Rip Van Winkle

Though Irving admitted later in life that he had never been to the Catskills during the writing of “Rip Van Winkle,” the mountains play an outsized role in his narrative as a symbol of America’s natural beauty and undiscovered mysteries. Irving personifies the mountain range, treating it as a living, breathing character. The Catskills are part of the “family” of Appalachian mountains who “lord” over the surrounding country, “clothing” themselves in dazzling colors and wearing a crown. The scenic beauty of the landscape draws Rip further into the woods, finally leading him into a supernatural encounter. 

Rip drinks a flagon of magical potion, which brings about his long magical sleep. The drink is a comical stand-in for an alcoholic beverage. A happy-go-lucky and careless man, Rip finds the promise of freedom from his daily worries via alcohol irresistible. Completing the joke, the hen-pecked husbands in town jokingly wish they too could have had a sip of Rip’s draught—that is, a drunkenness that makes them forget their situation. The association between alcohol and the Rip story is strong: there is even a modern-day bourbon brand called “Old Rip Van Winkle.”

Either as a magical potion or as a literal tankard of alcohol, the draught represents escapism for Rip.