Romanticism was a very interesting time period. A lot of people admire this time period. This time was known for people trying to be more artistic and creative. The main way that this was done was through poetry. During this time period, poetry was very popular. Making up stories and telling them with creative words was also very popular. Writing short stories was Washington Irving's way of embracing the Romanticism period.
Washington Irving had examples of Romanticism in his work by using detail. He explained everything and paid a lot of attention to little details. In the following text taken from The Devil and Tom Walker, it is obvious that Irving fit in well with the Romanticism period (Irving).
On one side of this inlet is a beautiful dark groove; on the opposite side the land rises abruptly from the water's edge, into a high ridge on which grew a few scattered oaks of great age
In this example, you can see how Washington Irving used a lot of detail. In previous times, a writer would not spend this much time describing the setting of the story. But in the Romanticism time period, a lot of attention was paid to the little things. The little things were found beautiful and interesting. It was a great way to be creative by describing your views on nature. Beings that Washington Irving used nature and creativity in his writing, he fit the profile for a writer in the Romanticism period perfectly.
Even though Washington Irving wrote both Rip Van Winkle and The Devil and Tom Walker, I think the two writings are very different from each other. Rip Van Winkle was more of a comedy. It seems like its sole purpose is to entertain the reader. The Devil and Tom Walker seems like a deeper story. It has a moral to it and it deals with religion, while Rip Van Winkle is more fun and deals with fictional characters.
In Rip Van Winkle, a boy is summoned to help out with a party by bringing a keg. After drinking his fair share, he then falls into a sleep and awakes later in his life (Bruccoli). When he awakes, he finds that the village is different and his wife is dead. He then lives with his daughter (Bruccoli). In this story, it seems as though Rip has an identity crisis when he wakes up. The reader would like the story at the beginning, thinking that it was all fun and games, but now the reader can develop a feeling of sadness when they see what Rip is going through.
In The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom lives with a nagging wife and is very frustrated. He then meets the devil and strikes up a deal so that he can become rich. Once he gets older, he tries to get out of the deal, but the devil does not like that (Irving).
These two stories are similar in a couple ways. Both of them have a wife as a a character. The wife seems to be a little annoying in both stories. Both of these stories also share a common setting. A forest is mentioned in both of these writings. In The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom Walker meets the devil in the forest. In Rip Van Winkle, Rip comes from the forest at the beginning of the story.
In the literary criticism I chose, it discussed Rip Van Winkle in a different way than I thought when I read it. It pointed out some very important details that I did not catch. It also described how two different era's were included, one before Rip fell asleep and one after (Bruccoli). I found that to be true and very interesting.
Works Cited
Irving, Washington. "'The Devil and Tom Walker' Short Story." Books & Literature Classics. About. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. .
Bruccoli, Matthew J., and Judith S. Baugman. "Rip Van Winkle." Student's Encyclopedia of American Literary Characters. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= SEOALC395&SingleRecord=True (accessed December 6, 2011).
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