Rip Van Winkle example essay topic

American Romanticism: Washington Irvin and James Fenimore Cooper Both Washington Irvin and James Fenimore Cooper were essential for the development of a totally new kind of American art. These writers, influenced by the romantic novelist Sir Walter Scott, based their works on legends as well as on historical characters. If we analyse and compare Rip Van Winkle by Irvin and The last of the Mohicans by Cooper we will surely discover various romantic elements that reveal the writers' approach towards life. To begin with, the setting in both works is closely related to the wild and the permanent contact with the natural world. Irvin's story starts with a vivid description of the Kaatskill mountains at which foot stands a village "whose shingle roofs gleam among the trees".

It is in this place that Rip Van Winkle, a good neighbour and submissive husband, lives. Rip's solely companion is a dog named Wolf, which accompanies him in his walks through the woods whenever he is in despair and decides to escape from work or his wife's complaints, for "he would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound". The woods and therefore nature are a symbol of protection and safety, of tranquillity and comfort since it is the only place where he can fly away from reality. Likewise, the setting in Cooper's work is very much connected with wilderness. The recurring image of waterfalls perfectly depict how powerful and strong nature is. Moreover, the mountains and thick forests may stand for the hazard and mystery it implies together with the experience of being in contact with our instincts.

This natural environment provides shelter to those characters who really understand nature, such as the Mohicans who not only appreciate it but also care for it. There is an instance in which the Indians apologize for having killed a deer that perfectly demonstrates that they truly value God's creation. Concerning the choice of characters, Irvin selects an antihero to play the main part in the story. Although Rip Van Winkle is a very generous man who has many friends in town, he is not truly capable of organizing his private life. His children in fact, are "as ragged and wild as if they belonged to nobody". What is more, he is very lazy and "the worst conditioned man in the neighbourhood".

Rip has no ambition at all and enjoys going fishing and telling stories of witches and Indians to the children a lot. On the contrary, Natty Bamboo is the ideal heroic character. Muscular, big-hearted, virile and courageous, this young man is capable of risking life and limb for any reason. He together with the Mohicans have a natural intelligence that Englishmen do not have at all. This special trait they own is shown for example, when Natty does not allow the English to bury the dead family they have found because he is convinced that if they do so, their enemies will know for sure that they have been in that place and follow them.

Furthermore, the Indians's trong beliefs make them very sensible characters: "Motherland can't be owned", they say and they bravely fight for what they believe in. All this good features are doubly highlighted by Cooper's adding other terribly callous characters to the story and consequently enabling us to make the contrast. Another romantic element found in these works is the emphasis the writers make on the past. Indeed, both works deal withy events occurred in former times in the United States. Washington Irvin starts telling the story from the time "the country was yet a province of Great Britain" even though America was independent when he wrote it. After Rip's enchanted slumber, however, the world totally changes.

He is an old man with a long, white beard. Rip goes into town and finds everything changed. His wife is dead, his children are grown and what is more, nobody recognizes him. He later finds out a different flag and a picture of someone named George Washington and is told that the king is no longer their sovereign.

Rip Van Winkle has spent twenty years in the woods (or in his dream?) and is now living in an independent country, in times of elections. Similarly, in The last of the Mohicans Cooper writes about the "the wilderness of upstate New York before the Revolutionary War" and vividly describes the violent fighting that took place at the time as well as the suffering of both the Americans who had settled there and the natives who had been forced to leave their lands by the Europeans. All in all, it can be concluded that Irvin and Cooper's works share many similarities yet differ in certain aspects. Besides, the romantic elements present in their writings clearly portray their perception towards nature and life. I undoubtedly believe that these two authors marked the path towards an innovative and distinctive American literature.