Since I began my Colonial and literature phase earlier this summer, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving was high up on my read-list. This short book is yet another classic work of early American Literature, on par with The Scarlett Letter and Moby Dick. Despite the fact that it is a very brief book (no more than 30 pages) it provides a very vivid account of the American lifestyle in the early 1800s. The story was published in 1820 however takes place in 1790 just years after the American Revolution. It recounts a popular legend in the countryside of New York, near the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town.
For me this story has always been associated with the season of Halloween. Even as a kid I can remember images of the spooky headless horsemen often depicted with a pumpkin around Halloween time. I'm sure at some point in my early Literature classes we read the short book, and for some reason the name Ichabod Crane has always stood out to me. I vaguely remember watching the 1949 Disney adaptation, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Then in 1999 Tim Burton brought the famous story to the big screen with his adaptation starring Johnny Depp and a slew of other big name actors. While this film was quite thrilling, it was nothing at all like the original story and took major liberties with it.
What's quite significant about this book is that it was one of the first popular work of fiction, released in the newly established United States of America. Many literary critiques such as John Neal, felt that Washington Irving's writings (RIP Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) were simply an extension of the British style. John Neal also made the same association with the early work of James Fenimore Cooper (known for The Last of the Mohicans), and established the true American Renaissance was with the later works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, and Walt Whitman. While this might be true, I consider Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper as pioneers of American literature. And to me the Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of the earliest and most iconic tales of American folklore.
Gothic Fiction
One last thing I want to touch on before I give my usual synopsis of the plot and characters, is the genre of this writing by Irving. This story is not your typical happily-ever-after fiction yet on the contrary provides a much more grim setting. It's quite fascinating to me how much of the early works of American literature had these dark elements of the macabre. This Gothic style of writing became quite prevalent in the famous works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allen Poe. It's almost as if the new nation sought to identify itself with tales of horror, no doubt in reference to the bloody revolutionary war they had just endured.
However while Washington Irving could certainly be considered a father of the Gothic style, England had already begun to introduce the genre as far back as the 1760s with famous works such as The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve, and The Mysteries of Udolpho by Anne Radcliffe. By the 1800s this genre became even more popular with the publications of The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. It was no doubt while in Europe that Irving was influenced by the style and introduced it to America. Perhaps some other time I can dive deeper into this fascinating topic of Gothic literature but for now I'd like to give a full synopsis of Irving's American classic; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
The Synopsis of Sleepy Hollow
The story is set in the region of Tarrytown, New York along the Hudson River. It was in this region that the famous Battle of the White Plains occurred in 1776 by which General Washington was defeated and driven back by the British Army. Also nearby across the river in the town of Tapan was the site of the hanging of Major Andre, the revered British General who was captured conspiring with Benedict Arnold. This site makes for a fitting eerie setting in the 1790s, where the townspeople enjoy to share folk tales with one another. Among these folk tales is the mysterious headless horsemen who rides in the valley of Sleepy Hollow in search of his severed head. It is believed he is the ghost of a German Hessian mercenary who was killed at the Battle of White Plains.
Thus the stage is set for the arrival of an outsider, the naive Ichabod Crane from Connecticut. He is a well-educated gentleman prepared to begin his new post as schoolmaster in the region. Unlike most the townspeople he is well-versed in academics, song, and literature. He is quite popular with the older women and recounts witch tales from Cotton Mather's Wonders of the Invisible World. He also has his vices however with an over-indulgent appetite as well as an ambitious desire to secure wealth. As a eligible bachelor he considers himself the fitting match for the attractive Katrina Van Tassel, daughter of the most prominent farmer in the town.
Ichabod however has rivals for his desire to court and marry Katrina, the most beautiful girl in town. The most domineering of these characters is the mischievous Abraham Van Brunt, referred to as "Brom Bones". He is the complete opposite of Ichabod's classy character, more-so of a physical brawny person with a crew of mates. His character could best be labeled as a classic bully, and he later engages in practical jokes on Ichabod as a means to intimidate him away from Katrina. Ichabod however stands firm in his goal to win the love of Katrina, and plans to propose to her at the town harvest.
That autumn evening at the harvest festival, Ichabod becomes the life of the party. He eats, sings, and dances with the lovely Katrina for all to witness. He even partakes in the popular ghost stories of the townspeople. However at the end of the night for some odd reason he is rejected by Katrina (it is a rejection that Irving never elaborates on). He thus leaves the party in a major state of disappointment seeing his plans completely fall thru. It is at this moment, on his journey ride home that the story reaches it's penultimate phase.
Irving does a brilliant job at this point in setting the eerie mood of what is about to happen. Ichabod in a state of defeat is completely subdued by his spooky surroundings; the cold autumn night, the wind, the wiry trees, the sounds of a barking dog, a crow, crickets, and a frog. Racing thru his head are the ghostly stories he had just heard at the festival yet more so his rejection by Katrina. Even his meekly horse, Gunpowder begins to give in to a growing fear, and hesitates in crossing the famed bridge. It is at this point that Ichabod encounters the mysterious headless horsemen.
The figure is as daunting as described, large and burly dressed in black on a black horse, without a head. The horsemen then begins to taunt Ichabod and rides up next to him for a while, in which Icahbod notices the head at the rider's side on his saddle. At this point Ichabod is able to propel Gunpowder into a gallop, by which the horseman chases after him. However before Ichabod can reach the bridge that the horseman dare not cross, the horseman hurls his head, knocking Ichabod of his horse. The next few days no one in town can find Ichabod, and it appears he has completely disappeared.
At this concluding point in the story Irving provides a classic case of an open-ending. As the townsfolk later get on with their life, post-Ichabod, there are three outcomes presented. The first is that Ichabod simply left town in response to his rejection from Katrina, and found work elsewhere as a schoolmaster and later as an elected official. The second is that Ichabod was scared off by Brom Bones, who dressed in disguise and hurled a pumpkin at Ichabod. Furthermore Brom Bones would later go on to marry the lovely Katrina and would often cruelly laugh at the mention of Ichabod. However the third outcome, shared by the elder women of the town is that something very supernatural happened to Ichabod that night, and that he was indeed another victim of the headless horseman.
My Review and Analysis
Although I have been familiar with the story since I can remember, this is the first time I fully comprehend this classic by Washington Irving. The writing is very poetic on par with the Old English style of Nathaniel Hawthorne. There are several instances in this book that Irving truly establishes a sensational feeling, such as his dance with Katrina, or of course the climatic ride at the end. While the content is very brief in analysis, Irving succeeds in developing a dramatic plot, with a vivid setting and unique characters.
While the dialogue in this story is almost non-existent there are three characters that drive the plot, and make for a classic love triangle format. The protagonist is Ichabod Crane who is portrayed immediately as a naive, foolish-hearted young man driven by his desires. On the other hand there is the antagonist, Brom Bones, the mischievous brute, who has a more rooted standing in town. The basis of this story is that both men are essentially competing for the love of the beautiful Katrina. The daughter of the town's leading farmer, Katrina is both wealthy and attractive, and is no doubt considered the gem desired by all young bachelors.
In a rather unique turn of storytelling, Irving decides to reward the beautiful gem to the antagonist rather than the story's protagonist. Perhaps drawing from his own personal experience as a man whom never got married, Irving demonstrates that the country girl is more drawn to the country boy over the sophisticated outsider. Even before the episode of the headless horseman, Katrina has clearly made her choice by rejecting Ichabod at the harvest festival. A reason in which Irving does not elaborate, leaving for the reader to consider. To me it's quite simple from the perspective of Katrina; she finds the outsider Ichabod to be a very interesting character, however she is more familiar with the masculine personality of her fellow townsfolk Brom Bones and thus chooses him over Ichabod.
In regards to the episode of the headless horseman, it serves as the definitive event of Ichabod's humiliating defeat. Considering the state of remorse Ichabod was in that night after his rejection, it's almost fair to believe Ichabod had imagined the entire thing. He was a man familiar with the ghostly stories and often it is thru paranoia that gives way to the paranormal. The matter of whether the headless horseman was a ghost or more likely Brom Bones dressed in disguise is besides the point. Either way it served as the ultimate symbol of Ichabod's defeat in which he does not win the girl at the end. While this makes for a rather grim and unhappy ending at least Irving sheds a bit of peace on Ichabod at the conclusion, stating that he later prospered in another town at the practice of law.
For me this story has always been associated with the season of Halloween. Even as a kid I can remember images of the spooky headless horsemen often depicted with a pumpkin around Halloween time. I'm sure at some point in my early Literature classes we read the short book, and for some reason the name Ichabod Crane has always stood out to me. I vaguely remember watching the 1949 Disney adaptation, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Then in 1999 Tim Burton brought the famous story to the big screen with his adaptation starring Johnny Depp and a slew of other big name actors. While this film was quite thrilling, it was nothing at all like the original story and took major liberties with it.What's quite significant about this book is that it was one of the first popular work of fiction, released in the newly established United States of America. Many literary critiques such as John Neal, felt that Washington Irving's writings (RIP Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) were simply an extension of the British style. John Neal also made the same association with the early work of James Fenimore Cooper (known for The Last of the Mohicans), and established the true American Renaissance was with the later works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, and Walt Whitman. While this might be true, I consider Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper as pioneers of American literature. And to me the Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of the earliest and most iconic tales of American folklore.
Gothic Fiction
One last thing I want to touch on before I give my usual synopsis of the plot and characters, is the genre of this writing by Irving. This story is not your typical happily-ever-after fiction yet on the contrary provides a much more grim setting. It's quite fascinating to me how much of the early works of American literature had these dark elements of the macabre. This Gothic style of writing became quite prevalent in the famous works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allen Poe. It's almost as if the new nation sought to identify itself with tales of horror, no doubt in reference to the bloody revolutionary war they had just endured.
However while Washington Irving could certainly be considered a father of the Gothic style, England had already begun to introduce the genre as far back as the 1760s with famous works such as The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve, and The Mysteries of Udolpho by Anne Radcliffe. By the 1800s this genre became even more popular with the publications of The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. It was no doubt while in Europe that Irving was influenced by the style and introduced it to America. Perhaps some other time I can dive deeper into this fascinating topic of Gothic literature but for now I'd like to give a full synopsis of Irving's American classic; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
The Synopsis of Sleepy Hollow
The story is set in the region of Tarrytown, New York along the Hudson River. It was in this region that the famous Battle of the White Plains occurred in 1776 by which General Washington was defeated and driven back by the British Army. Also nearby across the river in the town of Tapan was the site of the hanging of Major Andre, the revered British General who was captured conspiring with Benedict Arnold. This site makes for a fitting eerie setting in the 1790s, where the townspeople enjoy to share folk tales with one another. Among these folk tales is the mysterious headless horsemen who rides in the valley of Sleepy Hollow in search of his severed head. It is believed he is the ghost of a German Hessian mercenary who was killed at the Battle of White Plains.
Ichabod however has rivals for his desire to court and marry Katrina, the most beautiful girl in town. The most domineering of these characters is the mischievous Abraham Van Brunt, referred to as "Brom Bones". He is the complete opposite of Ichabod's classy character, more-so of a physical brawny person with a crew of mates. His character could best be labeled as a classic bully, and he later engages in practical jokes on Ichabod as a means to intimidate him away from Katrina. Ichabod however stands firm in his goal to win the love of Katrina, and plans to propose to her at the town harvest.
That autumn evening at the harvest festival, Ichabod becomes the life of the party. He eats, sings, and dances with the lovely Katrina for all to witness. He even partakes in the popular ghost stories of the townspeople. However at the end of the night for some odd reason he is rejected by Katrina (it is a rejection that Irving never elaborates on). He thus leaves the party in a major state of disappointment seeing his plans completely fall thru. It is at this moment, on his journey ride home that the story reaches it's penultimate phase.
Irving does a brilliant job at this point in setting the eerie mood of what is about to happen. Ichabod in a state of defeat is completely subdued by his spooky surroundings; the cold autumn night, the wind, the wiry trees, the sounds of a barking dog, a crow, crickets, and a frog. Racing thru his head are the ghostly stories he had just heard at the festival yet more so his rejection by Katrina. Even his meekly horse, Gunpowder begins to give in to a growing fear, and hesitates in crossing the famed bridge. It is at this point that Ichabod encounters the mysterious headless horsemen.
The figure is as daunting as described, large and burly dressed in black on a black horse, without a head. The horsemen then begins to taunt Ichabod and rides up next to him for a while, in which Icahbod notices the head at the rider's side on his saddle. At this point Ichabod is able to propel Gunpowder into a gallop, by which the horseman chases after him. However before Ichabod can reach the bridge that the horseman dare not cross, the horseman hurls his head, knocking Ichabod of his horse. The next few days no one in town can find Ichabod, and it appears he has completely disappeared.At this concluding point in the story Irving provides a classic case of an open-ending. As the townsfolk later get on with their life, post-Ichabod, there are three outcomes presented. The first is that Ichabod simply left town in response to his rejection from Katrina, and found work elsewhere as a schoolmaster and later as an elected official. The second is that Ichabod was scared off by Brom Bones, who dressed in disguise and hurled a pumpkin at Ichabod. Furthermore Brom Bones would later go on to marry the lovely Katrina and would often cruelly laugh at the mention of Ichabod. However the third outcome, shared by the elder women of the town is that something very supernatural happened to Ichabod that night, and that he was indeed another victim of the headless horseman.
My Review and Analysis
Although I have been familiar with the story since I can remember, this is the first time I fully comprehend this classic by Washington Irving. The writing is very poetic on par with the Old English style of Nathaniel Hawthorne. There are several instances in this book that Irving truly establishes a sensational feeling, such as his dance with Katrina, or of course the climatic ride at the end. While the content is very brief in analysis, Irving succeeds in developing a dramatic plot, with a vivid setting and unique characters.
While the dialogue in this story is almost non-existent there are three characters that drive the plot, and make for a classic love triangle format. The protagonist is Ichabod Crane who is portrayed immediately as a naive, foolish-hearted young man driven by his desires. On the other hand there is the antagonist, Brom Bones, the mischievous brute, who has a more rooted standing in town. The basis of this story is that both men are essentially competing for the love of the beautiful Katrina. The daughter of the town's leading farmer, Katrina is both wealthy and attractive, and is no doubt considered the gem desired by all young bachelors.In a rather unique turn of storytelling, Irving decides to reward the beautiful gem to the antagonist rather than the story's protagonist. Perhaps drawing from his own personal experience as a man whom never got married, Irving demonstrates that the country girl is more drawn to the country boy over the sophisticated outsider. Even before the episode of the headless horseman, Katrina has clearly made her choice by rejecting Ichabod at the harvest festival. A reason in which Irving does not elaborate, leaving for the reader to consider. To me it's quite simple from the perspective of Katrina; she finds the outsider Ichabod to be a very interesting character, however she is more familiar with the masculine personality of her fellow townsfolk Brom Bones and thus chooses him over Ichabod.
In regards to the episode of the headless horseman, it serves as the definitive event of Ichabod's humiliating defeat. Considering the state of remorse Ichabod was in that night after his rejection, it's almost fair to believe Ichabod had imagined the entire thing. He was a man familiar with the ghostly stories and often it is thru paranoia that gives way to the paranormal. The matter of whether the headless horseman was a ghost or more likely Brom Bones dressed in disguise is besides the point. Either way it served as the ultimate symbol of Ichabod's defeat in which he does not win the girl at the end. While this makes for a rather grim and unhappy ending at least Irving sheds a bit of peace on Ichabod at the conclusion, stating that he later prospered in another town at the practice of law.
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