“Rip Van Winkle”

THE LITERARY WORK

A short story set in the Caiskill Mountains in New York sometime between 1750 and 1799; published in 1819.

SYNOPSIS

A man falls asleep in the woods of colonial New York for twenty years: he awakens to discover that momentous changes have taken place in his absence.

Events in History at the Time the Short Story Takes Place

The Short Story in Focus

Events in History at the Time the Short Story Was Written

For More Information

Washington Irving was born in 1783 in New York City, shortly before the end of the American Revolution. He grew up in an era of rapid change for New York and the Hudson River Valley. The region’s traditional Dutch culture, which played an important part in living’s imaginative development, was beginning to fade due to the influence of new settlers from other areas of New England and other forces of modernization. As these changes unfolded Irving felt a sense of loss that he eventually expressed in his work.

Events in History at the Time the Short Story Takes Place

Dutch heritage in the Catskill Mountain region

In 1609 Henry Hudson, an employee of the Dutch East India Company, explored the river that has since been named for him. The first group of permanent settlers to lay claim to the region that became New York arrived from Holland in 1624. These Dutch settlers called the region New Netherland. Though other Dutch travelers joined the colony, it remained small. Holland was relatively prosperous during the seventeenth century and was one of the few European centers that practiced religious tolerance. Few people living there wanted to leave their homes for an unsettled colony in the New World.

Villages slowly took root along the shores of the Hudson River. These communities resembled the towns of Holland. Buildings were generally constructed in the Dutch style. A typical house stood one or two stories high and featured a steep roof; often the homes were constructed from bricks brought over from Holland. The main entrance typically utilized “dutch” doors that were divided in half horizontally so that either part could be left open or closed. This design proved useful for these sociable people since it allowed them to carry on conversations without the formality of a long visit in the house. Porches were commonplace as well, with benches for people to sit on as they talked with their neighbors. Other common sights of the region included flowers, fruits, vegetables, and farm animals that had been brought from Holland.

The English takeover

The location of New Netherland served as a wedge between English colonies to the north and south. This geographic factor, coupled with England’s commercial rivalry with Holland, combined to spur English efforts to gain possession of New Netherland. In 1664 England succeeded in gaining control without bloodshed. When the English navy landed at New Amsterdam (present-day New York City), community members accepted the situation. They knew that their few soldiers were no match for the English and that their fort was too weak to put up serious resistance. The English peacefully extracted a surrender from the colony’s Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant. Under the terms of the surrender, the Dutch retained full property and inheritance rights in the region.

Dutch language and customs remained strong in the Hudson Valley for many years, particularly in small villages that served as the model for the one inhabited by the fictional Rip Van Winkle. The English made no attempt to impose their language or their king’s Catholic religion on the Protestant Dutch settlers. Dutch remained the primary language for many years in some parts of the Hudson Valley, while the Reformed Dutch Church continued as the region’s dominant church for generations. The compact size and relative isolation of the Dutch communities and intermarriage among Dutch families further contributed to the enduring influence of Dutch culture.

Pre-revolutionary life in the Hudson Valley

Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, New York was primarily rural. The vast majority of the population lived in villages or on small farms, close enough to their neighbors to be in frequent contact. A strong feeling of community existed. Since farming was hard, time-consuming work, social activities often centered around accomplishing some constructive goal: cornhuskings, for example, would make the task of husking the harvested corn a village wide event. Activities such as fishing and hunting, while of a sometimes recreational nature, were primarily undertaken to provide food for one’s family.

Life was slow-paced and peaceful. Inns or taverns were often regarded by the community as places to gather and spend time conversing. They were an important focal point for a town’s social life. In New York City in 1772, for example, there was one tavern for every fifty-five inhabitants. The best taverns had rooms for musical parties, political meetings, or dinners; some of the larger ones even served as information centers, supplying newspapers from other cities.

In the small villages of the area, which were often fairly isolated from one another, politics above the local level rarely aroused much immediate concern. As depicted in “Rip Van Winkle,” villagers only occasionally saw even an outdated newspaper. Irving captures the atmosphere at Rip’s village inn: “Here they used to sit in the shade through a long, lazy summer’s day, talking listlessly over village gossip or telling endless sleepy stories about nothing” (Irving, “Rip Van Winkle,” p. 64).

Post-revolutionary changes in the Hudson Valley

Relations between England and its American colonies deteriorated in the mid-eighteenth century. Tensions exploded into the Revolutionary War, which lasted from 1776 to 1783. The United States emerged as a new, independent nation based on the idea of republicanism, a political system in which power is distributed among the citizenry rather than held by a supreme authority such as a king. The success of the new government, therefore, depended on the nature of its citizenry. A republic could survive only if the population consisted of individuals who had a great deal of civic virtue. People were expected to be informed and active participants in the serious business of politics. This attitude is alluded to in Irving’s description of Rip’s return to his village in “Rip Van Winkle”: the first thing the villagers want to know about Rip are his political opinions.

DUTCH PLACE-NAMES IN NEW YORK

The Dutch colonists utilized their native language to refer to places in their new homeland. Many of these terms remain in use today. The name of the Catskill Mountains and one of its streams, for example, comes from the Dutch term Kaaterskil kaaters means “wildcat”; kil means “creek.” The reference to wild animals serves as a reminder that the Catskill mountain region was quite a wilderness when the early Dutch settlers first arrived.

In the actual history of the nation, friction between New York and the adjoining New England areas existed for many years, with frequent boundary disputes. The situation was worsened by the increasing numbers of New England farmers who moved to the New York area, attracted by the fertile, less rocky soil. After 1783 the influx became a torrent that almost submerged the small Dutch settlements. At that time more people immigrated to New York from New England than from anywhere else in the world. By 1820 people joked that New York was becoming a colony of New England.

The New Englanders, also called Yankees, brought a great deal of change to Dutch New York. Towns became larger and more populous. Yankee woodsmen eventually cleared most of New York’s forests, and Yankee businessmen led the expansion of trade and industry in New York. Traditional settlements were stirred into feverish commercial activity. Old Dutch families “resented this invasion by upstarts who…had no manners and chased dollars too avidly” (Ellis, p. 191).

THE DUTCH PRESENCE IN THE HUDSON VALLEY, 1800

As one approached New York, the Dutch note grew strong and dense . . . Communipaw and Bergen, with its little Dutch church, might almost have been villages in Holland, Many of the roofs were high-peaked, with gable-ends and weathercocks, and on holidays the taverns overflowed with merry-makers . . . broad-hatted burghers with oxlike frames strolled about their fields or listened, pipe in mouth, to their geese and their swine. Seating themselves on their stoops at the end of the day, they silently smoked, while their [wives] knitted beside them....One saw on every hand the drowsy ruminant Dutch face.

(Brooks, pp. 32-33)

Folklore in the Catskill Mountains

Indian and Dutch legends surrounding the Hudson River Valley and the Catskill Mountains provided Washington Irving with a rich source of material and played an important part in many of his writings, including “Rip Van Winkle.” For example, the Catskill Indians (also called Mohicans) explained that the Catskills were formed from a giant named Onteora, who angered the Great Spirit (Manitou) by carrying out a great deal of destruction and being disrespectful of the land and the people. Manitou punished him by transforming him into a mountain. His eyes became lakes and his tears were transformed into the flowing waters of Lake Creek. Another Indian belief held that day and night, as well as the region’s weather, were stored in the Catskill Mountains. Indian legends explained that an old spirit who lived at the highest point of the mountains controlled the weather, forming clouds and new moons every month and creating sunshine, storms, and rain. Other legends told of mischievous spirits in the Catskills who took the shape of animals and played pranks on the Native American hunters who roamed the mountains.

The Dutch created many legends about the region as well. Boat captains sailing on the Hudson often lowered their hats in deference to the Heer, the Dutch goblin who was the Keeper of Donderberg (Thunder) Mountain. The Heer carried a speaking trumpet (a kind of megaphone) that he used to give orders for the creation of sudden gusts of wind or claps of thunder when a storm was rising. Another Dutch legend, which Irving specifically drew on in “Rip Van Winkle,” attributed the thunder that came from the mountains to the noise of the late Henry Hudson and his crew bowling.

The Short Story in Focus

The plot

The story opens with a description of the Catskill Mountain region and the pre-revolutionary Dutch village where Rip Van Winkle lives. An easygoing man with a wife and two children, Rip is well-liked throughout his village. He puts a great deal of energy into social and leisure activities such as fishing, hunting, and the village’s cornhusking and fence-building events and is always willing to lend a hand to neighbors who need help with odd jobs. The one flaw in his character is his “insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor” (“Rip Van Winkle,” p. 61). He is unambitious and lazy and avoids the hard work necessary to keep up his own farm.

Unhappily for him, this passive man is married to an industrious woman who is his complete opposite. His laziness and seeming inability to contribute to his family’s well-being upsets her tremendously. She berates and nags him constantly, and is described as a “shrew” who certainly is the dominating force in their marriage. Rip, the “henpecked” husband constantly under assault by his wife, finds life at home utterly miserable.

Rip seeks to escape his unhappy home life on occasion by dropping by an inn where many of the village men frequently gather and talk. Dame Van Winkle sometimes catches him idling his time away at the inn. In such instances, she invariably orders him to leave. His last refuge in these cases is the woods, where he either rambles idly through the countryside or brings along his dog and gun for squirrel or wild pigeon hunting.

One day, Rip wanders into the woods to escape his domineering wife. By the time he stops to rest, he is far into the Catskill Mountains and the sun is beginning to set. He is about to start back for home when he meets a strange man lugging a keg of liquor up the mountain. The man, who is dressed in the fashion of the old Dutch

settlers, gestures to Rip to help him; he agrees. After a long hike, they finally make it to a clearing where a number of other odd-looking men dressed similarly to the stranger are congregated. They are playing the game of ninepins (bowling), but the mood is very still and somber. The man whom Rip had helped earlier gestures for him to start serving the ale. Rip starts drinking himself and quickly passes out.

It is morning when Rip awakens. His dog is gone and an old, rusty gun is in the spot where his clean and shiny one had been. Reasoning that the strangers must have stolen his things, he goes looking for them but finds no hint of their whereabouts. Returning to his village, he is surprised to find that he does not recognize anyone. The village seems larger, busier, and more populous, and he is astounded to discover that the village inn has become the Union Hotel and that a political election is taking place.

HUSBAND-WIFE RELATIONSHIPS ON EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FARMS

Though Dame Van Winkle may be a “shrew,” her feelings about her husband’s reluctance to contribute to the upkeep of his farm and his family are understandable. Farming entailed a great deal of hard work, and a husband’s labor was essential to the success of the farm. Men typically spent their time working in the fields and were responsible for the overall care and concerns of the farm. Women were responsible for domestic tasks in and around the house, such as caring for children, cleaning, cooking, and gardening. If either member proved unwilling or unable to meaningfully contribute, the farm could easily succumb to the many challenges of frontier life.

Amazed, he realizes that he slept for twenty years up in the mountains, oblivious to the changing world around him. He learns that during his absence he became a citizen of a republic rather than a subject of a king. A crowd gathers around him, and he asks after his old acquaintances, most of whom are dead or gone. He discovers that his wife has recently passed away. His reaction to this news suggests that Rip cares less about his freedom from monarchy than his personal freedom from his domineering wife.

Rip proceeds to tell the townspeople the story of what happened to him in the woods. Some dismiss him as a crazy person, but the older, more traditional villagers believe his tale, for according to legend, Henry Hudson and his crew gather in the Catskills every twenty years to check on the river and the region they discovered.

Rip soon finds that his new life is in many ways preferable to his previous one. Old enough now to be idle without being criticized, Rip becomes an admired village elder and spends his time talking and telling stories in front of the new hotel.

Rip Van Winkle and the Yankee invasion

The village Rip left was a small, isolated, sleepy, and tranquil place. The one to which he returns after his twenty-year absence is much larger, louder, and busier. The nature of these changes seems to reflect the influence New Englanders were having on the old Dutch settlements after the Revolutionary War. The negative way Irving depicts these developments shows his attitude toward them, for the village is portrayed as a less attractive place after the passage of the years.

Old New Yorkers tended to resent the continuous influx of New Englanders into the Hudson Valley. A negative stereotype of the Yankees had already developed by the time Irving wrote “Rip Van Winkle.” The typical Yankee was tall and thin, with a tendency to be nosy, talkative, cunning, and argumentative.

Certainly, New Englanders held rules and laws in high regard and took politics very seriously. Ambitious and industrious, many New Englanders showed a deep concern for acquiring money and its attendant security. They were regarded as people who had an insatiable desire for change and improvement, of themselves and everyone around them. It was their constant restlessness, their search for something better, that brought them in great numbers to settle in New York and the Hudson Valley.

These characteristics were seen by many of the Dutch New Yorkers as a threat to their stable social order. Traditional Dutch society was much more firmly rooted and conservative, easygoing and tolerant. In his description of Rip Van Winkle’s pre-revolutionary village, Irving interprets these qualities as positive ones and implies that the Dutch atmosphere had been peaceful and orderly before the post-revolutionary influx of New Englanders began destroying it. With regretful words, Irving describes “all turnpikes, railroads, and steamboats (as) those abominable inventions by which the usurping Yankees are strengthening themselves in the land, and subduing everything to utility and commonplace” (Myers, p. 410).

In “Rip Van Winkle,” Irving brings out the contrast between pre- and post-revolutionary society. The hero, Rip, is the antithesis of the industrious Yankee. He has a definite aversion to any kind of profitable work, preferring to spend his slow-paced days talking, fishing, or hunting. Upon his return to the village, Rip is unconcerned about his new political status or the modern clamor of the elections swirling around him. He is much more affected by news of his own personal freedom from his recently deceased wife. Further, the villagers he meets upon his return have a Yankee quality about them: in place of the old village patriarchs is a thin, mean-looking man who speaks vehemently about political issues. The whole village seems busier, more industrious, more political. “The very character of the people seemed changed. There was a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed phlegm and drowsy tranquillity” (“Rip Van Winkle,” p. 74).

Irving suggests, though, that while the past may be irrevocably gone, it is still important for people to keep a connection to it. Irving concludes the story by describing Rip as an important figure in the town, a patriarch and well-respected story teller armed with knowledge about the old days before the war.

Sources

Washington Irving grew up in New York City immediately after the end of the Revolutionary War. There were a great number of residents of Dutch origin in the city and throughout the Hudson Valley. A number of living’s friends during his childhood were Dutch descendants who spoke the Dutch language fluently. Irving had a tremendous interest in history and legend, particularly about the Hudson River Valley, and he spent much of his childhood exploring the region. He was fond of visiting new scenes, and observing strange characters and manners. As he grew up, Irving would ramble around the valley, familiarizing himself with all its places famous in history or fable. He claimed to know every spot where a murder or robbery had been committed, or a ghost had supposedly been seen.

In writing “Rip Van Winkle,” Irving drew on his intimate knowledge of the Hudson Valley Dutch and the legends of the region. His descriptions of the Catskill Mountains and Rip’s village were based on firsthand observations he had made. Elements of the plot—such as Henry Hudson’s appearances in the mountains every twenty years—were drawn from legends he had heard. The main outline of the story, though, seems to come from a German folktale that was published in 1800. According to the tale, a goatherd named Peter Klaus one day met a young man who silently beckoned for him to follow. He led him to a secluded spot in the Harz Mountains, where twelve knights silently played the game of skittles (a variation of ninepins). Peter came across wine there and drank some of it. Afterwards, he fell into a deep sleep and didn’t wake up for twenty years. Irving took this tale, placed it in an American setting, and used it to explore a uniquely American theme—the contrast between pre- and post-revolutionary Hudson Valley society.

ORIGIN OF BOWLING

Under various names (skittles, quills, ninepins, half-bowl), bowling has been played for centuries in many parts of the world. The earliest evidence for the game comes from an Egyptian tomb dating to about 5200 b.c., when stone pins and balls were used. In Germany, records of 300 a.d. indicate that it was performed as part of a religious ritual. Priests there informed their peasant population that the clubs everyone normally carried for self-protection or sport could represent the heathen, the devil, or evil in general. A practice soon emerged wherein a club was stood in a corner. Its owner would then roll a large ball or stone at it. If the stone managed to topple the club, then the individual was cleansed of sin. Over the years various forms of the game developed that featured anywhere from three to fifteen pins. “Ninepins” became the most popular among the Germans and the Dutch, who introduced the game to America.

Events in History at the Time the Short Story Was Written

The growth of American literature

After the Revolutionary War, the desire for a distinctly national literary culture grew in America. Even though the United States had gained its political independence from England, its cultural life was still dominated by British elements. The vast majority of literature in America, for example, continued to be imported from Europe.

With the publication of The Sketch Book, a collection of short works that included “Rip Van Winkle,” Washington Irving became the first American author to gain both national and international literary acclaim. The Sketch Book was originally published in the United States in seven installments between June 1819 and September 1820. Within a month of the first installment, which included “Rip Van Winkle,” Irving’s work received high praise. In the American Analectic Magazine of July 1819, G. C. Verplanck wrote the following: “It will be needless to inform any who have read the book, that it is from the pen of Mr. Irving. His rich, and sometimes extravagant humor, his gay and graceful fancy, his peculiar choice and felicity of original expression, as well as the pure and fine moral feelings which imperceptibly pervade every thought and image... betray the author in every page....” Before long the Sketch Book was the object of praise in England as well. In a February 1820 review that appeared in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, John Gibson Lockhard called Irving’s work the most graceful American writing he had yet seen and compared it favorably to English work of the time. English writers still set the literary standard, but Irving’s Sketch Book was the first American work that was regarded as comparable.

Irving was already somewhat well-known for the work he had published ten years earlier in 1809: A History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker. The book’s fictional narrator, Diedrich Knickerbocker, is even referred to in “Rip Van Winkle.” The Sketch Book, however, became even more popular than the earlier work and firmly established Irving’s fame and literary reputation. The book was reprinted ten times between 1828 and 1848, in large part because of the enduring popularity of the “Rip Van Winkle” tale. Over time, the character Rip Van Winkle became one of the most well-known figures in American folklore. Joseph Jefferson staged a popular play about his story, and the French composer Robert Planquette even turned it into an operetta.

The changing world of Washington Irving

The Hudson Valley changed a great deal during Irving’s lifetime. Cities and villages experienced tremendous growth. New York’s population, for instance, quadrupled between 1800 and 1820. The Northeast also felt the effects of the Industrial Revolution. Power-driven machines began to replace hand-operated tools, a development that permitted the production of greater quantities of goods at faster speeds. Advances in textile machinery led to the building of the first modern factory by Samuel Slater in 1790; other facilities followed. The arrival of the steamboat, perfected by Robert Fulton in the Hudson Valley, and the construction of a number of major turnpikes helped promote the efficient movement of raw materials to factories and finished goods to markets. American inventions such as Eli Whitney’s cotton gin in 1793 also contributed to the growth of industry in the Hudson River region. The War of 1812 against Great Britain further fostered the development of native manufacturing since imports were effectively blocked by the British navy during the war.

Although the Hudson Valley remained overwhelmingly rural and agricultural during Irving’s lifetime, he was witness to the beginning of an irreversible process of modernization. Many people were excited about America’s present and future. The traditional Dutch culture of the region began to fade, however, and Washington Irving was one New Yorker who felt a sense of loss at those developments, a feeling he expressed in “Rip Van Winkle.”