Step-by-step explanation:
The crux of the story emerges in this section—the love triangle between Ichabod Crane, Katrina Van Tassel, and Brom Bones. It quickly becomes clear that Ichabod’s love is far from pure. Although he is attracted by Katrina’s pretty youth and flirtatiousness, it is not until he sees her father’s property that he truly considers himself in love with her. The other suitors probably feel the same way. After all, Katrina is a fairly flat character, not really more than the stereotypical farmer’s daughter. Irving is using a traditional plot line, the suitor disguised as a teacher, and the real literary interest here is not the plot or the characterization of Katrina but the rivalry between two very different lifestyles. Brom is a man of action, a successful one at that, but Ichabod is a man of letters, a barely successful one, and despite his other skills, he is not much more. He is bold when he carries the rod against the strongest children, and he lets himself think he has other great skills, such as singing and dancing. In reality, Brom Bones has all the social and athletic success. The differences between the two men ultimately are judged by Katrina.
Katrina and her father’s farm blur together, both in Ichabod’s perception of her and in the reader’s, for Katrina is commoditized by the suitors. She is a young, attractive coquette, which the narrator describes as a shifting cipher. Her value apparently lies in her inheritance, and the narrative goes on for pages describing all of her father’s lands, his animals, his house, and its decorations. Thus Katrina becomes a means to the end of wealth. Ichabod does imagine a life with her, but in his mind she is the bearer of his children rather than some kind of equal partner in marriage.
Ichabod’s confidence in his one suit is a bit pathetic. He would be unlikely to be able to provide support for his wife; he would need to rely on Katrina’s wealth. He is something like a parasite in his constant desire to consume. He does nothing to produce material wealth, and the townspeople do not much value unproductive skills like thinking (this is a sign of the stereotypical American anti-intellectualism of a sleepy country town) or singing and dancing. His desires are so enflamed by the bounteous resources of the Van Tassel farm, and his fantasies of being its owner are so strong, that he loses all sense of probability, considering himself practically to have won Katrina’s hand already.
Ichabod’s distance from reality is also underscored in his rivalry with Brom. The reader sees Brom grow frustrated and jealous as Ichabod spends time with Katrina, but we never see Ichabod’s reaction to Brom’s suit except avoidance. Indeed, even once Brom starts to play pranks on Ichabod, we never see Ichabod react at all—he is too busy fantasizing about being master of the Van Tassel farm to deal with the realities of obtaining his objective. Brom has a strategy that is working, though as the town darling, he does not need to do much other than be himself. In contrast, Ichbod is still an outsider so far as the townspeople are concerned.
The absurdity of Ichabod’s character is also highlighted further in this section. He excitedly sends his students home from school early so that he can prepare for the party, and he borrows a horse so that he can arrive in style. Even so, he looks absurd on the broken-down horse he rides, for which his legs are much too long. Try as he might, he cannot escape his own comedic look. He is more likely to be the butt of a joke or the target of a story than to be the creator of his own story. He does his best to control his circumstances, but he does not have the grasp of reality or the skills or the wealth to do so.