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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 of the town is the local poltergeist, the Headless Horseman. The local schoolteacher Ichabod Crane is familiar with the stories of the Headless Horseman and how it takes the heads of those who pass his bridge, but he does not believe them to be true. Schoolteacher Crane comes face-to-face with the Headless Horseman. Given what is told about Ichabod Crane's character, it is easy to see that though he claims to be smarter than the other villagers...
He uses the hospitality of his students' parents by staying in their homes instead of living in his own rooms. Ichabod Crane "lorded it in his little empire" (16). In addition to teaching and singing, Crane spends much of his time telling scary stories to the townsfolk and impressing them with his knowledge of such folk stories as witches and warlocks. Beyond this bravado of bravery, he is actually a very cowardly man. "What fearful shapes and shadows beset his path, amidst the dim and ghastly…
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
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
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