Literature is considered one of the fundamental, paramount, and most significant genres of art. Creators have limitless creative potential within the literary genre. They can describe in detail historical events, personal moments of tragedy and happiness, and even an uncontrolled stream of consciousness in literary works. Each of these stories is unique because the writer’s perspective is also unique. Literary works give readers a new, usually unattainable perspective on familiar things. Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle and Neighbor Rosicky by Willa Cather are some of the finest examples of this type of literary work. In both books, there are minor female characters, Dame Van Winkle and Mary Rosicky. Both of them are the wives of the protagonists who are currently unable to provide for their families (Levine et al., 2016). However, their portrayals differ dramatically due to various factors, the most important of which is the gender of the writer. To be more specific, while some similarities between Dame Van Winkle and Mary Rosicky are evident, they are different in the aspects of disposition, passion, and empathy towards others.
Differences in Disposition of Dame Van Winkle and Mary Rosicky
Dame’s Disposition
Dame Van Winkle and Mary Rosicky are different in terms of disposition. Irving portrays Dame as a very querulous and intrusive wife of Rip, the story’s protagonist (Levine et al., 2016). According to Levine et al. (2016), “morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going…” (p. 1006). It is worth noting that the writer intentionally does not even give her a single line of dialogue in the story. It gives readers more room for imagination about Dame’s nagging and grumbling. Her temper is so intolerable that the protagonist becomes relieved when he is told that she is dead.
Mary’s Disposition
One can safely say that Mary’s disposition is the complete opposite of Dame’s. Mary is a character of genuine kindness and generosity in Neighbor Rosicky. Her thoughts, behavior, words, and actions are proof of this. Even other characters notice the kindliness of Mary’s persona. While describing the Rosicky family, Doctor Burleigh emphasizes Mary’s supportiveness (Levine et al., 2016). Much of the story is told through Anton’s perspective and Doctor Burleigh’s recollections, but Mary’s experiences are also conveyed very authentically. This effect was achieved primarily because Carter better understood how a loving wife would behave in Mary’s situation.
Stereotypes of Wives in Literature
The nature of such dispositions of both characters stems from the behaviors and actions of their husbands. Rip is a lazy man who cannot adequately provide for his family. Any work he is involved in is either unprofitable or useless (Levine et al., 2016). It is what makes his wife angry and makes her constantly criticize him. The Rosicky family is in a similar socioeconomic environment. However, they both work hard, have shared values and ideals, and, most importantly, love each other (Levine et al., 2016). That is why Mary’s disposition is fundamentally different from Dame’s one. Both of these characters are a combination of ideas about the image of a female spouse from the point of view of two genders. These images are how husbands perceived their wives two hundred years ago and how wives saw their role in marriage almost 100 years ago. While some aspects are embellished, these two books and many others have formed two traditional images of wives in the literature currently considered stereotypes, the nag and the devoted, loving one.
Differences in Passion of Dame Van Winkle and Mary Rosicky
Dame’s Passion
Each of these minor characters is passionate about the well-being of their families, but the way they drive their passion is different. Therefore, one can say that Dame Van Winkle and Mary Rosicky are different in terms of passion. Dame is passionate about family well-being in a critical manner. Levine et al. (2016) note that “…his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family” (p. 1006). It is clearly seen that she is tired of Rip’s attitude and his inability to profit from any work he is involved in.
Mary’s Passion
Unlike Dame, Mary is passionate about family well-being in a caring manner. When a spouse is diagnosed with a heart condition, Mary forbids him to do hard work (Levine et al., 2016). She cares about Anton’s health, and her husband’s well-being is above the farm’s profitability for her. She is passionate about his health just as he is passionate about his family’s financial security; it is a shared caring passion between the two.
Passion Has Many Ways
As noted above, a passion for the safety and prosperity of the family is present in both characters. Dame and Mary express feminine, maternal passion, but they do it in their own way. Dame’s demeanor hides genuine anger on the verge of hysteria, while Mary’s passion is an expression of her pure love (Levine et al., 2016). These types of passions create different kinds of relationships. Dame and Rip do not care about each other, while Anton and Mary worry about the other’s physical and financial well-being.
Differences in Empathy towards Others of Dame Van Winkle and Mary Rosicky
Dame’s Lack of Empathy towards Others
It is no secret that empathy is another essential component of relationships. Dame Van Winkle and Mary Rosicky are different in terms of empathy towards others. Dame lacks empathy for her husband, making her the antagonist of the story. Proof of it is that Rip takes her death as good news (Levine et al., 2016). Because she is the antagonist, she eventually gets the punishment she deserves, which is death.
Mary’s Empathy towards Others
One can safely say that Mary is one of the most empathic characters in the story. She takes her husband’s heart failure very seriously (Levine et al., 2016). As a result, her empathy is rewarded with mutual empathy from other characters such as Anton and Doctor Burleigh (Levine et al., 2016). Such drastically different outcomes for Dame and Mary are prime examples of Christian morality in fiction.
Empathy in Antagonist vs. Protagonist Distinction
One can notice a narrative pattern that empathy is rewarded, and lack of empathy leads to punishment. It is the direct influence of Christian philosophy on literature. People often relied on Christian morality in everyday and fundamental issues in the old days, which was reflected in fiction and other forms of art (Levine et al., 2016). Nowadays, it is a common literary trope that lack of empathy is an indicator of an antagonistic character. Postmodern writers have only recently begun to stop using this literary device.
Conclusion
This work explores two minor characters, Dame Van Winkle from Irving’s Rip Van Winkle and Mary Rosicky from Cather’s Neighbor Rosicky. They were analyzed in terms of personality traits such as disposition, passion, and empathy towards others. It was found that there are different perceptions of the figure of a wife in a family unit from the point of view of two genders, male and female. Other findings include Christian influence on storytelling and changing relationships within marriage over historical periods. Comparing the two works shows that emotional bonding and mutual respect have improved between a man and a woman in marriage from a historical perspective.
References
Levine, R. S., Elliott, M. A., Gustafson, S. M., Hungerford, A., & Loeffelholz, M. (Eds.). (2016). The Norton anthology of American literature pre-1865 (9th ed.) [eBook edition]. W.W. Norton.