Reflection: Comparing Washington Irving's Work

From characters to story line, Washington Irving’s writings have many similar ideas. Both “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Devil and Tom Walker” share the feelings and landscapes that are reflected in Romanticism writing. One very noticeable similarity is through the characters in both stories. The protagonist is a simple, good natured man who is married to a fiery, abusive woman. The domestic life described in each story is anything but tranquil (Irving 242). In a critique for “Rip Van Winkle”, a Facts on File Companion brings up an excellent question, “Is Dame Van Winkle the henpecking wife as portrayed by Rip and Crayon? Or is she, as are so many women in literature, the product of a male perspective?” (Irving "Rip") The women in both stories are portrayed very poorly, yet the issues with both Rip and Tom aren’t so closely highlighted. Rip Van Winkle was a nice man, but he failed to be there for his farm and his own family (Werlock).  Irving writes, “Rip was ready to attend to anybody’s business but his own; but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, it was impossible” (Werlock). A fight between the couples is the beginning to the journeys that take place in each of Irving’s stories. In “The Devil and Tom Walker”, a fight between Tom and his wife over a newfound treasure causes Mrs. Walker to walk out on her husband. Tom proceeds to make a deal with the devil and take the treasure. The narrator says, “One would think that to meet with such a singular personage, in this wild, lonely place, would have shaken any man’s nerves, but Tom was a hard-minded fellow, not easily daunted, and he had lived so long with a termagant wife that he did not even fear the devil” (Irving 244-245). “The Devil and Tom Walker” follows Tom as a good hearted man as he changes into a selfish and hollow man. Near the end of the story, a friend asks Tom, a wealthy man by now, for some help economically, and Tom tells him, “Charity begins at home. I must take care of myself in these hard times” (Irving 249).  A journey, whether through time of the outdoors, is common in Romanticism literature. In “Rip Van Winkle”, a similar, but much longer, journey takes place. Rip leaves his house for a walk in the forest after a fight with his wife. He falls asleep for what turns out to be twenty years, and Rip returns home after two decades (Werlock). The details and imagination used in “Rip Van Winkle” is easily categorized as Romanticism characteristics.

The Facts on File Companion not only honors Irving’s writing, but he also claims that “Rip Van Winkle” was of major importance to early America. He says, “With its publication, Irving not only created the modern short story form but also laid the foundations for American literature, particularly the frontier humor that flowered in the 1830s and eventually reached a crescendo with Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn” (Werlock).

Irving, Washington. “The Devil and Tom Walker." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 242-250. Print.

Irving, Washington. "Rip Van Winkle." The Short-Story: Specimens Illustrating Its Development. New York: American Book Company, 1907; Bartleby.com, 2000.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "'Rip Van Winkle'." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.