that his wife often subjected Rip to lengthy lectures about his behavior and attitude, much like the colonies were subjected to British reprimand. Irving wrote, “He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing. This, however, always provoked a fresh volley from his wife…” (431). Just as the Dame lectured Rip on something, then picked on him again for his reaction to the lecture, Great Britain irritated the colonies to the point where they became tied of obeying. If ever the colonies tried to shrug off British rule, they were further hassled and disciplined, just like Rip. Another illustration of this abuse is how Rip comments on his “termagant wife” interrupting and upsetting the “tranquillity of the assemblage” (432) whenever he was socializing with the village people. The Dame would run the visitors off, but not before accusing them of contributing to Rip’s laziness and idleness. Foreign interference was a problem for Great Britain as it tried to build the pre-war colonies into a replication of itself. Even assembly by the colonies themselves was strongly discouraged by Great Britain, mainly for fear of the inevitable unifying and uprising of the colonies against the mother country.The time leading up to the war was certainly a very trouble time for both the colonies, and this was the same notion of the marriage between Rip and the Dame. Irving wrote, “Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on; a tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener by constant use” (431). This quotation is perhaps the epitome of the relationship between Rip and the Dame, as well as of the colonies and Great Britain. As Rip grew tired of his wife’s constant nagging, the colonies also grew tired of Britain’s endless tyranny. The reference of a “tart temper&#...
