¶ … Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving [...] why Sleepy Hollow is such a quaint and yet haunted place. Is Sleepy Hollow the perfect setting for this story? Why? Sleepy Hollow seems far too bucolic to house fantastic legends like the Headless Horseman, and yet, it is such a perfectly serene setting, why wouldn't a ghost want to spend eternity there?
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow sounds like the perfect little country oasis, and indeed, Irving describes it as the ideal retreat early in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." He writes, "If ever I should wish for a retreat, whither I might steal from the world and its distractions, and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled life, I know of none more promising than this little valley" (Irving 12-13). Irving continues to build up the peace and tranquility of the area throughout the story, so that initially, it is quite difficult to believe the stories of witchcraft and bedevilment that surround Sleepy Hollow. He continues,
The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet. Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance high in the air; the bark of the squirrel might be heard from the groves of beech and hickory nuts, and the pensive whistle of the quail at intervals from the neighboring stubble-field (Irving 54).
However, as he weaves in the rich details of the beauty and serenity of the place, he begins to weave in convincing details of fantasy, horror, and the macabre that all seem to make sense as the story progresses, as this passage shows. "The neighborhood is rich in legendary treasures of the kind. Local tales and superstitions thrive best in these sheltered long-settled retreats; but are trampled under foot by the shifting throng that forms the populations of most of our country places (Irving 66). Thus, Irving sets the stage for the supernatural in a "super natural" setting, and the two seem to mesh together perfectly. He continues, "The immediate cause, however, of the prevalence of supernatural stories in these parts,...
Sleepy Hollow Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" begins as a lot of stories do from the 1800s. There is a quiet and peaceful small town with a wealthy family and all the activities of the townsfolk surround them. The town, according to the narrator is noted for being calm and serene, that is how the little village got the name Sleepy Hollow. The only thing that upsets this personality
Sleepy Hollow: American Anxiety Via American Gothic The early Americans lived in an America that many are unfamiliar with in this day. Early America was a fierce wilderness rife with uncharted territories and much uncertainty. Thus, there was no doubt that early Americans felt a great deal of anxiety: anxiety about their futures and anxiety about their decision to leave England. Published in 1820, the story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
First, evil in Sleepy Hollow is more equating with a satirical view that, in this case, evil is a more benign humor, bumbling, caustic in disrupting the town, and, as it was in Ancient Greek and Roman drama, simply more of an irritant than planned destruction. Focusing again on the time period, our first introduction to this theme is one of Dutch New York against Urban New England. The Dutch
As the two protagonists battle wits, a subplot becomes evident: choices must be made between the old order and the new order. The sturdy Brom Bones, with his practical, quaint Dutch upbringing, is a cog in a hole (or the whole, that is the village). Brom fits Tarry Town, and his rowdy mischievous nature functions as a pleasant diversion in the quiet little village. Brom represents the virtues of the
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” versus Sleepy Hollow Washington Irving’s short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” tells the story of the self-important, intellectual schoolmaster Ichabod Crane who wants to marry Katrina Van Tassel, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy farmer. Crane is nervous and superstitious and during a party he is regaled of stories of the mysterious headless horsemen who haunts the roads at night. His rival is Abraham “Brom
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”: Who is the Antagonist? Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is an unusual horror story, because it does not have a clear antagonist, although the hero Ichabod Crane is pursued by the legendary headless horseman of the titular legend. For the most part, the horseman is a character who is spoken about, rather than actually takes part in the story. Instead, the actual antagonist is
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