搜索
华盛顿·欧文是美国早期浪漫主义文学的代表，被誉为“美国文学之父”，是第一个为美国文学赢得欧洲乃至世界声誉的作家。在作品中，欧文常常把美国的现实状况与欧洲的历史传说融合在一起，展现了一幅幅生动的画面。《瑞普·凡·温克尔》是《见闻札记》中很有特色的一篇。该小说以哈得逊河流域的一个小村子背景，讲述了一个神奇的故事：主人公瑞普·凡·温克尔脾气温和，天性懒惰，不事生产，“什么赚钱的活儿他都不喜欢，甚至是憎恨。”经常遭到妻子的责备数落。为逃避妻子的唠叨，他经常带着猎枪和狗到山中去打猎。一天，瑞普在山中遇到一群古怪的老人在玩九木桩（someodd-lookingpersonageplayingatninepins）游戏。贪杯的瑞普·凡·温克尔偷饮了古怪老人的仙酒后酣然入睡(fellintoadeepsleep)。等他一觉醒来回到村子时，却惊奇的发现村里发生了天翻地覆的变化。村子比以前大了；老朋友死于一场战争或者去了别的地方；妻子已经过世。孩子们都已长大成人；睡觉前他还是乔治王的臣民，现在竟成了美利坚合众国的公民——原来他一睡就是20年。在我看来，瑞普·凡·温克尔是个矛盾的人物形象。一方面他虽然担负着养家糊口的责任，却一切有好处的劳动都深恶痛绝。因此，瑞普家的田地是最糟糕的，杂草丛生，篱笆倒塌，牲畜乱跑，家人仅靠一小块玉米和马铃薯地勉强生活。即便这样，懒惰的瑞普也不为所动，依旧无所事事、不事耕耘。另一方面，瑞普这个对自家的农活儿不理不睬的大懒汉，却一反常态地对帮助邻居表现出极大的积极性。比如。无论参加村里剥玉米垒石墙的劳动。还是给农妇们跑腿打杂，瑞普都有求必应．任劳任怨，乐而不疲。通过明显的对比体现出了瑞普·凡·温克尔是个惧怕承担家庭责任的胆小鬼，永远长不大的小孩子。其次，该作品采取对不同人物的描写以及采取不同视角的对人物的刻画，为读者描绘出一幅美国革命前的乡村美景。最后，该作品对女性的描写存在一定的鄙视，对瑞普妻子的描写时，所用的词语“火辣”，“泼辣”等贬义词，而对文中男性的描写采用的多为褒义词或中性词．如“可怜的”“高明的”等等。这些描写的鲜明对比，暗示了作者对女性不平等的态度。WashingtonirvingisarepresentativeoftheearlyAmericanromanticliterature,isknownastheFatherofAmericanLiterature,HewasthefirsttowintheEuropeanAmericanliteratureandevenworldreputationasawriter.Inhisworks,IrvingwasoftentaketherealityoftheUnitedStatesassociatedwiththeEuropeanhistoricallegends,Soformedavividpicture.RipvanWinkleisGeoffreycrayoninanarticlehasdistinguishingfeatureverymuch.ThenoveltoasmallvillageoftheHudsonRivervalleybackground,tellsamagicalstory:theprotagonistRipVanWinkelwasasimple,good-naturedman.Hewas,moreover,natureislazyanddoesn’tlikeproducing.whatmakemoneyworkhedoesn'tlikeit,orevenhatred.Soheoftenblamescoldedbyhiswife.Toescapehiswife'snagging,heoftentothemountainstogohuntingwithashotgunanddog.Oneday,Pip’sencounteredsomeodd-lookingpersonagesplayingatninepins.DrinkRip’sstealthefairyofthestrangeoldmanthedrinkandfallsasleep.Whenhewokeuptocomebacktothevillage,butwasamazedtoseethatchangedinthevillage.Thevillageislargethanbefore,Oldfrienddiedinawarorgosomewhereelse,Hiswifehasdied,Thechildrenhavegrownup.HeiskingGeorgesubjectsbeforesleep,nowbecomecitizensoftheUnitedStatesofAmerica-Aoriginallyhesleepfor20years.Inmyopinion,Rip’sisacontradictorycharacter.Ontheonehand,Althoughheisladenwithresponsibilityforthebreadwinner,buthatredwork.SoRip’sfieldsisoneoftheworst,familyonlyonasmallpieceofcornandpotatotolife.Evenso,Rip’sstilllazyandnothingtodo.Ontheotherhand,Rip’shatredwork,butheverykeentohelpneighbors.Thoughdistincttothisreflectsthatheisakind,butafraidoffamilyresponsibility.TheSecond,theworksadoptsthedescriptionofdifferentcharactersanddifferentangleofviewofthecharacterportrait,paintedabeautifulpicturebeforetheAmericanrevolutionofthecountryside.Finally,theworkshascertaincontemptonportrayingthelivesofwomen,forhiswife'swinkledescription,thewordhot,provocative,aderogatorytermforthemaleusesmostlypositiveorneutral.Suchaspoorsmartandsoon.Thedescriptionofstrikingcontrast,suggestedthattheauthor'sattitudetowardwomenarenotequal.