the mountains, he met the mysterious man and drank some of their magical liquor. No talk is exchanged between the “man” and Rip Van Winkle. The magical liquor put him to sleep for twenty years.

In those twenty years, he missed his child growing up and his grandchildren, the passing of his wife, dog and neighbors. As with the other topics, the events and their consequences in this tale have a major impact on the story. All in all, “Rip Van Winkle” is a marvelous story. As a myth, it integrated all three characteristics into the tale. These three characteristics include; remote places and times, strange and exaggerated characters and magical and mysterious events. Irving incorporated these things very well. They impacted the story itself and the readers experience.