1. A short story by Oscar Wilde, widely
adapted for the screen and stage.
- RIYA
GUPTA
XI-A
2.
Oscar Fingal O Flahertie Wills Wilde
was born on 16th October 1854. He
was the son of William Wilde (later
knighted), a surgeon, and Jane
Francesca, a writer who used the
pseudonym Speranza. Wilde attended
both Trinity College in Dublin and
Oxford University, and later settled in
London. He was an Irish poet and
dramatist.
Wilde wrote many plays including,
according to many critics, the best
comedy play of the nineteenth
century, the farce The Importance of
Being Earnest. Wilde also wrote fairy
stories, short stories and one novel.
About the Author
3.
About the Novel
“The Canterville Ghost ” is a
supernatural story with a
difference. Its chief
protagonist-a Ghost rather
than horrifying the other
characters of the story, gets
horrified himself more than
once. Rather than scaring
others, he himself is pushed
into a tight corner by the
different members of the
family.
4. Unlike the usual ghost stories, “The Canterville Ghost” is
interspersed with wit and humour.
The reversal of the expected situations into unexpected ones only amuses
the reader, but also intensifies his interest in the story by arousing his
curiosity. Humour defuses the tension before it surfaces itself. The ghost’s
earnest attempts to terrify the new occupants of the house fails to create an
eerie atmosphere and they end up in making him comical fiasco.
5. The juxtaposition of the serious and the non-serious has been
brought about very effortlessly. The usage of high sounding words
adds to the element of humour in the story. This not so common
combination becomes all the more interesting as the story has a
clear message for its readers that love, sympathy and
understanding can transform even the most hardened and
insensitive criminals.
6.
Lord Canterville : The owner of the ‘Canterville Chase’.
Lady Canterville : The wife of Lord Canterville.
Mr. Hiram B. Otis : An American minister who is interested in
buying the Canterville Chase.
Mrs. Otis : Wife of Mr. Otis, a beautiful, middle aged women.
Washington Otis : The eldest son of the Otis family, good
looking young man.
Miss. Virginia Otis : A 15 years old daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Otis, lively and lovely as a fawn.
Twins : The most lively and carefree sons of the Otis family.
Mrs. Umney : The housekeeper of Canterville chase.
The Duke of Cheshire : A romantic youth who is deeply in love
with Virginia.
Characters in the story.
7. The Ghost
One of the ancestors of Lord Canterville. In his life on this earth he was
known as Sir Simon. He had a very low opinion of his wife and killed
her. Nine years after her death, the woman’s brother imprisoned him
in a secret room of the house and starved him to death. Since Sir
Simon had been given any proper burial and no prayer had been made
for him, he was changed into a ghost.
8. Theme
of the
story
“The Canterville Ghost” is a study in contrasts.
Wilde takes an American family, places them in a
British setting, then, pits one culture against the
other. He creates stereotypical characters that
represent both England and the United States, and
he presents each of these characters as comical
figures, satirizing both the unrefined tastes of
Americans and the determination of the British to
guard their traditions. Sir Simon, the ghost,
misunderstands the family just as they
misunderstand him, and, by pitting them against
each other, Wilde clearly emphasize the culture
clash between England and the United States.
Wilde tends to reverse situations into their
opposites as the Otis family succeed in terrorizing
the ghost rather than be terrorized by him. What is
more, this ghost story is told not from the
perspective of the castle occupants, as in
traditional tales, but from the perspective of the
ghost, Sir Simon.
Besides the humorous tale, it appears that Wilde
also has a message, and he uses fifteen-year-old
Virginia to communicate it. Virginia says that the
ghost helped her see the significance of life and
death.
9.
Summary
On the surface the story presents an old manor
house, Canterville Chase which is haunted by
the ghost of Sir Simon Canterville who had
died some three hundred years ago. The ghost
considered himself to be horrendous until an
American family arrives into the house. After
the arrival of the Otis family, the ghosts tries to
frighten them but they over and again mock his
presence and efforts. As an example, on his
first appearance when the ghost was dragging
chains, he was offered Tammany Rising Sun
Lubricator by Mr. Otis. Further on his one of
the appearances, he was frightened out of his
wits by another ghost, which he later realized
was a prank played on him by the twins of Mr.
Otis.
10. The ghost was so exhausted by these encounters that he gave up on the
Otis family and came to the conclusion that they did not deserve his
efforts of scaring them. Still the ghost does his duty of appearing in the
corridors, but he made sure that he did his task as silently as possible.
The ghost makes one grand last attempt and yet again fails miserably at it.
He becomes sad and dejected and confines himself to one of the rooms at
the back of the manor. Virginia, the only daughter in the house, was a
warm-hearted person. When she sees the condition of the ghost she feels
sympathetic to him and eventually leads him to his peaceful end.
