Rip Van Winkle is the protagonist of Rip Van Winkle, a short story by Washington Irving. This story has a fascinating plot, but it also has great character description and development. The reader comes to know and understand Rip, and even though he lived in a different place in a different time, he is still relatable. It is easy to imagine his family life, which Irving vividly describes and emphasizes. Rip’s character and personality are also understandable and relatable. Overall, Irving makes a very likable and detailed character with strengths and weaknesses, as well as interesting quirks.
Rip’s family life is a key factor of the story and of Rip’s personality. He has a wife, several children, and a dog named Wolf. His dog is his most faithful companion, while his wife “kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family. Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and every thing he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence.” This unfortunate situation made Rip Van Winkle meek, but it also caused him and his dog a good deal of misery. Rip loved to fish and hunt, as well as talk with other men in the town, but his wife viewed these activities as lazy and worthless. Rip wasn’t lazy, and would good-naturedly help anyone with all sorts of chores and tasks, but he couldn’t manage his own farm. This made his wife angrier and angrier, and Rip is described as a “hen-pecked husband.” His greatest fear throughout the story is the tongue and temper of his wife.
However, Rip has other motivations and factors in his life besides his dysfunctional family. His favorite pastime is sitting in the shade by the inn, discussing town gossip and other sleepy subjects, but they would sometimes have very deep ideas about events in the newspaper. Irving describes these discussions as “a kind of perpetual club of the sages, philosophers, and other idle personages of the village.” However, this refuge for Rip didn’t last forever, because eventually his wife broke up their discussions and accused them all of laziness. As time went on, Rip’s only chance for solitude was hunting with Wolf in the mountains. It is while he is hunting one day that the main event of the story happens, turning Rip’s life from average to magical.
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