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... 90). Dolph is the hero because it is the rags-to-riches story of a good looking American boy who has enough charm to win the bride in the end (Current-Garcia, Short Story Criticism 259). In John Bull age is emphasized to show John Bull (Bowden 70). The sketch of the caricature of him is shown through the aged characters, aged servants, aged owls, aged rats, and the ancient mansion. His satiric description is of the English government at that time and maybe the Prince Regent. Throughout The SketchBook various themes occur tying the stories together.
Some of the themes are imprisonment, shipwreck, sterility, financial loss, and the function of the storyteller. The different stories each show a deliberate shift in tone and mood (Evans 984 - 85). Also seen throughout his works are death, sickness, and squalor, which seem to draw the sting from lifes terrors through the living caring for the dead, the hale for the sick, and the rich for the poor (Ferguson 392). The most recurring theme is regional satire with its gothic effect (Bowden 73). John Bull, The Pride of the Village, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the last three works in The Sketch Book, all restate the major themes while using English condition and contrasting it, by juxtaposition, with the United States (70). The remaining section of my paper concludes of my own critical analysis of Washington Irving's works.
In a few of Irving's metaphors, a feeling of unity is expressed. In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane is found favour in the eyes of the mothers, by petting the children, particularly the youngest, and like the lion bold, which whilom so magnanimously the lamb did hold, [he] would sit with a child on one knee, and rock a cradle with his foot for whole hours together (Irving, The Sketch Book 355). Ichabod is the lion and the children are the lambs. In the Bible lion and lambs together mean peace, therefore, Ichabod is at peace with the families.
In The Widow and Her Son the missing son, Georges, parents received tidings of his seizure, but beyond that they could learn nothing. It was the loss of their main prop (107). George is their life-support who taught them, took care of them, and gave them the will to live. Without their only son they had no reason to live and this shows how much they needed him and he needed them.
In Rip Van Winkle and The Spectre Bridegroom, Irving personifies the sun shining about the mountains, but in Dolph Heyliger he personifies the haunted house. When Geoffrey Crayon describes Rip Van Winkles town, he says that when the weather is fair and settled, they [mountains] are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky; but sometimes, when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory (29). This personifies the rays and the air of the mountain. Everything seems majestic, peaceful, and beautiful. In The Spectre Bridegroom a moment on Starkenfaust and Von Atlenburgs journey says the sun, that had poured his downward rays upon the rich forests of the Odenwald, now just gleamed along the summits of the mountains (159). This also shows how beautiful their surroundings are and again the rays are personified to show that God controls everything.
This sentence is foreshadowing their misfortune of the death of Von Altenburg, which is destined to happen. The little gleam along the mountains is the setting sun and the darkness is slowly setting in. In Dolph Heyliger the personification of the haunted house brings a scary effect to the reader. When Dolph first comes to the house the staircase groaned and creaked as they trod, every step making its particular note and the sounds coming from the chimney were like voices and struggling (Irving, Washington Irving 319). The personification of the steps let you feel the chill going up your back like you are actually there. Even though the voices in the chimney are swallows, the effect is that they are actually a ghost or spectre.
Irving's syntax reflects Geoffrey Crayons detailed stream of consciousness. Throughout John Bull every aspect of his life is described. John Bull excels in humor more than wit; is jolly rather than gay; melancholy rather than morose; can easily be moved to a sudden tear, or surprised into a broad laugh; but he loathes sentiment, and has no turn for light pleasantry (Irving, The Sketch Book 318). The syntax shows how John Bull can be changed. John is shown to be human since his moods are changed. In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow the parallel structure is shown through the description of the birds fluttering around one of the farmhouses where Ichabod stays (359).
The syntax and diction show how busily the pigeons are at all times. It shows the beauty of his surroundings and that at one time Ichabod was in a peaceful state of mind. In Irving's novels, Bracebridge Hall and Tales of a Traveller, he uses the technical device of allusion. In The Adventures of the Black Fisherman, Geoffrey Crayon tells the reader about Wolferts injury and the dominie and the doctor whose name was Dr. Knipperhausen (Irving, Washington Irving 704). This alludes to the doctor in Dolph Heyliger from the previous book, Bracebridge Hall.
In Dolph Heyliger the townspeople say that during his stay at the haunted house he had a long talk with a spectre without a head (323). This quote is alluding to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Irving alludes to previous stories to most of his works to show that the stories are in a chronological order and all of the stories are connected together in some way. The use of motifs represents the conflicts in the stories. In The Story of a Young Robber the motif of white shows the victims of the story.
When the young robber saw his love he saw the gleaming of a white dress and it was [being] rare for any female of the place to dress in white (629). The motif shows that the band of robbers will soon victimize the girl. Towards the end of the story the young robber perceived a female on horseback, dressed in white (634). She became a victim also.
The white clothing signifies their innocence, purity, and their angelic airs. In The Adventures of the Black Fisherman the motif of red is used to represent the spectre. While looking for the buried treasure they came across the haunted house of father red cap (701). The spectre is recognized by his red cap that always, until now, scares the treasure hunters off. A red cap is also seen in Rip Van Winkle, but it turns out to be the American flag and Rip doesnt understand it (Irving, The Sketch Book 40). Being cut off from the world left him without knowledge of the growing world.
Many of Washington Irving's works, use the supernatural motif of a spectre to be either a protagonist or an antagonist that causes the conflicts in the stories. In The Spectre Bridegroom, Starkenfaust tells the Baron, NO! no! my engagement is with no bride-the worms! the worms expect me!
I am a dead man- (166). This shows that the spectre, Starkenfaust, while living can also appear to be dead and the Land short family proves this also. The supernatural and gothic effects are used to show that the protagonist, the spectre, will always get what he wants. In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, most authentic historians of these parts are busy with collecting and collating the floating facts concerning this spectre which is the body of the trooper, [having been] buried in the churchyard.
He is known to [pass] along the Hollow, like a midnight blast in a hurry to get back to the churchyard before daybreak (351). The effect of the Headless Horseman is apparent because this shows how the town thrives off the stories of him. Without the antagonistic part of the Horseman, the story would be incomplete since most of the actions and frights are based around him. Many of Irving's other works also use the tales of the spectres to express the theme appearance versus reality and that greed can make a person go to extremes to get what they want. I believe Irving used the spectre parts to show what his life seemed like.
He was always having misfortune during many stages of his life. I think the death of his seventeen-year-old fiance and many family members motivated him to write by using the motif. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Rip Van Winkle Legend Of Sleepy Hollow
