Comparing The Love Triangle In Washington Irving's The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

If a woman were to purposely and consciously cultivate a love triangle where she was being sought after by crowds of men, how would she be described? (Keep it G-rated.) Would she be as sly as a fox? As poisonous as a snake? Manipulative as a monkey? A blazing fire, sending sparks of red, orange, yellow, white, blue over the dark and still sky? The comparisons and descriptions are endless, but some stand out more vividly in our memories. In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by Washington Irving, the beautiful Katrina van Tassel, daughter of the wealthy van Tassel family, is desired by nearly every man in Sleepy Hollow. Among these are the scrawny schoolmaster Ichabod Crane and the burly prankster Brom Bones, The short story follows Ichabod and Brom in the pursuit of Katrina, to the van Tassel dinner

For instance, she makes a conscious choice in clothing herself in “a provokingly short petticoat, to display the prettiest foot and ankle” (Irving, Paragraph 21). The usage of alliteration makes the scandalous length of Katrina’s petticoat in her time period stand out for the readers to keep in mind. Because she chooses a provokingly short petticoat, her development as a tempting woman becomes more clear. Furthermore, she is “plum as a partridge; ripe and melting and rosy cheeked as one of her father’s peaches” (Irving, Paragraph 21). Katrina is gifted with the wealth and allure, so she is able to easily intrigue men. The simile makes it so that Katrina’s beauty is explained while hinting at her wealth. She is what would be described as a “player;” she dresses to lure and uses her elegance and abundance of money for the same cause. With the blessings she’d been born with and her enticing skills, Katrina becomes even more of a professional at her sport. Her attempts and talents works unfailingly, as the shallow Ichabod Crane is