"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", "Rip Van Winkle", "The Devil and Tom Walker", and "The Specter Bridegroom" by Washington Irving.

Washington Irving, Comparison of 4 short stories
Throughout four of Washington Irving's short stories, characters manipulate the beliefs and superstitions of others for self-beneficence. A predominant sub-theme in these stories is romanticism. The four stories that will be discussed are "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", "Rip Van Winkle", "The Devil and Tom Walker", and "The Spectre Bridegroom." There are clearly underlying aspects that seem to coincide in all of these stories. Though the author, Washington Irving, was mainly seen as a factual writer, these stories portray him much differentl…