Rip Van Wrinkle Analysis

Thomas Paine, in the Occasional Letter to the Female Sex, and Washington Irving in "Rip Van Wrinkle" both of them demonstrate in a different way their view about the relationship between the concepts on the one hand of private and family and on the other of public and the political society. In addition to these, also the texts explore the connection between the gender and the body politic. On the one hand, Thomas Paine, through his text provides the role that women concerning men about the politics but also he stresses the need that women have for recognition about their contribution to the rebellion. On the other hand, Irving through the character 's life and the historical events of the 18th century in America suggests the notions of the

To point out that, Rip Van Wrinkle crosses the Katshill Mountain, so as to escape from his tyrannical wife, but automatically he moved twenty years forwards. When he left the village, it was the pre- revolutionary period, and at that time he has to face the constant disputation with his wife. But when he awakes from his sleep, he moved to the post- revolutionary period, and consequently his wife died. However, he does not realize that it has passed twenty years but only one night. The character does not live the events of the revolution, and he moved towards to the result; however the revolution for Rip is, in fact, the restoration of his lost patriarchal authority after the convenient death of his wife. After his return from his sleep is presented to talk with his son and through their conversation, he was informed about the death of his wife and the transformation of America to the colony to the nation (1257). There was a simultaneous establishment of the tyranny of England and the tyranny of his wife and also a parallel freedom from the England and freedom from his wife (1258). The historical events of what happened in the eighteenth century, the turn to modernity, to democracy, that is to say, the public narrative, its place side by side with the private narrative which has the form of fantasy. The fantasy, whose contexts is the emancipation from history, from any responsibility and the tyranny of his wife. The story seems to end with a compatibility of the two in the ascent of male fantasy; "Even to this day... flagon" in that excerpt it is shown that the private fantasy of masculinity who emancipates itself from the tyranny of women becomes contemporary and it appears in the new culture (1259). Also, the tyranny of the women seems to have connections with the figure of democracy. That happens because democracy