Essay Comparing Rip Van Winkle And The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

Magical ale, haunted crews, headless goblins, and witchcraft, all elements of these two short stories by Washington Irving, used to draw the reader’s attention. Both “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” share characteristics of Irving’s love for the areas he visited as a young man, his sense of humor, and a knack for alternative plot development. These pieces more specifically share descriptive settings placed in the same region, as well as Irving’s sarcasm toward gossiping wives and older men. The two classics also share plots centered around superstitions and supernatural, as well as giving readers the opposite of what is expected from the average fairy tale. In the stories “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” the setting are very similar. Both stories happen to be in small, but quiet towns, where hardly any danger occurs. The main setting of “Rip Van Winkle” is peaceful, quiet, calm, and drowsy. In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” the setting has mostly the same effect, however this story has a little bit more drama. Rip Van Winkle and Ichabod Crane both love being outdoors, and that is were the guys spend most of their evenings at. It happens to …show more content…
The story “Rip Van Winkle” talks about how Rip Van Winkle is favored among the housewives, and how he helps the wives with their chores. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” talks about how Ichabod Crane is loved by all the housewives , because he is a school teacher and is very smart. Both talk about how they have men’s gossip groups also. “Rip Van Winkle” has a men’s gossip group at The Tavern that Nicholas Vedder owns,according to people, they are the wisest people, because they have been around the longest. In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” has a group of men that gather at a bar or something to talk about things. All that has been concluded is that they both have gossiping housewives and