Washington Irving was an American author, historian, and diplomat in the early 19th century who is credited with establishing the new American literature He is best known for his short stories, essays, and sketches which formed the roots of the American Romantic movement. Irving’s works are described as a mixture of both American and European styles which opened up the American public to a broader world view. His works also heavily explored themes such as social norms, politics, death, and the supernatural. Irving is accredited with influencing writers such as Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who were some of the first to follow in his footsteps and build on the foundation Irving had established.
The best examples of Washington Irving’s work are:
1. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (1820): This short story has become one of Irving’s most iconic works and is perhaps one of the best-known stories in American literature. It tells the tale of Ichabod Crane, a superstitious school teacher who attempts to win the heart of a local farmer’s daughter, only to eventually be abducted by the headless horseman.
2. “Rip Van Winkle” (1819): This short story tells the tale of a hen-pecked Dutch villager who slips away from his family one morning in search of game in the Catskill Mountains. He falls asleep and wakes up twenty years later to find his family and home have changed.
3. “A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty” (1809): Irving’s first book, written under the pseudonym “Diedrich Knickerbocker”, was a satire of New York’s Dutch colonial past. The novel includes a variety of characters, including the narrator Diedrich, and tells the story of how the Dutch and English came to inhabit the city.
4. “The Alhambra” (1832): This work of travel literature details a five-week journey Irving made to the Palace of the Moorish Kings at Granada, Spain. The book covers his travels through the Alhambra, which he found to be “a world of storied and pictured embellishment”.
5. “Astoria” (1836): This two-volume history of the Pacific-Northwest fur trade is perhaps Irving’s most expansive work. The book is a compilation of Irving’s research from various sources and details the adventures of the Pacific Fur Company, an American business venture to the Oregon Territory.
Washington Irving was a pioneering American author, whose works influenced the American Romantic movement and set the stage for the writers who followed him. His works are known for their exploration of themes such as death, politics, and the supernatural, while also incorporating American and European styles into his writing. The five best examples of Washington Irving’s work are “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, “Rip Van Winkle”, “A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty”, “The Alhambra”, and “Astoria”.