Comparing Misogyny In Washington Irving's The Devil And Tom Walker
Washington Irving’s way of writing with a strong role of the male main characters was not misogynistic. Back in Irving’s time, having strong male character roles was the style of writing. In that era, it has been believed that women should not work as the men do. Women were presumed to be responsible for the housework and taking care of the children. With this in mind, women did not have extensive roles like the men did. Men were expected to rule over their wives, and all property. Comparatively, in Irving’s short story, Rip Van Winkle, a man goes up to a mountain to hunt to escape from his wife’s nagging. In the short story, the main character’s desire to escape from his responsibilities and his nagging wife was seen as misogyny from female
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The Devil refused and executed Tom’s wife. When Tom gets there and recognizes his wife’s cloth hanging from a tree, he does not sympathize for her. Instead, he was ecstatic because now he would be able to reclaim his silver. When Tom realizes there was no silver, he is melancholy, he lost his silver, but not his wife. Personally, I did not see the misogyny in this story because it did not have anything to with prejudice against women, it had more to do with greediness. Furthermore, in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, it has been said that women were seen more as objects than human beings. In comparison to Rip Van Winkle, women were thought to be in the kitchen and the caregivers of the children. Then again, I do not foresee this as misogynist because that is how women were portrayed in that era.
Moreover, women in American Literature are associated with nature and fertility because their biological, reproductive function is their primary role. Therefore, Washington Irving was not a misogynist for portraying women in such way, it was just an aspect of the time period. In today’s generation, women are independent and are seen as equals to men; this is where all the arguments come from. People now do not understand how drastic times have changed from Washington Irving’s
The Devil refused and executed Tom’s wife. When Tom gets there and recognizes his wife’s cloth hanging from a tree, he does not sympathize for her. Instead, he was ecstatic because now he would be able to reclaim his silver. When Tom realizes there was no silver, he is melancholy, he lost his silver, but not his wife. Personally, I did not see the misogyny in this story because it did not have anything to with prejudice against women, it had more to do with greediness. Furthermore, in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, it has been said that women were seen more as objects than human beings. In comparison to Rip Van Winkle, women were thought to be in the kitchen and the caregivers of the children. Then again, I do not foresee this as misogynist because that is how women were portrayed in that era.
Moreover, women in American Literature are associated with nature and fertility because their biological, reproductive function is their primary role. Therefore, Washington Irving was not a misogynist for portraying women in such way, it was just an aspect of the time period. In today’s generation, women are independent and are seen as equals to men; this is where all the arguments come from. People now do not understand how drastic times have changed from Washington Irving’s