Washington Irvings Rip Van Winkle Shapes American Culture Essay

cap Irvings Rip new wave shine Shapes American Culture Darkness...lowers upon my mind, and the times are so hard they come down my soul, says Washington Irving in a letter to a friend (Letters 446). This controversy reveals Irvings intense emotional condition, and in many ways indicates the intense tender air travel as well as his personal conflicts, during the composition of The animated cartoon Book. Upon the bankruptcy of his familys fortune, of which he depended on solely for his monetary security, Irving found himself flung into the painful mortifications of independence (Letters 487). In response to this trauma, he sailed to England to regain his composure and hopefully secure his stake as a writer so he could provide for himself that which would keep him from being cast homeless and pennyless on the serviceman (Letters 486). Within statements like these, Irvings countenance is quite apparent. Additionally, it helps to reveal the social atmosphere of the tim e, as well as increase ones knowledge of Rip Van Winkle as it is represented in The Sketch Book. And this representation holds salient significance to Washington Irvings development as a person, and to American cultures bark to define itself in a unique (non-British) way. Around 1817 Irving left the united States drained of inspiration, and slid into depression. He wrote of himself to a friend several years later, I felt cast down,abased,I had lost my cast,I had always been proud of Spirit, and in my pastoral had been, as it were a being of the air,I felt the force of the text a weakened spirit who can bear? (Letters 743). However, the idea of The Sketch Book which came beforehand he left relieved him to some extent. In many ways, though, hi... ...sponsibilities are. And more than than particularly what is Americas responsibility in trying to create a realm that is unique and separate from its parentage. This is the issue that defines the importance of Rip Van Winkle, and more particularly The Sketch Book, in the social development of our country. It seems that the particular social and political climate found its summation in our countrys search for literary independence. Holistically it was Washington Irvings life, his struggles, his talents, and his perfectly-timed existence in the flow of history that helped to shape and change integrity our countrys identity, and immortalize him as an author. Works CitedRubin-Dorsky, Jeffrey. Irvings Sketches of Anxiety. American Literature. Dec 1986 507-509, 517-519. Williams, Stanley T. The Life of Washington Irving. 2 vols. London Oxford, 1935.