Romanticism In Washington Irving's The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

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The age of Romanticism was a literary and intellectual movement that emphasized qualities such as inspiration, primacy of the individual, and intuition over reason. This era was a very important time for writers because they were able to express their feelings in their works and have more of an effect on readers. This age's influence was felt throughout every artistic era, and many Romantic beliefs and values can still be seen in modern contemporary poetry. Literary works such as Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans, Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," and Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" are representative of this literary age because numerous Romantic Age characteristics are exemplified within these great American classics. A great deal …show more content…
In this story, the characters tend to value their feelings and intuition over reason, which is a major characteristic of Romantic works. This aspect is seen, for example, when the sweet mistress, Katrina, rathers the manly Brom over the intellectual choice of picking Ichabod. The reasonable choice would obviously be to choose Ichabod, but Katrina's feelings for Brom are too strong. In the end, Katrina and Brom get married and live happily ever after. In the story, there are also very vivid descriptions of people and nature. This is yet another characteristic of Romanticism and is shown in the describing of the beauty and tranquility of the landscapes. The characters in the story are also described with very distinct details, such as the main character, Ichabod, who is said to be tall and lanky, awkward, and withholds a ravenous appetite. Unlike Ichabod, Brom is said to be masculine and burly, which is why he won the heart of Katrina. This story employs many more Romantic qualities, which is why it is a very well know Romantic literary …show more content…
Out of all of the stories, this story incorporates the most supernatural events dealing with blood, evil, and death. In Poe's work, death is personified as a real life person and has many magical qualities that are proven to not exist in the real world. It is not humanly possible for death to disguise itself as a human and seek to kill all those who is trying to escape. Another quality is feelings and intuition over reason. Strong emotions can be seen with all of the colors of the rooms and the chasing of the masked man. By going through the colorful rooms, which represents the cycle of life, the guests relive their past and do not want to face the end. The guests are trying everything they can to escape the inevitable: death. Their feelings are getting in the way of being able to face the reality that everyone will die and it is impossible to hide from death. In the end, the guest figure out that the stranger is not an actual human being and is the Red Death. At this point they are unable to escape. Poe will always remain one of the most famous Romantic Age writers and his literary works will stay known for many years to
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Essay On The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, written by Washington Irving, illustrates the clash between two juxtaposing ideals. However, unlike other stories, these two ideals are present in one character, Ichabod, the protagonist, who ultimately fails at getting the love of his life Katrina. Love however, does not guide the story; instead, the antagonist Brom Bones does as he fights for, and steals, Katrina. Although Brom Bones successfully rides off Ichabod, it is the supernatural present in the story that…

Words 791 - Pages 4