Dame Van Winkle is a character in the story Rip Van Winkle. She is Rip’s wife. Dame is a bad-tempered woman who constantly nags Rip because Rip is lazy and can’t take care of his family. Because of Dame’s behavior, Rip goes to the mountain and sleeps for 20 years. Mrs. Peters on the other hand is the sheriff’s wife who is more aware of her responsibility as a wife and cognizant of the law. She aids Mrs. Hale in the play Trifles to hide evidence about Mrs. Wright. While some differences between Dame Van Winkle and Mrs. Peter are evident, they are similar in the aspects of relationships with others, conflicts, trials faced, and journeys.
The two characters had different relationships with other people either family or friends. Mrs. Peters is portrayed as a family woman married to the sheriff. She has a good relationship with people around her and even goes out of her way to hide evidence that could have seen Mrs. Wright get imprisoned for the murder of her husband. Her relationship with other people like Mrs. Hale is friendly and cordial. Dame Van Winkle on the other hand has a poor relationship with her husband. . Dame Van Winkle gets angry because Rip helps other women in town, but he doesn’t do anything in his farm. Unlike Dame Van Winkle, Mrs. Peters had a relationship with a kitten when she was a little girl she loved and protected it and almost hurt a boy who tried to harm the kitten.
They are both affected by both internal and external conflicts. For instance, Mrs. Peters has to battle being a law-abiding wife of the sheriff and being a woman who wants to protect her fellow woman when it comes to hiding evidence about Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Peters chooses to protect her fellow woman and hides evidence. Dame Van Winkle on the other hand has family conflicts. Her husband doesn’t take care of any chores in the house but he is nice and helps other women out there. Dame Van Winkle chooses to confront her husband. This makes her husband leave his home and spend most of his time in the mountains.
The two characters both undergo symbolic journeys in their lives. They both strive to escape some sort of emotions in their lives. Mrs. Peters for instance battles the emotions of seeing her fellow woman suffer under an abusive husband. She feels the way Mrs. Wright felt when her bird was killed by Mr. Right. Dame van winkle also battles emotions of having a husband who doesn’t care for his family. She has to undergo the emotional torture of taking care of her family by herself.
Conclusion
The two characters have close relationships with their family and friends. This relationship is positive for Mrs. Peters and negative for Dame Van Winkle. Unlike Mrs. Peters, Dame Van Winkle doesn’t have a current or past relationship with an animal. They are both affected by internal and external conflicts that require them to solve. Mrs. Peters seems to amicably solve her conflicts while. Dame Van Winkle chooses a radical way. The two characters are faced with emotional situations in the journey of their lives but they both triumph.
REFERENCES
Glaspell, S. (2010). Trifles: A play in one act. Baker’s Plays.
Irving, W., & Kliros, T. (1995). The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Courier Corporation.
McArthur, B. (2007). The Man Who Was Rip Van Winkle: Joseph Jefferson and Nineteenth-Century American Theatre. Yale University Press.
Muir, E. (1991). Introduction: observing trifles. Microhistory and the lost peoples of Europe, vii-xxviii.
