Question

In the story “Rip Van Winkle” how does Washington Irving use ironic elements to describe Rip’s relationship with Dame Van Winkle?

Answer 1

Answer:

Washington Irving uses irony in the story to describe the relationship between Rip and his wife.

Explanation:

"Rip Van Winkle" by “Washington Irving” is written in the Romantic Movement in America. Washington used humor in his story using exaggeration to describe  the relationship between Rip Van Winkle and his wife.

Rip Van Winkle is described a pleasant, good-natured man but is a henpecked husband. He is very lazy and is constantly nagged by his wife. She keeps giving him responsibilities to do household chores and he follows all.

She constantly lectures her husband and Irving has used the word "eloquence” for those lectures. Eloquence is generally used to describe   speech and, poetry. In reality, the writer is trying to tell that all this kind of nagging is not valuable.

Answer 2

Answer:

In "Rip Van Winkle," Washington Irving uses language that differs between its literal meaning and the actual message being communicated. For example, Irving describes a “curtain lecture” as “worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the virtues of patience and long-suffering.”

While this description literally means that when Dame Van Winkle is lecturing her husband, it teaches him patience, Irving’s real message is that this type of nagging is not valuable at all.

The story implies that Rip’s wife often lectures and nags him:

“… 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 everything he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence.”

The word “eloquence” usually describes speeches, poetry, and other well-crafted writing. Irving uses it ironically in the story to describe Rip’s wife’s lectures, as they are not beautiful or well-written prose.

In this way, Washington Irving uses humor and irony to show the relationship between Rip and his wife.