The year 1819 produced some of the greatest works of literature known today, including those written by Lord Byron, John Keats, and Percy Shelley . While these literary experts have written great literary or poetic works, few have managed to survive the test of time. Some works, however, like Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle", continue to thrive for generations to come because of their striking ability to reflect the actions of the characters and depict how they have the potential to reflect the times in which these works were written. Irving uses the main character, Rip, to criticize the idea that previous generations are aging and thus becoming obsolete in the face of new lifestyles. Cases such as "Rip Van Winkle" and his actions depicted in Irving's short story can also be brought into modern times, contributing to the immortality of these works. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay Irving's short story "Rip Van Winkle" follows a man aptly named Rip through his twenty years of slumber in a new world. As the story begins, Irving is already working hard to portray the type of man not only Rip is, but the type of man he represents. Irving paints a picture of Rip as quite lazy, but nonetheless content with life, writing that Rip “was willing to mind anyone's business but his own; but as for fulfilling his family duties and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible.” Essentially, Rip is not the type of man to work on his own land, but he will happily volunteer to do anything for any of his neighbors in town. Irving also illustrates the village Rip lives in, reflecting the attitude Irving suggests to this generation. As Irving puts it, the village was "built of small yellow bricks from Holland, with latticed windows and gabled fronts... (which, indeed, were unfortunately worn by time and weather)." With this description, Irving insinuates that this older generation works hard to support themselves, as seen with Rip working on his neighbors' farms, but does not seem to put much effort into anything else, such as their own homes. for generations to come. In a sense, this older generation is much like the authors and poets of the time who wrote in "today", such as Byron writing false epics to comment on rumors of the Incest League or, although less well known, Polidori writing "Vampire" to highlight the mistreatment he received from Lord Byron. Lloyd Daigrepont's article "Rip Van Winkle and the Gnostic View of History" also explains that Rip is "neighborly and close to nature", a common idea in poetry at this time in the Romantic era. . Romantic poets were known for being in touch with nature and often spoke of it in their works, using themes of simplicity and naturalness in poetry. Irving includes this description of Rip that Daigrepont underlines to connect the short story and the common idea of ​​the time. Interestingly, while having qualities of the Romantic period, Rip also seems to be the opposite of society; While everyone in the village seems to be working hard repairing the fields, Rip is content to sleep all day. While the short story explains that this is a way for Rip to get away from his wife, Irving perhaps highlights the idea that older generations were only focused on the present rather than what.