Posted on Jun 23, 2020
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Washington Irving | Encyclopedia.com
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On June 23, 1819, the first editions of "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." by Washington Irving were released featuring the stories "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". From the article:
"The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Washington Irving | Encyclopedia.com
views 1,353,995
updated Jul 9 2020
(Has also written under the pseudonyms Geoffrey Crayon, Diedrich Knickerbocker, Fray Antonio Agapida, Launcelot Langstaff, and Jonathan Oldstyle) American short story writer, essayist, biographer, and historian.
The following entry presents criticism on Irving's two volume collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1819-1820) through 2000.
INTRODUCTION
Though the title of Irving's The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. is not widely known by contemporary audiences, the prose collection contains two of the most iconic and famous American short stories of all time—"Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The Sketch Book is indisputably Irving's most important and lasting work. The volume was an instant and immense popular success and solidified Irving's reputation in Europe as an American literary artist, a sobriquet that many Europeans of the era had viewed as a contradiction. Based on European folktales, "Rip Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow" present stories of men who find their lives transformed by supernatural forces. Both tales have became canonical works of children's literature, inspiring numerous illustrated editions as well as film, stage, and television adaptations.
PLOT AND MAJOR CHARACTERS
Though The Sketch Book consists of seven "sketches"—ranging from fictional prose to nonfiction criticism—"Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" are the collection's two best known works and the only two pieces to receive widespread critical and popular attention. "Rip Van Winkle" is written in the form of a paper composed by "Diedrich Knickerbocker," one of Irving's recurring narrators. Knickerbocker relates the plot, claiming that he has heard tales of supernatural events in Dutch settlements in the Catskill Mountains. One of those tales is the story of Rip Van Winkle, a congenial, though notoriously lazy peasant living outside of the Catskills in the 1750s. Tormented by his shrewish wife, Rip neglects his farm and family for the pleasures of alcohol and wandering in the forest, accompanied by his loyal dog, Wolf. One day, Rip and Wolf journey high into the Catskills—dubbed the "fairy mountains" early in the text. As evening approaches, Rip encounters a little old man, dressed in old-fashioned Dutch garb, who asks for Rip's help in carrying a keg of liquor. They come upon a party of eccentric elderly men playing ninepins—based on Henry Hudson and his men—and Rip drinks heavily from the keg. He falls into a deep sleep and awakens transformed—he appears to have aged decades overnight. Returning to the inhabited world, Rip discovers that he has, in fact, slept for over twenty years, and the world he once knew has changed greatly. He slept through the American Revolution—a great surprise for the British Loyalist Rip—his wife is now dead, and the townspeople barely remember him. His tale of wonder is met with mixed responses from the community. Did Rip really sleep in the mountains for years, or has he invented this bizarre account merely as a subterfuge for remaining free from responsibility and obligation?
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is also narrated by Knickerbocker and again utilizes a supernatural occurrence as its driving plot device, featuring a demonic "Headless Horseman" who preys on an isolated village. The story revolves around Ichabod Crane, a slight, bookish schoolmaster, who is viewed as an outsider in the community. Ichabod becomes enamoured with Katrina Van Tassel, the heiress to a vast, wealthy farm. This enrages Katrina's other suitor, the brutish and masculine Abraham Van Brunt—or "Brom Bones"—who begins terrorizing the gullible and nervous Ichabod with tales of the ghostly Horseman. Ichabod, an expert in supernatural lore, leaves the Van Tassel farm, terrified of encountering the Horseman. As Ichabod makes his way home, he senses a presence following him through the woods. Ichabod flees, believing the Horseman is pursuing him, and a fantastic chase ensues. Eventually, it is revealed that Brom is playing a prank on Ichabod, using the schoolteacher's sensitivity and imagination to chase him out of town. In an epilogue, the reader learns that Ichabod has made a success of himself in the city—an environment more suited to his artistic personality. There are several other stories and essays in The Sketch Book—including "The Spectre Bridegroom" "The Author's Account of Himself," and "The Voyage," among others—but none of them have been able to rival "Rip Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow" for their continuing impact on popular culture and the American literary tradition.
MAJOR THEMES
"Rip Van Winkle" was derived from Irving's study of German literature, specifically the German folk tale "Peter Klaus," causing some critics of the era to accuse the author of plagiarism. Irving translates the story to American soil and uses it to exemplify the differences between America's agrarian past—before the Revolutionary War—and the new independence of Jeffersonian democracy. Rip appears content in his carefree lifestyle, but he accomplishes nothing and holds no influence. The post-Revolution townsfolk have gained their freedom and independence, though to Rip, they appear chaotic and beleaguered. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is also of German origin, but Irving utilizes the tale to illustrate the conflict between civilization—or progress—and the idyll of the New Eden in America. Irving pits the sensitive artist figure against Sleepy Hollow's practical minded, progressive society, embodying the popular motif of the Yankee versus the Backwoodsman. Both stories also subvert the archetype of the traditional heroic protagonist in American literature. Rip is a negligent fool, though Irving makes his lack of responsibility and ambition seem charismatic and appealing. Ichabod embodies none of the characteristics common to literary heroes—strength, confidence, courage, etc.—but the reader finds him more sympathetic than the oafish Brom Bones. However, some literary scholars have countered the standard readings of the protagonists in "Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow." For example, Albert J. von Frank has asserted that Ichabod Crane should be viewed as the antagonist of "Sleepy Hollow" because he forces a sense of order and empiricism on the idyllic agrarian community. Irving also uses both stories to comment on the power of storytelling—"Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow" are both presented as stories told by Diedrich Knickerbocker. In "Van Winkle," Rip—a notorious liar—awakens to find himself in a new world, though many townspeople refuse to believe his tale of supernatural slumber. The story concludes with Rip reduced to a local oddity, spinning yarns about America's past. Ichabod's steadfast belief in the local legends and myths of the Headless Horseman make him terrified of his surroundings, a fear that Brom exploits to chase the schoolmaster out of town. With "Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow," Irving has created two uniquely American legends, which continue to attract new critical readings and recontextualizations as time progresses.
CRITICAL RECEPTION
William Makepeace Thackeray called Irving "the first ambassador whom the New World of Letters sent to the Old," and The Sketch Book has remained as Irving's most recognized and applauded work. Critics have praised Irving's skillful reinterpretation of European legends in "Rip Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow," noting that Rip and Ichabod Crane almost immediately became recognized as iconic American literary characters. Irving's use of supernatural elements in The Sketch Book has also been commended, with reviewers lauding the author's ambivalent and realistic approach to fantastic situations. Scholars have also complimented Irving for his astute social commentary in "Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow," arguing that Irving uses his unusual protagonists to highlight the clash of divergent cultures—Loyalist versus the Revolutionary, Yankee versus the Backwoodsman. Donald R. Anderson has commented on the enduring "American-ness" of "Rip Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow," stating "[t]hat Rip Van Winkle became an almost instant cultural icon for an emerging American nation at the time of his appearance in 1819 is testimony to what Washington Irving suggests was happening and would continue to happen within his nation's psyche: the creation of anchorages in the past, which, while perceptually at odds with idealized freedom, is an inevitability whose primary danger lies in our protective need to ignore the actualities, the particularizations, of freedom.""
"The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Washington Irving | Encyclopedia.com
views 1,353,995
updated Jul 9 2020
(Has also written under the pseudonyms Geoffrey Crayon, Diedrich Knickerbocker, Fray Antonio Agapida, Launcelot Langstaff, and Jonathan Oldstyle) American short story writer, essayist, biographer, and historian.
The following entry presents criticism on Irving's two volume collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1819-1820) through 2000.
INTRODUCTION
Though the title of Irving's The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. is not widely known by contemporary audiences, the prose collection contains two of the most iconic and famous American short stories of all time—"Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The Sketch Book is indisputably Irving's most important and lasting work. The volume was an instant and immense popular success and solidified Irving's reputation in Europe as an American literary artist, a sobriquet that many Europeans of the era had viewed as a contradiction. Based on European folktales, "Rip Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow" present stories of men who find their lives transformed by supernatural forces. Both tales have became canonical works of children's literature, inspiring numerous illustrated editions as well as film, stage, and television adaptations.
PLOT AND MAJOR CHARACTERS
Though The Sketch Book consists of seven "sketches"—ranging from fictional prose to nonfiction criticism—"Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" are the collection's two best known works and the only two pieces to receive widespread critical and popular attention. "Rip Van Winkle" is written in the form of a paper composed by "Diedrich Knickerbocker," one of Irving's recurring narrators. Knickerbocker relates the plot, claiming that he has heard tales of supernatural events in Dutch settlements in the Catskill Mountains. One of those tales is the story of Rip Van Winkle, a congenial, though notoriously lazy peasant living outside of the Catskills in the 1750s. Tormented by his shrewish wife, Rip neglects his farm and family for the pleasures of alcohol and wandering in the forest, accompanied by his loyal dog, Wolf. One day, Rip and Wolf journey high into the Catskills—dubbed the "fairy mountains" early in the text. As evening approaches, Rip encounters a little old man, dressed in old-fashioned Dutch garb, who asks for Rip's help in carrying a keg of liquor. They come upon a party of eccentric elderly men playing ninepins—based on Henry Hudson and his men—and Rip drinks heavily from the keg. He falls into a deep sleep and awakens transformed—he appears to have aged decades overnight. Returning to the inhabited world, Rip discovers that he has, in fact, slept for over twenty years, and the world he once knew has changed greatly. He slept through the American Revolution—a great surprise for the British Loyalist Rip—his wife is now dead, and the townspeople barely remember him. His tale of wonder is met with mixed responses from the community. Did Rip really sleep in the mountains for years, or has he invented this bizarre account merely as a subterfuge for remaining free from responsibility and obligation?
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is also narrated by Knickerbocker and again utilizes a supernatural occurrence as its driving plot device, featuring a demonic "Headless Horseman" who preys on an isolated village. The story revolves around Ichabod Crane, a slight, bookish schoolmaster, who is viewed as an outsider in the community. Ichabod becomes enamoured with Katrina Van Tassel, the heiress to a vast, wealthy farm. This enrages Katrina's other suitor, the brutish and masculine Abraham Van Brunt—or "Brom Bones"—who begins terrorizing the gullible and nervous Ichabod with tales of the ghostly Horseman. Ichabod, an expert in supernatural lore, leaves the Van Tassel farm, terrified of encountering the Horseman. As Ichabod makes his way home, he senses a presence following him through the woods. Ichabod flees, believing the Horseman is pursuing him, and a fantastic chase ensues. Eventually, it is revealed that Brom is playing a prank on Ichabod, using the schoolteacher's sensitivity and imagination to chase him out of town. In an epilogue, the reader learns that Ichabod has made a success of himself in the city—an environment more suited to his artistic personality. There are several other stories and essays in The Sketch Book—including "The Spectre Bridegroom" "The Author's Account of Himself," and "The Voyage," among others—but none of them have been able to rival "Rip Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow" for their continuing impact on popular culture and the American literary tradition.
MAJOR THEMES
"Rip Van Winkle" was derived from Irving's study of German literature, specifically the German folk tale "Peter Klaus," causing some critics of the era to accuse the author of plagiarism. Irving translates the story to American soil and uses it to exemplify the differences between America's agrarian past—before the Revolutionary War—and the new independence of Jeffersonian democracy. Rip appears content in his carefree lifestyle, but he accomplishes nothing and holds no influence. The post-Revolution townsfolk have gained their freedom and independence, though to Rip, they appear chaotic and beleaguered. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is also of German origin, but Irving utilizes the tale to illustrate the conflict between civilization—or progress—and the idyll of the New Eden in America. Irving pits the sensitive artist figure against Sleepy Hollow's practical minded, progressive society, embodying the popular motif of the Yankee versus the Backwoodsman. Both stories also subvert the archetype of the traditional heroic protagonist in American literature. Rip is a negligent fool, though Irving makes his lack of responsibility and ambition seem charismatic and appealing. Ichabod embodies none of the characteristics common to literary heroes—strength, confidence, courage, etc.—but the reader finds him more sympathetic than the oafish Brom Bones. However, some literary scholars have countered the standard readings of the protagonists in "Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow." For example, Albert J. von Frank has asserted that Ichabod Crane should be viewed as the antagonist of "Sleepy Hollow" because he forces a sense of order and empiricism on the idyllic agrarian community. Irving also uses both stories to comment on the power of storytelling—"Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow" are both presented as stories told by Diedrich Knickerbocker. In "Van Winkle," Rip—a notorious liar—awakens to find himself in a new world, though many townspeople refuse to believe his tale of supernatural slumber. The story concludes with Rip reduced to a local oddity, spinning yarns about America's past. Ichabod's steadfast belief in the local legends and myths of the Headless Horseman make him terrified of his surroundings, a fear that Brom exploits to chase the schoolmaster out of town. With "Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow," Irving has created two uniquely American legends, which continue to attract new critical readings and recontextualizations as time progresses.
CRITICAL RECEPTION
William Makepeace Thackeray called Irving "the first ambassador whom the New World of Letters sent to the Old," and The Sketch Book has remained as Irving's most recognized and applauded work. Critics have praised Irving's skillful reinterpretation of European legends in "Rip Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow," noting that Rip and Ichabod Crane almost immediately became recognized as iconic American literary characters. Irving's use of supernatural elements in The Sketch Book has also been commended, with reviewers lauding the author's ambivalent and realistic approach to fantastic situations. Scholars have also complimented Irving for his astute social commentary in "Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow," arguing that Irving uses his unusual protagonists to highlight the clash of divergent cultures—Loyalist versus the Revolutionary, Yankee versus the Backwoodsman. Donald R. Anderson has commented on the enduring "American-ness" of "Rip Van Winkle" and "Sleepy Hollow," stating "[t]hat Rip Van Winkle became an almost instant cultural icon for an emerging American nation at the time of his appearance in 1819 is testimony to what Washington Irving suggests was happening and would continue to happen within his nation's psyche: the creation of anchorages in the past, which, while perceptually at odds with idealized freedom, is an inevitability whose primary danger lies in our protective need to ignore the actualities, the particularizations, of freedom.""
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Washington Irving | Encyclopedia.com
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