the sketchbook of geoffrey crayon gent.
The American Enlightenment as well as Romanticism plays an important role in Washington Irving's writings. Born in an era of rising nationalism after the American Revolution, Irving used his writings to provide a bridge between the Enlightenment and Romantic periods in America, and became known as one of the first most successful writers in American history. One of Irving's most famous works is The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., in which he uses satire and visual imagery to "sketch" out American landscapes and cultures with the pseudonym of Geoffrey "Crayon" while imitating and incorporating elements of old world style. Irving paints (or sketches) a romantic painting by including a sense of imagination, boundlessness, and rational thinking-all ideas that were embraced during the Romantic period. The Enlightenment encouraged rationality, science, and central government, even more specifically, "life, lib
The freedom, imagination, and most of all, incredibility within these stories show that Irving is an authentic Romantic author. " (272) Irving uses his writing to link together the terms "Enlightenment" and "Romanticism," which to him, were two very familiar words. " (39) Rip Van Winkle's attitude towards his wife, friends, and responsibilities emphasize the idealization of the common man in his writings. In the beginnings of many of his sketches, he includes an extensive description of the setting, location, and landscape of which the story is taking place, and the words "sublime" and "picturesque" appear a number of times. Traits of Indian Character especially focuses on sublimity and picturesqueness. He will continue to impact readers and their thinking today. "There is something in the character and habits of the North American savage, taken in connection with the scenery over which he is accustomed to range, its vast lakes, boundless forests, majestic rivers, and trackless plains, that is, to my mind, wonderfully striking and sublime. In Traits of Indian Character and other stories in The Sketch Book, Irving uses vivid imagery and description to set a scene. Another story that stresses individualism is John Bull, which symbolizes Great Britain in its favorability and unfavorability. " Irving reflects all these ideas in his own style of sublimity, picturesqueness, beauty, and individualism.
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