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The legend of the sleepy hollow comparison with the film
The legend of the sleepy hollow comparison with the film
Compare and contrast sleepy hollow book and movie
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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820) by Washington Irving is a classic American tale that has evolved in contemporary media throughout the years. Irving has exemplified traditional American folklore in his characterization of Ichabod Crane, the protagonist of the tale. Ichabod Crane has remained an integral part of the tale in American contemporary media, being interpreted differently in both the film Sleepy Hollow (1999) and the television adaption Sleepy Hollow (2013). Ichabod Crane has evolved just as the story has, evolving from a fear-riddled schoolteacher to a dashing, revolutionary, time traveling hero, and throughout these adaptations he remains an exemplification of American folklore. In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820) Ichabod Crane is lean, lanky, and superstitious schoolmaster characterized as the “Connecticut Yankee, the fictional character of Mark Twain’s Hartford mechanic …a happy mixture of pliability and perseverance in his nature” (Hoffman 249). Ichabod Crane has been a schoolteacher, a singing master, and a sometime farmer just as other American heroes in popular literature. Ichabod Crane falls in love with Katrina Van Tassel and wants to marry her because of her father’s prestigious wealth and property. Despite his many attempts to win her favor, like inserting himself as her singing teacher, but is ultimately unsuccessful. Along with Ichabod Crane’s “jack of all trade” persona he had a heavy dose of credulity, “No tale was too or monstrous for his capacious swallow” (Irving 45). He firmly believed in the existence of witchcraft and other …show more content…
Through out the evolution of the Sleepy Hollow legend Ichabod Crane has evolved with it. In the media adaptions Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Sleepy Hollow (2013), Ichabod Crane changes to encompass what is aspects that are important the ideal of the American
A philosopher named Paul Brunton said, “We should control our appetite, otherwise we will lose ourselves in the confusion of the world.” Washington Irving’s short story, “The legends of sleepy hollow” spins a tale about Ichabod Crane's experiences as a city teacher, while living in a magical place known as Sleepy Hollow. Appetite defines Ichabod Crane in the three following ways: food, wealth, and superstitions.
Fifteen years separate Washington Irving’s short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown.” The two share an eerie connection because of the trepidation the two protagonists endure throughout the story. The style of writing between the two is not similar because of the different literary elements they choose to exploit. Irving’s “Sleepy Hollow” chronicles Ichabod Crane’s failed courtship of Katrina Van Tassel as well as his obsession over the legend of the Headless Horseman. Hawthorne’s story follows the spiritual journey of the protagonist, Young Goodman Brown, through the woods of Puritan New England where he looses his religious faith. However, Hawthorne’s work with “Young Goodman Brown” is of higher quality than Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” because Hawthorne succeeds in exploiting symbols, developing characters, and incorporating worthwhile themes.
Irving does this to help readers realize how caught up the society of Sleepy Hollow is with their past. Irving frequently brings up the Revolutionary war and how the headless horseman was a Hessian soldier from the war. When he writes, “The dominant spirit that haunts this enchanted region is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head. It is said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannonball in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War… The specter is known, at all the country firesides, by the name of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow” (Irving 2). This is an allusion to the Revolutionary war because the headless horseman was a hessian soldier. This explains the theme of supernatural because the Headless Horseman haunts their town and the main character, Ichabod Crane, comes across the ghost of him. Another major allusion in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is Ichabod's belief in witches. The author supports this when saying, “He was, moreover, esteemed by the women as a man of great erudition, for he had read several books quite through, and was a perfect master of Cotton Mather's 'History of New England Witchcraft” (Irving 4). Ichabod also believes in the supernatural past. His belief in witches supports the theme of supernatural within the book. Referring to the past using allusion develops different themes within the
On a stormy night, Mr. Van Garrett is making his way through the fields in a horse drawn carriage, with a mysterious figure on horseback not far behind him. With the sound of a “swoosh” by a sword, his horseman’s head comes off, forcing Van Garrett to abandon the carriage. As he makes his way through the cornfields, he too meets his fate as the same figure slices his head clean off of his body.
First, within The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving creates the character Ichabod Crane for being known as to having “feminine characteristics.” He negates the fact that he is a schoolmaster and that the career is looked down upon, or not as “manly” of a job; being a teacher back in the days
Irving wrote this story in response to the superstitions in his society by mocking them. He wrote a society based on superstitions to base their “story times” on. One of the famous stories is about the Headless Horseman. Ichabod Crane, a schoolmaster eventually gets scared of the idea of a headless horseman. However, he does not show his feelings to the public. At the end of the story Ichabod was being chased by the “Headless Horseman” and was never seen again. However, readers can infer that there was no horseman and it was just Brom wanting Ichabod out of the town so he stopped messing with his relationship with
Irving Washington. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 5th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998. 948-69.
Although at times it is easy to get carried away with the adventure of a story, noticing the elements a writer has put into his work is very important. In reading “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” you can see both similarities as well as differences of how both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving chose to illuminate their romantic writing styles. The writers both use a mystical woodsy setting with supernatural twists to draw in readers. Underlying you will find the differing romantic themes each writer used, as well as how each writer chose to end their work.
Milne, Ira Mark. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Short Stories for Students. Vol. 8. Detroit:
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a short film about a particular town that is very sleepy; in other words, the town is very “dreamy.” This film is a depiction of the social instability during the time of the Market Revolution. Basically, the film shows that the town of sleepy hollow lacks a class structure within their society and shows the selfishness of the members that are just trying to make life good for themselves.
Washington Irving’s short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” was adapted into a movie titled “Sleepy Hollow” directed by Tim Burton nearly two centuries after the original publication. When the story was adapted as a film, several extensive changes were made. A short story easily read in one sitting was turned into a nearly two-hour thriller, mystery, and horror movie by incorporating new details and modifying the original version of the story. The short story relates the failed courtship of Katrina Van Tassel by Ichabod Crane. His courtship is cut short by the classic romance antagonist-the bigger, stronger, and better looking Broom Bones. Ichabod wishes to marry Katrina because of her beauty but also because of the wealthy inheritance she will receive when her father, Baltus Van Tassel and stepmother, Lady Van Tassel die. However, the film tells the story of Ichabod Crane as an investigator who is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the recent decapitations that are occurring. These modifications alter the original story entirely, thus failing to capture the Irving’s true interpretation of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The film and the original story have similarities and differences in the plot, characters, and setting.
Springer, Haskell. “Introduction to Rip Van Winkle & The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” (1974). Rpt. in A Century of Commentary on the works on Washington Irving. Ed. Andrew B. Myers. Tarrytown: Sleepy Hollow Restorations, 1976. 480-486.
Ichabod Crane was a tall and thin schoolteacher. He was generally liked around town by the old busybodies because he was an excellent source for gossip. He is gluttonous, and scares himself with stories of monsters and dragons.
Irving, Washington. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Ed. Illustrated Arthur Rackham. United States: David McKay, 1928.
back, without a head. It was said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper.