The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.doc

Washington Irving and His Novel-The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Abstract: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of Washington Irvings representatives. Although the novel has been published nearly two centuries, it is still a popular novel. In his most acclaimed achievement, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent (18191820), he created charming sketches, tales, and travel reminiscences. Widely read in its time, the book is remembered for the short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” In the novel，the author details the run-in of a Connecticut schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane, with a headless horsemanIrving wove elements of myth, legend, folklore, and drama into a narrative that achieved almost immediate classic status. Critics generally agree that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” provided a model for the modern short story and introduced imagery and archetypes that enriched national literature. While Irvings other historical writings are valued for their graceful prose style and historical interest, critics generally agree that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” isalong with “Rip Van Winkle”his most lasting artistic achievement.Key words: Ichabod Crane; Brom Van Brunt; Imagery; Myth; Legend; Typical characters.Introduction. The Authors IntroductionWashington Irving (1783-04-03 1859-11-28) was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was born into a small merchant class family. In his childhood, Irving was not interested in the study but in the adventure stories and drama. He studied law but did not give up the writing. In the mid-1815, he left for England for his family business and remained in Europe in the next 17 years. In 1842, Irving was appointed as the minister to Span. And on the evening of November 28, 1859, Washington Irving died of the heart attack at the age of 76. . Brief Introduction of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” opens with a description of the Dutch New York community of Sleepy Hollow, located in a rural valley near the Hudson River. Irving introduces the tall, lanky schoolmaster Ichabod Crane as a figure of mild derision, a hard-nosed itinerant Yankee from Connecticut who takes himself too seriously and possesses an enormous appetite despite his slight build. Proud of his erudition, at least in comparison to the rustics he encounters in Sleepy Hollow, Crane is described as “an odd mixture of small shrewdness and simple credulity.” He quickly discovers Katrina Van Tassel, the lovely daughter of a well-to-do Dutch farmer, Baltus Van Tassel, and resolves to win her heart. His principal rival, Brom Van Brunt, nicknamed Brom Bones, is a burly outdoorsman, strong and somewhat arrogant but with a well-developed sense of humor. Realizing that he cannot best Bones in feats of physical prowess, Crane sets out to woo Katrina by making regular visits to the Van Tassel farmhouse as a singing-master. Over time the competition between Crane and Bones intensifies. At an autumn party at the Van Tassel home, Crane endeavors to impress Katrina with his singing and dancing. As he seems to gain the upper hand over Bones the conversation turns to local ghost talesprincipally that of the Headless Horseman, an apparition of a decapitated Hessian soldier that haunts the area. Bones entertains the crowd by telling of his own adventure with the Horseman; later Crane recites extracts from the works of his favorite author, Cotton Mather. As the party winds down, Crane speaks with Katrina, but his advances are rebuked. Crestfallen, he departs on his horse. Shortly thereafter, while traveling through the darkness, Crane encounters the ghostly Hessian soldier who chases the schoolmaster until the frightened man is thrown from his steed. The following morning, the horse is found without its saddle or rider near the smashed remains of a pumpkin. Crane is never seen again in Sleepy Hollow, though a rumor spreads that he has become a lawyer and a judge in another town. The tale is retold of his harrowing confrontation with the Headless Horseman, which produces a spirited laugh from Brom Bones whenever the pumpkin is mentioned. Irving closes the tale with a postscript describing the original narrator of the story, “one tall, dry-looking old gentleman” who draws some conclusions from the extravagant yarn, but finally claims, “I dont believe one-half of it myself.”Typical characters Ichabod CraneIn the “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, Many critics maintain that Ichabod Crane represents the outcast artist-intellectual in American society; although he has been considered, conversely, as a caricature of the acquisitive, scheming Yankee Puritan, a type that Irving lampooned regularly in his early satirical writings. Other commentators have suggested that Crane represents a morally corrupt capitalist figure. Brom Van BruntIn the novel, Brom Van Brunt is a rude, energetic man. However, he is also a kindhearted, self-reliant person. The critics said,” Brom represents a pioneer of frontier settlers.” Brom has a mixed temperament, indulging in merry-making. His shoulders are big and his back was wide. He is a hero to all young ladies. He frightens Ichabod away with a scheme. The victory of Brom shows the failure of Ichabod. Katrina Van TasselKatrina who is the daughter of the Dutch farmer is on behalf of the women in the Sleeping valley. Her image shows a negative image. She loves to show off. Superficially, she and Ichabod are in love with each other. In fact, she just dallies with Ichabods affections. Just as the narrators said, “This is a trick”. Katrina is not a simple girl, but a scheming girl. StyleIrvings style can only be described as beautiful. It is imitative, it is true, but he was a highly skillful writer. Never shocking and a bit sentimental at times, his manner seems more important than his matter. The gentility, urbanity, and pleasantness of the man all seem to have found adequate expression in his style. The adage, “The style is the man,” applies to no one else so well. Responsive to sensuous experience, Irving is in fact recording his impression in his writings. The reader sees, hears, smells, tastes and touches while reading him, and enjoys the lucid style probably as much as the stories. There are quite a few striking features which characterize Irvings writings. First, Irving avoids moralizing as much as possible, he writes to amuse and entertain, which departs to no small extent from the basic principles of his Puritan forebears. Then he is good at enveloping his stories in an atmosphere, the richness of which is often more than compensation for the slimness of plot. His characters are vivid and true so that they tend to linger in the mind of the reader. The humor which has built itself into the very texture of his writings is much that reading him, it is difficult not to smile and occasionally even chuckle. And the finished and musical language (indeed, some people read Irving just for the music of his language and patent workmanship) have been among the point of critical attention for a long time. There is a good deal of craft and skill in the man.Washington Irvings ContributionsWashington Irving makes great contribution to American literature. Firstly, he is the first American writer to gain international fame because of his imaginative literature. At that time many Americans think that the rising of Irving in the international literature world marks the independence of the American literature. It is not exaggerated to say that Irving is the father of American literature. Secondly, he starts the genre of short story in American with the publishing of” The Sketch Book”. The later short story writers like Hawthorne and Poe definitely gain some merits from him. Many of the subjects in his stories are very romantic, such as supernatural, the gothic style and the beautiful old days.Conclusion Thematic analyses of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” generally focus on the character of Ichabod Cr