The bodies of water paints a vivid image in the reader 's mind. We see Tom lives near "Charles Bay." Similarly, Rip lives near water, for we see in the beginning of the story, Irving tells that "whoever made a voyage..." These bodies of water in both stories enhance the imagery in both stories. Another similarity in the setting are the forests. We see Tom stroll through "The swamp thick with gloomy pines." On the other hand, Rip lives by houses "whose shingle roofs gleam among the trees." Both Tom and Rip 's stories take place in a forest, and by a body of water. The author Washington Irving chooses to write about these settings because he was obviously reared near them. He writes about an area that he frequented as a …show more content…
These termagant women have some things in common, one being they are nagging. "Tom 's wife was a tall termagant, fierce of temper, loud of tongue, and strong of arm." Throughout the story, we see Tom 's wife nag Tom all the way to her death. Similar to this, Rip 's wife nagged him as well. "a curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the world." This means that Rip 's wife nags him until he can learn something. Another thing these antagonists have in common is they are very abusive. When Tom and his wife argued "his face sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words." Similar to Rip and his wife, "A termagant wife may therefore be considered a tolerable blessing; and if so, Rip Van Winkle was thrice blessed." Both characters abuse their husbands throughout the story. This indicates that the author, Washington Irving, was reared around termagant