Gender Issues in Washington Irvings The Legend of...

Gender Issues in Washington Irvings The Legend of Sleepy Hollow At first glance, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving seems to be an innocent tale about a superstitious New England town threatened by a strange new comer, Icabod Crane. However, this descriptive narrative is more than just a simple tale because it addresses several gender issues that deserve attention. The pervasiveness of female influence in Sleepy Hollow and the conflict between male and female storytelling in this Dutch community are two pertinent gender issues that complicate Irvings work and ultimately enable the women of Sleepy Hollow to control the men and maintain order. Irvings main character, Icabod Crane, causes a stir and disrupts†¦show more content†¦Rather, we are left with a sense of relief at Cranes removal from Sleepy Hollow. Thus the tale presents a stark contrast to Rip Van Winkle. In that story, women attempt and fail to confront men openly; in Sleepy Hollow, female behavior is much more subversive and effective. Female behavior in Sleepy Hollow is a result of its feminine setting. Irvings tale preserves the maintenance of the feminine and the landscape is described as having maternal characteristics. For example, Sleepy Hollow lies in the bosom of a cove lining the Hudson (Irving 948), and the valley is embosomed in the great state of New York (Irving 950). Clearly the repose and security of Sleepy Hollow rest in the maternal landscape - an assumption so pervasive that even our male narrator attests to it. For as he observes, the act of naming falls to women in this Dutch village. For example, The good house-wives of the adjacent country, from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days, have named the nearby rural port Tarry Town (Irving 948). The name and power of naming thus operates as a gently sarcastic means of reproaching unruly husbands and of preserving female dominance over the Hollow. In the beginning of the tale Irving describes the narrator asShow MoreRelatedThe Legend Of The Sleepy Hollow By Washington Irving956 Words   |  4 Pagesto act in a certain manner. However, in in his short story â€Å"The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow† Washington Irving argues otherwise, illustrating the main character, Ichabod, as being invasive and often inclined to put himself in uncomfortable situations. These characteristics alienate him from the norms of society and lead him to be perceived differently from the other male characters, mainly because he does not fulfil the typical gender roles. Through artistic imagery, sarcasm and diction Irving depictsRead MoreThe Romantic American Male in Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans and Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow3375 Words   |  14 PagesRomantic American Male in Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans and Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans and Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow are valuable examples of literary heavyweights of the Romantic era, but in addition, can also be used to chart sociological changes within the male gender during pre-Romantic and Romantic years. But because neither Cooper nor Irving’s works should be distanced from their cultural backdrops whenRead MoreHistory of the Development of the Short Story.3660 Words   |  15 PagesBrockden Browns Somnambulism (1805), Washington Irvings Rip van Winkle (1819) and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820), Edgar Allan Poes Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840) and Nathaniel Hawthornes Twice-Told Tales (1842). In the latter 19th century, the growth of print magazines and journals created a strong demand for short fiction of between 3,000 and 15,000 words. Famous short stories of this period include BolesÅ‚aw Pruss A Legend of Old Egypt (1888) and Anton Chekhovs