Rip Van Winkle

Washington Irving is widely considered America's first truly great writer, and in the early 19th century he wrote classics like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle.
In addition to Romantic themes, Irving added humor to his short stories. For example, in his famous “Rip Van Winkle,” Rip Van Winkle escapes from a nagging wife and falls asleep for 20 years in the Catskill Mountains before coming home. Upon hearing the story, Rip’s male neighbors are envious of the manner in which he could avoid a nagging wife for so long.