2。2 His family sources 4

3。The source of escapism in Wang Zhi Lan Ke 6

4。 Reasons of escape in Rip Van Winkle 7

4。1 Escape from family duty 7

4。1。1 Frigidity of responsibilities of a husband 7

4。1。2 Ignorance of responsibilities of a father 9

4。2 Escape from society duty 10

4。2。1 Indifference of responsibilities of a citizen 10

5。 Reasons of escape in Wang Zhi Lan Ke 11

5。1 Pursuit for peace 11

5。2 Pursuit for Taoism 11

6。 Conclusion 13

References 14

1。 Introduction

1。1  Washington Irving and his Rip Van Winkle

As a famous American writer, Washington Irving achieves a great deal of honor during his writing career。 He is regarded as the father of American short stories, the first American author to make a living by his pen, the first great prose stylist of American romanticism as well as the pioneer of American literature。 论文网

  Washington Irving leaves the world a lot of literary works of great value, among which Rip Van Winkle from “The Sketch Book” is one of the most influential works that attracts a great number of readers at home and abroad。 The story has been spread into China for a long time and its first introduction can be traced back in Qing Dynasty by Zhang Deyi who recorded his evaluation in his diary when he saw the drama adapted from Irving’s Rip Van Winkle。 It tells about a seemingly impossible and ridiculous story whose main character is called Rip Van Winkle。 He was a lazy, simple but good-hearted husband living in an old Dutch village at the foot of the Catskill Mountains。 In order to escape from hard labor and sharp tongue of his wife, he went hunting with his dog and his gun to the mountains, where he met a group of strange ghosts who played games。 Then unconsciously, he fell asleep for twenty years after tasting the beverage and when he woke up and came back, everything had changed even including himself。 He exchanged the best years of his life for a peaceful old age。 Meanwhile, his countrymen fought a war and established a new nation。

Rip Van Winkle, which derived from a German folk tale, was greatly popular in and since its time。 When it appeared, “it rapidly became the American best-seller for 1819, and the English edition of 1820 made the first American writer to win an international reputation”(Ten Fang, 2001:35) 。Among all the literary works of Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle is top rated and believed to be a great masterpiece that is worthy giving researches。 Because of its great attraction, Rip Van Winkle has arisen many scholars’ comments and researches。 These researches are given from various perspectives including feminism, Puritanism and so on。 One of the most important themes of this story lies in “escape”, about which many scholars have already issued their opinions in their papers。

1。2 Escapism and Wang Zhi Lan Ke

Distinctly, Rip Van Winkle is an image of escaper。 In literary works, the similar characters of escapers existed with a certain position。 In The Catcher in the Rye by Jerome David Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield tries to escape from “phony”。 In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn escapes from constraint to pursue freedom。 These escapers are the reflection of the emotions of people who create them in some ways。 Similarly, Rip Van Winkle mirrors thoughts of Washington Irving as well。