I think, from the information that we are given about Rip
in this excellent short story, that his wife would have been delighted to have finally
gotten rid of him. Let us remember that although the rest of the villagers blame Rip Van
Winkle's wife for their marital strife, it is clear that Rip would have been a terrible
husband to have been married to. Note the conclusion that the narrator gives us about
Rip's character and the way that his limitations are commented
upon:
...in a
word, Rip was ready to attend to anybody’s business but his own; but as to doing family
duty, and keeping his farm in order, it was
impossible.
A rather
depressing description follows of the way that he neglects his own family, children and
work, and the poverty that his wife and children suffer as a result. Certainly, he seems
to be the kind of character that his wife would have been better off without rather than
constantly having to cope with his complete lack of interest and diligence when it came
to his own family. I would think that she would have felt thoroughly
emancipated.
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