The Canterville Ghost

The Canterville ghost makes a number of attempts to scare the Otis family. In Chapter Two, for instance, he reapplies the blood stain in the library, which the family have cleaned off. In the same...

The themes of love and death are intertwined in "The Canterville Ghost." Beneath the surface comedy of role reversal, in which the American Otis family frightens the ghost and not vice versa, lurks...

Oscar Wilde's novella The Canterville Ghost is both a ghost story and a parody of this kind of suspenseful tale. In this story, the ghost of the title attempts to haunt an American family staying...

Mr Otis is clearly forceful and direct. He openly speaks his mind as illustrated when he speaks to Lord Canterbury about the ghost. He tells the lord that if such a thing existed, it would be used...

"The Canterville Ghost" is a hilarious short story written by Oscar Wilde. It is about the American Otis family and their recent move into a haunted mansion. The mansion is haunted by Sir Simon's...

The Canterville ghost did really kill his wife. When the sweet Virginia asks him about it, he says: 'Well, I quite admit it,' said the ghost, 'but my wife was not very nice, you know, and she...

The blood stain has been on the floor near the fireplace in the sitting room of Canterville Hall since the murder of Lady Eleanore de Canterville in 1575. Lady Eleanore was killed by her husband,...

A chase is a hunting or game preserve. Canterville Hall or Canterville Chase is called a chase because it was once, and probably still is, a place where upper-class people would gather to hunt. It...

The ghost's initial attempt to frighten the Otis family is a disaster. Instead of being scared, Mr. Otis instead advises him to oil his clunky, rusty chains and manacles. He gives the ghost some...

Virginia in "The Canterville Ghost" is empathic, compassionate, active, courageous, gentle and pure. While her parents take a practical approach to the Ghost, scrubbing out the blood stains he...

Mr. Otis offers Sir Simon's ghost some oil. Mr. Otis wants Sir Simon to oil his squeaky ghost chains, so the chains won't make so much noise at night. Soon after the Otis family moves into...

In Chapter Five of "The Canterville Ghost," Virginia helps the ghost by enabling him to enter the Garden of Death. She does this by accompanying the ghost through the wall of the Tapestry Chamber...

In "The Canterville Ghost," the ghost makes his first appearance to the Otis family in Chapter Two. Every member of the family is in bed after a busy day of driving and, around 1 a.m., Mr Otis is...

In "The Canterville Ghost," the twins delight in playing tricks on the ghost. In Chapter Three, for example, the twins set upon the ghost with their pea-shooters. They also help their brother to...

In a story about a ghost, a reader might assume that the main antagonist is going to be the ghost. That's how "The Canterville Ghost" begins too. Sir Simon has been haunting the house for...

I hope that it is okay to compare and contrast three characters. I would like compare and contrast Virginia Otis and the Otis twins. For the sake of simplicity though, I am going to refer to the...

In "The Canterville Ghost," the Otis family consists of two adults and four children. First of all, there is Mr Hiram B. Otis, an American Minister, who has packed up his family and moved them to...

"The Canterville Ghost" is described as a comico-horror story because it has elements which both amuse and scare the reader. Beginning with comedy, there are a number of humorous elements in the...

"The Canterville Ghost" is a horror story because parts of the story are genuinely creepy and scary. In the story, readers are told that Sir Simon brutally murdered his wife and has been haunting...

This story plays on the perceived pragmatism of Americans, who were, in the late 19th century, using their newly growing wealth and power to buy their way into English life. Their pragmatism...

Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper at Canterville Chase, explains the origin of the bloodstain that Mrs. Otis spies on the floor of the library near the fireplace. Mrs. Umney says that the blood stain...

The twins expect the ghost, and so they prepare a classic practical joke. They prop a jug of water at the top of the door so that it will fall on the head of whoever next opens the door. The ghost,...

Mrs. Umney, the British housekeeper, and the Otises at first have very different responses to the bloodstain on the library floor. Mrs. Umney is sure it is the blood of the murdered Lady Eleanore...

Hiram Otis, patriarch of the Otis family, is presented by Wilde as being the quintessential American. Direct, outspoken, and down-to-earth, Mr. Otis has no time for anything that smacks of...

If we begin first with the members of the Otis family, there are six in all. Firstly, there is Mr. Hiram Otis, the head of the family, who is a very practical and outspoken man. Next is his wife,...

The British believe in tradition and aristocracy, whereas the Americans believe in pragmatic modernity and a republican (non-monarchial) form of government. Ghosts haunting ancestral halls are part...

For being such a pivotal moment in the story, there is not much description of the Garden of Death. Sir Simon first mentions the Garden of Death in section five of the story. At this point in the...

The ghost of Sir Simon was not scary to the Otis family in the slightest. The first indication that readers have of the Otis family's disregard for the ghost is the fact that they bought the...

There is a certain timelessness to Oscar Wilde's 1887 story The Canterville Ghost. During both World War II and the so-called "British invasion," there was a sense among many in England that its...

In the short story "The Canterville Ghost," the young Virginia helps the ghost find peace and move on to the Garden of Death. In the story, she is the only character who listens to and heeds the...

Washington Otis is the oldest Otis son. His role in the story is not large, but he represents American practicality and know-how. He is the one who uses Pinkerton's Champion Stain Remover and...

Wilde most aptly and humorously portrays these reversals by depicting the poor Canterville ghost's dilemma in his encounters with the Otis family. The ghost, obviously supremely confident of his...

In Chapter Five of "The Canterville Ghost," the ghost meets Virginia in the Tapestry Chamber and asks her to pray for him. He asks this because he wants to enter the Garden of Death so that he can...

In the story, Lord Canterville warns Mr. Otis about the ghost by telling him of its existence. In addition, Lord Canterville tells Mr. Otis about his family's experience of living at Canterville...

The first appearance of the Canterville Ghost occurs after Washington Otis declares that special stain remover will get rid of the blood stain that has been there since the 1500s. The stain is...

The Otis family does not treat Sir Simon in the way that readers would expect them to treat a ghost. When the story begins, Mr. Otis is informed about the presence of the ghost. However, he denies...

One of the story's main threads is the growing relationship between Virginia and the Ghost, who discovers that Virginia, far from fearing him once she hears his full story, is sorry for him and...

When Mr. Otis, the American Minister, gives the ghost a bottle of lubricant to oil his chains, the ghost's reaction is one of deep chagrin. He recalls all the aristocrats and servants he has...

Mrs. Umney has been the housekeeper at Canterville Hall for many years, and her words and actions show she takes the story of the ghost haunting the castle very seriously. She tells the Otises that...

That is a tough question, because Oscar Wilde wrote a great story. It's hilarious because of the way that he wrote it. At first the reader believes that a standard, creepy ghost story is going to...

As an honest man, Lord Canterville feels that it is his duty to inform the Otis family that the Canterville house is haunted by a ghost. As an aside, I figure a really honest man would have said...

The Canterville Ghost, Sir Simon, had been repeatedly frustrated in his attempts to frighten the Otis family, the new residents of ancestral Canterville Hall in England. Being Americans, the family...

Cool question. I am not allowed to write it out word for word for you though. I will try and steer you in the right direction though. Based on how I read the writing prompt, it sounds like you...

The title of this story is justified because it really is a story about Sir Simon, the Canterville ghost. When the story begins, the reader thinks that this is a story about the Otis family and...

In "The Canterville Ghost," the Cantervilles, who are British lords, believe in the ghost that haunts their estate as part of their storied history. Lord Canterville tells the American Minister...

The Canterville Ghost, otherwise known as Sir Simon, planned to take his revenge on the Otis family is the standard ghostly fashion. He plans to scare them out of his house. Many, many years ago,...