Washington Irving Misogynist
Washington Irving is a man who is questioned for being misogynistic or not. I believe Washington Irving wasn’t to be blamed for how the main characters are treated in his stories. I would blame at the time frame Washington Irving was living in. Irving lived from 1783 to 1859; in this timeline, women were viewed as caretakers of the family. Certain men had a different view of women such as being nuisance, a problem, or someone who is not trustworthy. There may have been stories from men that could be lies or the truth. Men could say having a wife is a curse, while other men say a wife is a blessing.
Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle story’s main character, Rip Van Winkle, is a man from New York who would considered to be a patient and quiet person. Rip’s wife would be viewed as someone who is annoying and angry. …show more content…
Rip’s patience would be falling apart due to how Rip’s wife is treating which leads Rip to escape his problems in order to relax and clear his mind from the stress the wife has been giving Rip. The wife in Washington’s Rip Van Winkle would be viewed for misogyny because of how Rip’s wife is acts towards Rip.
The story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells about a teacher called Ichabod Crane who is trying to marry a woman named Katrina Van Tassel, whose family is rich.
Ichabod has a rival who also trying gain the hand of Katrina; that man is called Brom Van Brunt or Brom Bones. Brom Bones is viewed as a village hero and would set up pranks to frustrated or humiliate Ichabod. Brom Bones managed to scare off all the people who would branded as rivals to him for the hand of Katrina except for Ichabod. Ichabod still tries to woo Katrina despite Brom Bones attempting to intimidate him. Ichabod was invited to the Van Tassels’. Ichabod traveled to the Van Tassel resident for a party and Ichabod was considered the best man in the house, meanwhile, Brom Bones was staying at a corner due to being filled with jealousy. The party ended and Ichabod stayed behind to realize that he was wrapped around Katrina’s finger only to be used to make Brom Bones jealous. Irving’s story gives readers a view of how Katrina is a liar, a snake, and even having a heart of stone. Irving makes the story view a woman to not only be a problem for one man, but to multiple other people as
well.
The story of The Devil and Tom Walker tells about how Tom and his wife are as miserable as each other. The story tells about how Tom and his wife conspired about cheating on one another. The wife would hoard belongings and Tom would know about it because of how they don’t trust each other. The story describes about Tom’s wife being termagant, fierce of temper, loud shouting, and her strong capabilities.
I view Washington Irving to be misogynistic, but only to a certain point. I would think of how Washington would have different wives that would have led to a different, but similar experience with each other. I’m willing to think the timeline Washington lived in could also be responsible for the influence to him for the reason why women were described as they were in “Rip Van Winkle,” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and “The Devil and Tom Walker.” The male character seem to be suffering or have suffered from a women, let it be a wife or a woman they try to woo. I mainly believe Washington Irving may have heard stories about women that brings a negative view on women in general. People would have different theories about why Washington Irving such as he was treated badly by women or they were based off of experiences with multiple wives. I still believe Washington Irving is partly blamed for being misogynistic; the only main reason for why I believe the stories are portraying women to be as they are from the timeline Washington Irving lived in.
Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle story’s main character, Rip Van Winkle, is a man from New York who would considered to be a patient and quiet person. Rip’s wife would be viewed as someone who is annoying and angry. …show more content…
Rip’s patience would be falling apart due to how Rip’s wife is treating which leads Rip to escape his problems in order to relax and clear his mind from the stress the wife has been giving Rip. The wife in Washington’s Rip Van Winkle would be viewed for misogyny because of how Rip’s wife is acts towards Rip.
The story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells about a teacher called Ichabod Crane who is trying to marry a woman named Katrina Van Tassel, whose family is rich.
Ichabod has a rival who also trying gain the hand of Katrina; that man is called Brom Van Brunt or Brom Bones. Brom Bones is viewed as a village hero and would set up pranks to frustrated or humiliate Ichabod. Brom Bones managed to scare off all the people who would branded as rivals to him for the hand of Katrina except for Ichabod. Ichabod still tries to woo Katrina despite Brom Bones attempting to intimidate him. Ichabod was invited to the Van Tassels’. Ichabod traveled to the Van Tassel resident for a party and Ichabod was considered the best man in the house, meanwhile, Brom Bones was staying at a corner due to being filled with jealousy. The party ended and Ichabod stayed behind to realize that he was wrapped around Katrina’s finger only to be used to make Brom Bones jealous. Irving’s story gives readers a view of how Katrina is a liar, a snake, and even having a heart of stone. Irving makes the story view a woman to not only be a problem for one man, but to multiple other people as
well.
The story of The Devil and Tom Walker tells about how Tom and his wife are as miserable as each other. The story tells about how Tom and his wife conspired about cheating on one another. The wife would hoard belongings and Tom would know about it because of how they don’t trust each other. The story describes about Tom’s wife being termagant, fierce of temper, loud shouting, and her strong capabilities.
I view Washington Irving to be misogynistic, but only to a certain point. I would think of how Washington would have different wives that would have led to a different, but similar experience with each other. I’m willing to think the timeline Washington lived in could also be responsible for the influence to him for the reason why women were described as they were in “Rip Van Winkle,” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and “The Devil and Tom Walker.” The male character seem to be suffering or have suffered from a women, let it be a wife or a woman they try to woo. I mainly believe Washington Irving may have heard stories about women that brings a negative view on women in general. People would have different theories about why Washington Irving such as he was treated badly by women or they were based off of experiences with multiple wives. I still believe Washington Irving is partly blamed for being misogynistic; the only main reason for why I believe the stories are portraying women to be as they are from the timeline Washington Irving lived in.