the use of romanticisim and te American dream in Van rip winkle by washington Irving

The Use of Romanticism and the American Dream in Rip Van Winkle

________________________________________________________________________

Rip Van Winkle is a classic American tale . Its author was a sensate thoughtful man who was conflicted between the old ways of colonial America and the new ways of a new emerging nation . His was a tale of fantasy published at a time when America was still deciding what kind of nation it would be

The tale is reflective of the growth pains within society as well as within the author himself . In the process of his writing

, the author played an important role in the creation of a new literary movement . Rip Van Winkle is a beautifully written tale that says much more than it would appear at first glance

About the author

Washington Irving (1783-1859 ) was an American original . A successful man in several fields his writing career sometimes took a back seat to his other pursuits . His combination of experience , perspective and writing style made for lush tales with fascinating characters . Eventually Irving 's work would gain him worldwide fame . He was the first American author to achieve worldwide status

Irving was born in New York City as the youngest of 11 siblings . The family ties established in his childhood would play an important role throughout his life . Irving trained to be a lawyer but sometimes became bored of this pursuit . He was a man continually in need of new challenges . His career was composed of intermittent stints as an author a lawyer , a partner in the family business and as a government official

Irving began his career as an author writing for a periodical edited by his brother , Peter . Returning to his legal background , Irving later served as an aide-de-camp for the Governor of New York . Irving served as a diplomatic attachy to Spain in the 1820s . He spent a considerable amount of time in Europe during his career . He was a collector of European literature . The influence of this literature is threaded throughout the writings of Irving . Still , the end product was uniquely American

As necessary as his other exploits were in forming his perspective and style Washington Irving saw himself first and foremost as an author . He once wrote that : I am quite unfitted for political life . My talents are merely literary (Neider , 1993 , xiv . In Rip Van Winkle , he displays those skills to stunning effect

Story Recap

Rip Van Winkle is a classic of American literature . It was first released in 1819 as part of a book of short stories . It is a unique adaptation of an English folk tale . The tale is a fantasy a fairy tale At the same time , it carries deeper historical and cultural meanings

The title character , Rip , is a man of Dutch descent living in pre-revolutionary America . Rip is much liked in his town with the probable exception of his disapproving wife . One day , Rip goes hunting in the Catskill Mountains of New York state . The trip would prove to be much more...