摘 要

《瑞普·凡· 温克尔》是华盛顿· 欧文的代表作。华盛顿·欧文凭借《瑞普·凡·温克尔》获得了“美国文学之父”的称号。本文旨在研究《瑞普·凡·温克尔》中的对比，包括不同人物之间的对比，时间和空间的对比以及自然环境和社会环境的对比，进而指出这些对比深化了文章的主题。

关键词：《瑞普·凡·温克尔》；对比；人物；时间和空间；环境

Contents

1. Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------------------------1

2. Demonstration-------------------------------------------------------------------------------2

2.1 The significance of contrast in a literary work ------------------------------------------2

2.2 Contrasts between characters of different identities ------------------------------------2

2.2.1 Rip Van Winkle vs. Dame Van Winkle------------------------------------------------ 3

2.2.1.1 Their distinct characteristics in life ------------------------------------------------- 3

2.2.1.2 Villagers’ different attitudes toward them -------------------------------------------4

2.2.1.3 Their diverse endings of fate ----------------------------------------------------------5

2.2.2. Rip Van Winkle vs. Villagers -----------------------------------------------------------6

2.2.2.1. Various fates during American Revolution------------------------------------------6

2.2.2.2. Various fates after American Revolution -------------------------------------------7

2.3. Contrasts of time and space ---------------------------------------------------------------7

2.3.1. Contrasts of time between 20 years ago and 20 years later-------------------------7

2.3.2. Contrasts of space between 20 years ago and 20 years later -----------------------8

2.4. Contrasts of environment------------------------------------------------------------------8

2.4.1. Contrasts of natural environment between 20 years ago and 20 years later------8

2.4.2. Contrasts of social environment between 20 years ago and 20 years later-------8

2.4.3. Contrasts between natural environment and social environment-----------------10

3. Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------------------11

Works Cited -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12

Bibliography-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13

A Study of Contrasts in Rip Van Winkle

1. Introduction

Washington Irving is an American writer, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19^th century. He was born in New York on April 3, 1783. After he dropped out from school at 16, he chose to study law. However, he was not interested in law, instead, he had a great interest in literature and traveling, so he visited France, Italy and England. In 1806, he returned to America and worked in a law office, and then he assisted his two older brothers in their import business. After his wife’s death at an early age, he kept single in his remaining years.

In 1807, cooperating with his older brother William, he published a journal which was issued at irregular intervals. From then on, he started his literary activities, demonstrating his competence of humor, wit, implicit irony, etc.

A History of New York, written in 1809, is Washington Irving’s first important work. Since 1819, he continuously wrote many proses, essays and stories which were later compiled into The Sketch Book published in 1820. It was The Sketch Book that brought him to the focus of American literary world and made him famous home and abroad. After that, he wrote many books such as Bracebridge Hall (1822), Tales of a Traveler (1822), The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (1828), Tales of the Alhambra (1832) and so on. What’s more, Washington Irving’s position in American literature is very important. He “first gave American literature a place in the European mind”(Richardson 1:258-259). He was “the father of American literature” and the first imaginative American writer to gain international fame. He was considered as an early romantic writer in the American literary history, marking the beginning of American romanticism.