Change or Insanity?

Changes lead to insanity! Born during the period of American Romanticism, Washington Irving wrote two Gothic literary works, Rip Van Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which exposit how culture “stops time,” as a result it causes insanity, because in reality time does not stop, therefore changes occurs. Van Winkle, the primary character of Rip Van Winkle and Ichabod the main character of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow were examples used to illustrate the stickiness of culture and failure from keeping up with changes that caused lethal confusion.

Mr. Van Winkle was overwhelmed by cultural changes. “What courage can withstand… a women’s tongue”#? This shows that women are voicing for their rights. Mr. Van Winkle could not withstand this movement, however he was incompetent,(983), and thus he joined the Dutch “folks.” The folks symbolizes people that successfully stop time by amusing themselves and being drunk. His participation lead him to “ … into deep sleep.”(986), meaning he was drunk for twenty years. Similarly, Ichabod also stopped in time, where he stayed in “ A drowsy, dreamy… land.”(998), which implied that he kept his superstitious beliefs. His beliefs in the “The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow” for instance obliquely shows his superstitious doggedness.

As Rip Van Winkle opened his eyes to the society, he was lost. The “world around him was bewitched.”(987) He was ignorant to the society around him. The lack of knowledge left Mr. Van Winkle bewailed, anxious, fearful, and paranoid. Hence, he wallowed in self-pity and chose to remain ignorant. ““The flagon last night,” thought he, “has addled my poor head sadly!””(987) Here he blamed his hallucination on alcohol. Ichabod was bemused in a similar fashion. “… a mixture of ancient and modern fashion…”(998) Katrina Van Tassel, the women that Ichabod fall for, symbolized a mixture of ancient time period and modern period, because she was dressed up as both.(998)

The consequence of obstinate attitudes...