Characteristics of Romanticism reflect in the story

Rip is the epitome of an American romantic hero. He is innocent, youthful, honorable, and looks for truth in his own life and the lives of those around him.

Another example would be Rips love of nature. His love for nature allows him to escape stress, and the majority of the story takes place in the wilderness.

Then we have the supernatural. The story's setting is almost supernatural in itself. The Catskills are described as filled with "...magical hues and shapes....When the weather is fair and settled they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outline on the clear evening sky; but sometimes, when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory"

Lastly, Rip Van Winkle contains a hint of romantic nostalgia, which is evidenced in Rip's desire to return to return to the calm, untouched world he left behind twenty years prior.