 |
| Katrina Van Tassel in Burton's Sleepy Hollow |
Women are a
central figure for Ichabod Crane both in Washington Irving’s short story and in
Tim Burton’s film adaptation. In Irving’s version, women are viewed more as the
seed of the devil who tease and deceive the hardworking men. Ichabod leaves
Katrina Van Tassel’s home feeling alone and tricked after being rejected. The
narrator suggests that she had been leading him on the entire time and curses
women. His interactions with Katrina Van Tassel play a vital role in Ichabod
Crane’s overall goals and his fate in the story. Burton also uses women as an
important factor in Ichabod Crane’s development. However, he fabricates an
entirely different view of women through Crane’s backstory revealing the loss
of his mother. Burton stamps his signature theme of abandonment and feeling
like an outsider with this decision. This makes the emotional ties and
relatable connections to Burton stronger, which ultimately shows through his
work. In the film, Katrina Van Tassel is seen as a wicked temptress as Crane
believes that she is behind the murders and has been casting evil spells on
him. The film Ichabod Crane is following the same mindset as the characters in
Irving’s story when he believes Katrina is an evil woman. This idea soon
becomes ridiculous as she has been casting protection spells for loved ones and
is found innocent of any such crimes. This strays heavily from Irving’s
original story that condemned women as nothing more than gossiping housewives
and cruel temptresses.
Although Burton leaves a woman as
the killer, he reveals the caring side of Katrina and the carefree loving side
of Crane’s mother as well. Burton depicts the various sides of women and makes
them more humane than Irving’s depiction. I think that this decision especially
pushed Burton’s film past a mere horror story. Women pull Ichabod Crane’s inner
fear and conflicts through the horrific Headless Horseman hauntings. These
innermost fears of Ichabod Crane are more detrimental and frightening to him
than perhaps the horseman. Woman’s’ role in the story therefore becomes
incredibly important and enhances the film’s play off of Irving’s original
story into something with more emotional weight and meaning.
