Societal Pressures In the early 18th century, an artistic movement emerged focusing on the main ideas and themes of Romanticism, placing a new emphasis on the inherent virtue in people, the power of isolation, and respect for nature. It taught people to pursue their goals through intrinsic motivation, instead of simply abiding by society’s rules. In Washington Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle,” Rip embodies a true Romantic hero because he escapes the conformist social pressures of a growing industrial culture and embraces the freedom of his independent spirit.
Rip’s critical struggle with society’s expectations and adhering to the status quo proves his connection with Romantic ideals. Society, as depicted by Rip’s overbearing wife, Dame Van Winkle, expects Rip to attend to his “family duty, keeping his farm in order” (156). Dame Van Winkle, who keeps “continually dinning in his ears about his idleness… and the ruin he was bringing on his family” …show more content…
Rip feels the need to “escape from the labor of the farm and clamor of his wife” throughout the story (157). He rebels against his wife to find his own internal satisfaction, as well as an authentic, higher truth, completing himself as an individual. Rip embodies this philosophy because he aspires to leave the constraints of the city life and move out in nature to find an inner motivation. Rip is “at last reduced almost to despair; and his only alternative, to escape… was to take gun in hand and stroll away into the woods” (157). Rip abhors his life because he lives within the restraints of social conventions and away from the tranquility of the countryside; he values external pressures more than intuition and wants to rise above dull realities. Rip Van Winkle is an example of a true Romantic hero because he takes action to find independence and escape social
Rip’s critical struggle with society’s expectations and adhering to the status quo proves his connection with Romantic ideals. Society, as depicted by Rip’s overbearing wife, Dame Van Winkle, expects Rip to attend to his “family duty, keeping his farm in order” (156). Dame Van Winkle, who keeps “continually dinning in his ears about his idleness… and the ruin he was bringing on his family” …show more content…
Rip feels the need to “escape from the labor of the farm and clamor of his wife” throughout the story (157). He rebels against his wife to find his own internal satisfaction, as well as an authentic, higher truth, completing himself as an individual. Rip embodies this philosophy because he aspires to leave the constraints of the city life and move out in nature to find an inner motivation. Rip is “at last reduced almost to despair; and his only alternative, to escape… was to take gun in hand and stroll away into the woods” (157). Rip abhors his life because he lives within the restraints of social conventions and away from the tranquility of the countryside; he values external pressures more than intuition and wants to rise above dull realities. Rip Van Winkle is an example of a true Romantic hero because he takes action to find independence and escape social