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Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe provides an in-depth analysis of the plot, characters, symbols, and themes of Washington Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
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Narrated by Diedrich Knickerbocker, a fictional historian, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is set in the dreamy Hudson River Valley in the 1790s. The area is supposedly haunted by a ghostly Headless Horseman killed in the American Revolution.
Weaving social commentary with creepy mythology, Irving creates an evocative portrait of 19th-century New England. His scathing portrayal of the foolish schoolmaster Ichabod Crane and his place in local society is set against a grim local legend about the ghost of a headless horseman.
Crane, who is obsessed with gossip and ghost stories, is ultimately pursued by the hostile spirit following a humiliating episode at a party.
Terrifying and silly in equal measure, the story illuminates both the unique superstitions and the social foibles of early bourgeois America. Washington Irving proves unequivocally that comedy and suspense aren't mutually exclusive qualities in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
American writer Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was first published in 1819-20. The “first American man of letters,” Irving established credibility for American literature when his stories received praise abroad as well as at home—especially The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In the tale, Irving combines comedy and horror to gently mock modern American values while examining the act of storytelling.
The short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow contains many important themes, including nature’s bounty. The lush countryside and rich farmlands are idealized. Another theme is the supernatural, as ghosts and witches are all prominent in the tales told by the people of Sleepy Hollow. The narrative also explores the unreliability of stories, as the original storyteller disbelieves half of the Headless Horseman story. Symbols include music and books.
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