Crane, Brunt, and the Prize in Van

Crane, Brunt, And the Prize in Van Tassel

Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The rivalry in Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow seem to indicate not a competition between one readily deserving lover over an undeserving antagonist, but a showcasing of economic greed and societal expectations. Ichabod and Brom Bones are two opposite spectrums of imperfect, though expected caricatures of men of the time period. Katrina Van Tassel, on the other hand, is merely part of the positive end to Ichabod and Brom Bones' means. While Ichabod and Brom Bones find different methods in the attempt to win Katrina's heart -- Ichabod being more successful than his rival -- there is no doubt that the two view the hand of Katrina as a mere principle of a larger goal; there is no form of love in the tale.

Ichabod Crane's physical description depicts the schoolteacher as an ungainly man; he is tall, lanky, and awkward. He is a relatively poor man, with really no reputation, though the narrator describes Ichabod as cunning and calculating. Ichabod clearly knows how to charm people as he sees fit with his goals, and the minute he had set eyes on Katrina Van Tassel -- that is, Katrina's property -- Ichabod knew that there would be no other goal than that of the marriage between him and the beautiful heiress. Yet Ichabod does not particularly love Katrina by conventional means; in fact, while her beauty helped, his blatant covetousness is that of Katrina's property.

[Ichabod] had a soft and foolish heart towards the sex and it is not to be wondered that so tempting a morsel soon found favor in his eyes. More especially after he had visited her in her paternal mansion.

(Irving, W. 2007).

On the other hand, Abraham Von Brunt -- mostly known as Brom Bones -- is the exact opposite in description. Brom Bones is a "burly, roaring, roistering blade" (Irving, W., 2007); he is handsome, broad-shouldered, and strong. Brom Bones is the epitome of what society's "hero" should look like. In fact, Brom Bones even has the same kind of arrogance as a noble, the same physical appearance and social standing. The villagers of Sleepy Hollow respect Brom Bones, and even Katrina "did not altogether discourage his hopes" (Irving, W., 2007). Brom Bones is also interested in Katrina, his attraction to her like that of a knight to a princess. Yet "love" once more does not exactly fall into place here. Brom Bones may have yearned for the hand of the beautiful Katrina, but there does not appear to be an emotional form of attachment. A gallant hero's right is to that of the gallant princess, and in Brom Bones' point-of-view, is he not entitled to the spoils of his own gallantry? Thus he simply believed that Katrina was his spoil by heroic right.

While Katrina should not be discredited as a simple country coquette, she is still a mere trophy between two rather headstrong characters. Her attraction to Ichabod is both surprising and unsurprising; Ichabod is not the typical man a beautiful heiress would consider frolicking with, but at the same time Ichabod's cunning and eloquence would have easily won her over. Her marriage to Brom Bones is also a surprising and unsurprising result; it takes Brom Bones' mischief to chase a superstitious Ichabod away from town, never to return again.