How Is Rip Van Winkle A Romantic Hero

Rip Van Winkle as a Romantic Hero Rip Van Winkle is a short story written by Washington Irving which follows a lazy farmer named Rip, who enjoys helping everyone besides himself and his wife. Rip wanders off into the mountains one day and falls asleep, only to awaken after twenty years have passed. The author endows Rip with various characteristics that portray him as a Romantic Hero. Some of these qualities include being child-like and innocent, disliking women, and going on a journey in nature. Throughout the story, Rip is shown as having a child-like personality. Like many children, Rip does not like to attend to the responsibilities that he has. He despises doing his own work and would rather be spending time with friends or going out on adventures. Rip also likes to spend his time playing with children. "The children of the village too would shout with joy whenever he approached. He assisted at their sports, made their play things, taught them to fly kites and shoot marbles, and told them long stories..." (156). Even after waking from his deep slumber, Rip still loves being with the younger members of the village. Besides being young at heart, Rip also …show more content…
Rip loves leaving his home and the village in order to spend time in nature. His hobbies include going fishing and hunting with his dog. Rip also likes to simply go on adventures in the wilderness. Before he falls asleep for twenty years, Rip is in the mountains appreciating nature. "On the other side he looked down into a deep mountain glen, wild, lonely, and shagged, the bottom filled with fragments from the impending cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the refelcted rays of the setting sun. For some time Rip lay musing on this scene..." (158). This quote shows how Rip genuinely enjoys being in nature and away from society. It is apparent that the author wants Rip to be viewed as being very connected to nature by the