Title: Character Analysis in Rip Van Winkle - Owl Eyes
Headings: Character Analysis
in
Rip Van Winkle

Character Analysis in Rip Van Winkle
Character Analysis Examples in Rip Van Winkle:
Rip Van Winkle

Content: He frequently takes his dog with him out into the mountains to escape the nagging of his wife. Dame Van Winkle: Rip’s wife is described only in the most unflattering terms: she is a “shrew,” a “virago,” and a “termagant” who is constantly lecturing Rip about his failure to work on his farm and properly provide for their family. She interrupts his meetings with his friends at the inn, and she is regarded with dislike by the other wives of the village, for whom Rip is generally willing to perform chores. Being completely one-dimensional and never given a voice, Dame Van Winkle is less a character and more a symbol of the different types of oppression a person could experience. The strange men: On one of his mountain excursions, Rip encounters a strange man in outmoded clothing who calls him by name and solicits his help carrying a keg. The man leads Rip into a hollow, where a number of similarly dressed men are playing ninepins. They are silent and serious, and Rip is initially afraid of them.