Dark Romanticism In Washington Irving's The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

The dark romantic style came into the public view in the 1820s, and Washington Irving led the movement with his many short stories, including his most famous short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Dark Romanticism was formed during the Romantic Movement. The Romantic Movement formed in Germany and spread to England, and reached America around the year 1821. The definition of Dark Romanticism seems to be interpreted in many way depending on who is defining it. One thing to note is that Romanticism is not defined down to an exact either. It has been said that Romanticism was a period when artists praised their Christian Lord, while others say that Romanticism is something that can not be defined but something that must be felt. As you look in a dictionary you can see that “darkly romantic” is defined by many contradictions; sentimental and evil, visionary and blind, imaginative and hidden, gloomy and poetic, fantastic and sad.

(“Dark Romanticism”)

Characteristics of

With all these traits, his works became a representative of Romanticism as a whole. His well known short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a classic American Dark Romantic tale. The main character, Ichabod Crane, moves to a small town called Sleepy Hollow, to be a school teacher. There he tries to win the heart of Katrina Van Tassel, one of his students. The town Sleepy Hollow has an old folk tale of a headless horseman. Irving portrays a lot of the dark romantic style of writing while setting the scenes of this short story. An example of this is when he says “... it was dearly purchased by the terrors of his subsequent walk homeward. How often did he shrink with curdling awe at some rushing blast, howling among the trees of a snowy night, in the idea that it was the Galloping Hessian of the