Thank you very much. Here’s a great example of applying the historical “school of hard-knocks” to our own situation, for which anglo-american (neo-classical) economics has little meaningful insight to offer.

Yes. I concour this article beautifully written with a great articulated flow. Here is a stupid essay I wrote about Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle in my American Literature. Warning, though if you throw up due to the horrid writting I claim no responsiblity what-so-ever.

Carney Layne
Mr. A
American Literature
11/4/1
Rip Van Romance

Do you know who the man Rip Van Winkle is? Well Rip Van Winkle, the classic star of Washington Irving’s timeless tale “Rip Van Winkle,” is a character with several entertaining and interesting qualities. At first glance, you might see poor ole’ Rip as a lazy irresponsible husband and father with no true apparent reason to live. But despite this, when looking further than a first-glance-basis, the character of Mr. Winkle surprisingly resembles the character that of an American Romantic hero. This fact is shown through Rip’s prominent attributes of youthful nature, his set-apart-ness from responsibility, his a unique sense of honor, a close connection to nature, carries a quest for a higher truth, and even as he displays an uneasiness around most women, all which are pieces to the classic American Hero. (Arpin, Gary)
To begin, a most pronounced of Winkle’s persona is his youthful attributes, which is one is one of the Romantic Hero’s traits. This may seem a bit odd as Rip Van Winkle is made to be a man of many years in this tale, but, in his case, age has no hold on his child-like-spirit which we can see in Pgs. 155-156, “The children of the village too would shout with joy whenever he [Rip Van Winkle] approached. He assisted at their sports, made their playthings, taught them to fly kites and shoot marbles, and told them long stories of ghosts, witches, and Indians” (Washington) As seen, it’s obvious that our character has the soul of a child! Playing sports with the kids and building their toys is something only those young at heart might do which shows his similarity to that of a Romantic Hero. Now, Rip is clearly, in the case of youthfulness, a person of Romantic Hero means.
Yet another attribute of Rip Van Winkle is his denial to responsibility. Most Romantic Heroes carry such characteristics. Rip shows this by escaping the work of his house hold and the tasks thrown on him by his nagging wife by running off to the woods. Such an example of this aspect is seen on Pg. 157, “It could not be from the want of assiduity or perseverance; for he would sit on a wet rock, with a rod as long and heavy as a Tartar’s lance, and fish all day without a murmur, even though he should not be encouraged by a single nibble.” Further more, this is seen also on Pg. 156, “So that though his patrimonial estate had dwindled away under his management, acre by acre until there was little more left than a mere patch of Indian corn and potatoes, yet it was the worst-conditioned farm in the neighborhood.” Showing how, instead of working his farm and tending to the business a man of responsibility for his family and himself, he goes and fishes even if there are no fish to be caught. Now it’s clear to see that Rip shares also this facet of lacking responsibility and purpose of the heroes of the Romance.

A third great concept of the Romantic hero is his own unique perception of honor, also found in our man Rip. He’s his own man. He does what he wants, and wants what he does regardless of what society expects of him. A sample of this character is seen on Pg. 156, “The great error in Rip’s composition was an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor…In a word Rip was ready to attend to any body’s business but his own; but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible.” As you see, Rip’s ideal of honor is humble and helpful, but perhaps to an extent we might call foolish as he makes no time out of helping others to make sure his responsibilities as a father and husband are complete. This is an example of Romantic Hero antics as Rip has a system of values unique from what might be common, showing he’s a hero of romance.
As well, the character of every Romantic Hero is in part shaped by a distinct connection to nature. Rip himself shows this feature as he lives in the deep of the Catskill Mountains in a small village, secluded and proud of it! We can view this quality in Pg. 157, “poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair; and his only alternative to escape from the labor of the farm and the clamor of his wife, was to take gun in hand and stroll away into the woods.” As it is seen, Rip’s connection to nature is due to the fact that the only escape from the constant nag and work of the town life was to flee to the tranquility of the woods that surrounded him. This justifies Rip with having another Romantic Hero attribute of having a closeness to nature.
A fifth example of a romantic hero quality seen in Rip Van Winkle’s character is his quest for some higher truth in the natural world. Page 157, shows this ideal in Rip that portrays him to be plagued by all the workings and, in his perspective, corruption of town life and flees to nature: “Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair; and his only alternative to escape from the labor of the farm and the clamor of his wife, was to take gun in hand and stroll away into the woods.” This explains to us that such a truth found by Rip was that nature is the only piece of true order that he could find, or that fit his unique and concept of order. Showing that he continues to meet every criteria of a romantic hero, including as seen, the tendency to look to nature for some higher truth.
The last reason Winkle would be considered a hero, is his uneasiness around most girls. This uneasiness towards the opposite sex is showcased on Pg. 157 towards his own wife, “Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair, and his only alternative to escape from the labor of the farm and the clamor of his wife was to take gun in hand and stroll away into the woods.” Giving the revelation that, although he doesn’t have the same problem with some females, he surely does with his wife, so much so that he must completely ditch to feel secure. This “girl-phobic” quality which shows how he is a romantic hero.
In conclusion, with the examples provided, the qualities of a Romantic Hero are seen in Rip Van Winkle’s character. Also, we see similar attributes of the Romantic Hero as he acts like a kid, although he’s elderly. Also, because he strays from purpose and is irresponsible, just as the common romantic hero is. We saw that he also has his own genuine sense of honor which again reveals his Romantic Hero traits. Another aspect of Rip that we saw which is the same as the criteria of a romantic hero is his connection to nature. Also because he quests for some higher truth through wilderness and what not. Lastly because he’s awkward and uneasy around girls. So, as you can see, the mark of a Romantic hero is stamped all over Rip Van Winkle’s personality and actions even if not seen at first glance.

Work Cited
Arpin, Gary Q. “American Romanticism.” Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Ed. Kathleen Daniel. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2000.
Irving, Washington. “Rip Van Winkle.” Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Ed. Kathleen Daniel. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2000.