Rip_Van_Winkle

Rip Van Winkle Analysis of Dame Van Winkle In Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle”, Dame Van Winkle is described as “a termagant wife” (p. 574) with “a tart temper” and “and sharp tongue” (p. 575). In fact, Dame Van Winkle was so domineering that Rip frequently sought solace outside of his own home. However, his wife could have simply been completely frustrated by his lack of initiative to assist in the upkeep of his home and family and stunned by the depth of laziness. Perhaps this was Dame Van Winkle’s attempt to get Rip to actually do something useful for his own family. Rip’s response to being confronted by his wife was to shrug his shoulders, shake his head, roll his eyes and remain silent (p. 575). During the time period this classic was written, a woman was dependent upon her husband as the sole financial supporter of the family. Dame Van Winkle may not have known the extent of Rip’s idleness prior to their marriage. Many marriages were arranged by parents versus entered into by consenting and in love adults. A wife was expected to keep the home and raise the children. A husband van, winkle, dame, wife, rip, love, poe, lee, annabel, rip’s, raven, over, family, character, soul, poems, own, loss, despair, death, woman, upon, sepulcher, provide, poe’s, narrator, main, lost, just, however, home, having, emotions, bird