Rip Van Winkle Cover Image

  • Annotated Full Text
  • Literary Flow: Romanticism
  • Publication Date: 1819
  • Flesch-Kincaid Level: eleven
  • Approx. Reading Time: 36 minutes

Published in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., Irving's humorous brusk story "Rip Van Winkle" helped launch his literary career and brought him international fame. The titular graphic symbol, Rip, is a lethargic but good-natured human being who is perpetually "henpecked" by his wife. While his domestic affairs are e'er in disarray, he is ever the helpful neighbor and beloved by all the townspeople. One day, on his usual route to become squirrel hunting on the mountains, Rip encounters a stranger who leads him to a mysterious ravine occupied by unusual beings. Against his ameliorate judgement, Rip drinks with the group and falls asleep. Later, when he finally wakes upward and makes his way downward to his hamlet, his life is forever changed. Through Rip's tale, Irving explores the history of the Catskill Mountains while intermingling it with the traditions of the old world and European myth. By creating his own folklore through Rip's adventure, Irving characterizes the inevitability of change and the consequences of evading 1's responsibilities.