How Does Washington Irving Use Historical Allegory In Rip Van Winkle

“Rip Van Winkle”, written by Washington Irving, is about a man in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle, who falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains and wakes up twenty years later, having missed the American Revolution. The setting of “Rip Van Winkle” is in New York before and after the American Revolution. Irving uses historical allegory to create an American
Romantic folktale that strengthens the national identity of the newly formed country.
The main character and protagonist of the story is Rip Van Winkle and goes through a crisis when he wakes up after the Revolution wondering “whether both he and the world around him are not bewitched”. His crisis can be resolved as soon as he takes his place in society and makes friends. He comes back