Question

Dame Van Winkle is clearly portrayed as a villain in the story because of how she nags Rip. Is she a true antagonist? Explain & support your answer.

Answer 1

Dame Van Winkle is not a true antagonist. She wants to make her husband more active for the home. Rip works for others. But he is not careful to his own household activities and children. The children are unruly. They do not listen to the words of Dame. Even the boy says that he would be like father.

Actually Rip is not lazy. He is a hard labor. He works for others. But he does nothing at home to help his wife. He likes to listen to the story of the people in the inn.

On the other hand there is sufficient cause of bad temper in Dame. As wife she must expect the help of her parents. It is a moral duty as Rip has family with children. He should have responsibility to the family and the children. But Rip fails to do any duty in the family. Dame continues nagging Rip to arouse his sense of duty.