Rip van Winkle

Rip van Winkle is a short story by Washington Irving, as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. It was part of a collection of stories entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon.

Related Topics:
Short story - Washington Irving - The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The story, written while Irving was staying with his sister Sarah and her husband Henry van Wart in Birmingham, England, is set in the days before and after the American Revolutionary War. A villager of Dutch descent escapes his nagging wife by wandering up Kaaterskill Clove near his home town of Palenville, New York in the Catskill Mountains. After various adventures (in one version of the tale, he encounters the spirits of Henry Hudson and his crew playing ninepins at the top of Kaaterskill Falls), he settles down under a shady tree and falls asleep. He wakes up 20 years later and returns to his village. He immediately gets into trouble when he hails George III, not knowing that in the meantime the American Revolution has taken place and he is not supposed to be a loyal subject of the Hanoverian any longer.

Related Topics:
Henry van Wart - Birmingham - England - American Revolutionary War - Dutch - Wife - Kaaterskill Clove - Palenville, New York - Catskill Mountains - Henry Hudson - Ninepins - Kaaterskill Falls - Tree - Village - George III - American Revolution - Hanover

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After this story, "Rip van Winkle" can be a reference to a person who sleeps a long time, or to a person who is inexplicably unaware of current events.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~