Character list
Diedrich Knickerbocker Narrator of the story; an intelligent person, presumably of dutch descent.
Rip Van Winkle Passive, carefree, and listless resident of a Dutch village in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. He is loved by the village children because of his likable, childlike spirit.
Dame Van Winkle Rip Van Winkle's termagant, verbally abusive, hard working wife, and mother of his children.
Wolf Rip's loyal, and likeminded, dog.
Rip Van WInkle II Rip and Dame Van Winkle's son, who follows in the footsteps of his idle and apathetic father's ways.
Nicholas Vedder Owner of the village inn, the establishment where several of the villagers, including Rip, congregate.
Derrick Van Brummel The village school master and intelligent deliberator during the meetings at the old village inn.
Henry Hudson The man carrying the keg as Rip walks up the mountain; the explorer who discovered the Hudson river with his crew on the ship called the "Half-Moon." According to legend, he and his crew keep a vigil in the Catskill mountains every twenty years.
Ninepin Bowlers Henry Hudson's Half-Moon crew.
Peter Vanderdonk The oldest inhabitant of the village twenty years after Rip dissapoears, and the man who recognizes him when he returns.
Jonathan Doolittle Owner of the Union, the new village inn, twenty years after the original inn.
Brom Dutcher Rip's old neighbor.
Judith Gardenier Rip's daughter and wife of Mr. Gardenier. She becomes the caretaker of Rip after he returns to their village.
Mr. Gardenier Wife to Judith, and son in law to Rip. One of the children with whom Rip had played with in his younger years, and later, after Rip's return, a farmer.
Rip Van Winkle III Rip's grandson who is merely a baby when Rip returns from his sleep in the mountains.
Rip Van Winkle Passive, carefree, and listless resident of a Dutch village in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. He is loved by the village children because of his likable, childlike spirit.
Dame Van Winkle Rip Van Winkle's termagant, verbally abusive, hard working wife, and mother of his children.
Wolf Rip's loyal, and likeminded, dog.
Rip Van WInkle II Rip and Dame Van Winkle's son, who follows in the footsteps of his idle and apathetic father's ways.
Nicholas Vedder Owner of the village inn, the establishment where several of the villagers, including Rip, congregate.
Derrick Van Brummel The village school master and intelligent deliberator during the meetings at the old village inn.
Henry Hudson The man carrying the keg as Rip walks up the mountain; the explorer who discovered the Hudson river with his crew on the ship called the "Half-Moon." According to legend, he and his crew keep a vigil in the Catskill mountains every twenty years.
Ninepin Bowlers Henry Hudson's Half-Moon crew.
Peter Vanderdonk The oldest inhabitant of the village twenty years after Rip dissapoears, and the man who recognizes him when he returns.
Jonathan Doolittle Owner of the Union, the new village inn, twenty years after the original inn.
Brom Dutcher Rip's old neighbor.
Judith Gardenier Rip's daughter and wife of Mr. Gardenier. She becomes the caretaker of Rip after he returns to their village.
Mr. Gardenier Wife to Judith, and son in law to Rip. One of the children with whom Rip had played with in his younger years, and later, after Rip's return, a farmer.
Rip Van Winkle III Rip's grandson who is merely a baby when Rip returns from his sleep in the mountains.
Analysis of major characters
Rip Van Winkle Rip Van Winkle, the main character of the tale and the person from whom it takes its name, is a man of few complexities. Rip seems to go through life without ambition or aspiration and he is characterized by his adolescent mannerisms. He seems to be trapped within himself as a perpetual child and is completely contented to remain that way. He does not care to stand up for himself and is completely submissive to the berating of his overbearing wife, Dame Van Winkle. He is well liked among the villagers, and especially the children, because of his gentility and lackadaisical personality. The truth is, instead of feeling remorse after having lost twenty years of his life, he is relieved. As an old man, his aversion to work and his incapable attitude is societally acceptable. He no longer has to be responsible, and his wife is not around to tell him otherwise. Rip's life exemplified perfectly the escapist fantasy in which he is no longer in charge of himself or his family.
Dame Van Winkle As Rip's wife, Dame Van Winkle acts as a controlling authoritative figure. She constantly diatribes and reprimands him like one of her children. She is depicted very negatively and is even disliked by the members of her village who consistently side with Rip over her. She is even blamed as the reason for Rip's deeply rooted escapist fantasy. However, despite all of her negative attributes and her lack of sympathetic charm, she is not without reason. Her husband is a veritable failure who, though he does make some effort, can barely provide for his family. She has essentially been stuck with someone with whom she must become a parent rather than a spouse. She and her husband are polar opposites but, at the same time, they are different sides of the same coin. They exemplify the idea that there is no one who is without fault and that the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side.
Derrick Van Brummel As the village school master, Derrick Van Brummel is the most learned gentlemen of the pack that gather at Nicholas Vedder's inn. He is described in the text as a "dapper learned gentleman who was not to be daunted by the most gigantic word in the dictionary," (Irving). He is the group's source of all things intellectual and is a leader among the deliberations of current events and town gossip. After Rip disappears, Van Brummel goes to join the war efforts and becomes a very successful general. After the war ends, he joins congress and becomes an effective politician. He represents everything that Rip is not. He is intelligent, hardworking, and successful; rather than running from responsibility, he runs toward it, an attribute we see when we find out about his life after Rip's disappearance.
Nicholas Vedder Though a man of few words, Nicholas Vedder is a prominent leader among his group and the entire town. As the village inn's owner, Vedder is at the center of town and in the middle of all town affairs; he is the so-called "patriarch of the village," (Irving). He expresses his opinions through puffs of smoke that describe either his approval or his disgust of the current conversation. To his contemporaries, he is the final word and his opinion is not to be contested. This kind of blind leadership that we see in the first section of this story is indicative of the current political state of the colony. It foreshadows the inevitable insurrection by the people and subsequent end of British rule in the Americas.
Dame Van Winkle As Rip's wife, Dame Van Winkle acts as a controlling authoritative figure. She constantly diatribes and reprimands him like one of her children. She is depicted very negatively and is even disliked by the members of her village who consistently side with Rip over her. She is even blamed as the reason for Rip's deeply rooted escapist fantasy. However, despite all of her negative attributes and her lack of sympathetic charm, she is not without reason. Her husband is a veritable failure who, though he does make some effort, can barely provide for his family. She has essentially been stuck with someone with whom she must become a parent rather than a spouse. She and her husband are polar opposites but, at the same time, they are different sides of the same coin. They exemplify the idea that there is no one who is without fault and that the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side.
Derrick Van Brummel As the village school master, Derrick Van Brummel is the most learned gentlemen of the pack that gather at Nicholas Vedder's inn. He is described in the text as a "dapper learned gentleman who was not to be daunted by the most gigantic word in the dictionary," (Irving). He is the group's source of all things intellectual and is a leader among the deliberations of current events and town gossip. After Rip disappears, Van Brummel goes to join the war efforts and becomes a very successful general. After the war ends, he joins congress and becomes an effective politician. He represents everything that Rip is not. He is intelligent, hardworking, and successful; rather than running from responsibility, he runs toward it, an attribute we see when we find out about his life after Rip's disappearance.
Nicholas Vedder Though a man of few words, Nicholas Vedder is a prominent leader among his group and the entire town. As the village inn's owner, Vedder is at the center of town and in the middle of all town affairs; he is the so-called "patriarch of the village," (Irving). He expresses his opinions through puffs of smoke that describe either his approval or his disgust of the current conversation. To his contemporaries, he is the final word and his opinion is not to be contested. This kind of blind leadership that we see in the first section of this story is indicative of the current political state of the colony. It foreshadows the inevitable insurrection by the people and subsequent end of British rule in the Americas.