The Canterville Ghost Flashcards
by Oscar Wilde — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: The Canterville Ghost
Who buys Canterville Chase at the start of the story?
Hiram B. Otis, the American Minister to England, buys Canterville Chase despite being warned by Lord Canterville that the estate is haunted.
How long has the Canterville Ghost haunted the estate?
Sir Simon de Canterville has haunted the Chase for three hundred years, since 1584, and traditionally appears before the death of any family member.
What is the blood-stain on the library floor, and why can it not be removed?
It is the blood of Lady Eleanore de Canterville, murdered there by her husband Sir Simon in 1575. The ghost keeps repainting it whenever Washington Otis removes it with Pinkerton's Paragon Detergent.
How does Mr. Otis respond the first time he encounters the ghost in the corridor?
Rather than being frightened, he calmly offers the ghost a bottle of Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator for his noisy chains, treating the supernatural encounter like a practical household problem.
What trick do the twins play that terrifies the ghost into thinking he has seen another spectre?
The twins construct a fake ghost out of a white bed-curtain, a sweeping-brush, a kitchen cleaver, and a hollow turnip, with a placard reading "Ye Otis Ghoste" — the real ghost flees in terror before realizing he has been fooled.
Why does Virginia go into the Tapestry Chamber alone with the ghost?
She stumbles upon him sitting sadly by the window and is moved to pity by his obvious loneliness and depression, choosing to comfort him rather than run away.
What does the ghost ask Virginia to do for him, and what is his reward?
He asks her to pray for his soul and weep for his sins so the Angel of Death will grant him rest. Before he dies, he gives her a casket of magnificent jewels including a ruby necklace.
How does the story end for Virginia?
Virginia eventually marries the young Duke of Cheshire — her childhood admirer Cecil — and wears the ghost's jewels at her debut presentation at court in the spring of 1890.
Who is Sir Simon de Canterville?
Sir Simon is the ghost who has haunted Canterville Chase since 1584; in life he murdered his wife Lady Eleanore and was subsequently starved to death by her brothers, leaving his spirit unable to find rest.
Who is Virginia Otis and what makes her different from the rest of her family?
Virginia is the fifteen-year-old daughter of the American Minister, described as gentle and pure-hearted. Unlike her practical parents and mischievous brothers, she feels genuine compassion for the ghost and is the only one who can help him find peace.
What is the role of the twins in the story?
The twins — nicknamed "The Stars and Stripes" — represent boisterous American irreverence; they gleefully torment the ghost with pea-shooters, water-jugs, and booby traps, treating his haunting as a game.
Who is Mrs. Umney and what does she represent?
Mrs. Umney is the elderly housekeeper of Canterville Chase who serves as the voice of Old World superstition and dread, warning the Otises of coming trouble while the Americans dismiss her fears as nonsense.
What is the central satirical contrast that drives the story's comedy?
Wilde satirizes the clash between Old World tradition and New World materialism: the ancient, theatrical English ghost is repeatedly humiliated by the Otis family's cheerful, pragmatic American rationalism, which has no reverence for the supernatural or aristocratic history.
What theme does Virginia's relationship with the ghost explore?
Virginia's compassion for Sir Simon explores the theme that innocence, purity, and love are more powerful than fear, sin, or even death — her selfless tears and prayers are the only force that can release his tortured soul.
How does Wilde use the ghost to critique Victorian attitudes toward guilt and redemption?
Sir Simon is a genuinely sinful figure (a murderer) who is denied rest not because he is evil but because no one has offered him genuine human empathy; Wilde suggests redemption requires compassion from others, not merely personal remorse.
What does the motif of the blood-stain symbolize in the story?
The blood-stain symbolizes the persistence of guilt and the past; it returns every time it is erased, suggesting that historical sin cannot be simply scrubbed away with modern products or rational dismissal.
What is the significance of the prophecy on the library window?
The prophecy — involving a golden girl winning prayer from lips of sin, a barren almond bearing fruit, and a child giving away her tears — functions as foreshadowing that structures the entire plot, and all conditions are fulfilled by Virginia's act of compassion.
How does Wilde use irony in his portrayal of the ghost?
The story is built on dramatic irony: the ghost, who should terrify, is himself terrified by the Americans; the haunter becomes the haunted, and the figure of death is pathetically mortal in his exhaustion, illness, and loneliness.
What literary device is Wilde using when he describes the ghost admiring his own past performances like "Reckless Rupert, or the Headless Earl"?
Wilde uses parody and comic exaggeration (burlesque) to mock Gothic horror conventions; by treating haunting as a theatrical profession with a portfolio of roles, he deflates the genre's menace and turns the ghost into a vain, self-conscious artist.
What does the word "phantasmagoria" mean in the context of ghost stories?
Phantasmagoria refers to a shifting sequence of spectral or dreamlike figures; Wilde uses the related term "phantasmata" ironically to describe the ghost's appearances, giving mock-scientific weight to what the story treats as absurd.
What does "punctilious" mean, as used to describe Lord Canterville?
Punctilious means showing great attention to correct behavior and fine points of etiquette or honor; Lord Canterville feels duty-bound to warn the Otises about the ghost precisely because he is so punctilious about his obligations.
What does "mortmain" mean, and how is it used in the story?
Mortmain (from the French for "dead hand") is a legal term for the perpetual ownership of property by an institution or family that prevents it from being transferred; Mr. Otis invokes it when arguing that the ghost's jewels should remain with the Canterville estate.
What does the ghost say about Death in his conversation with Virginia?
"Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace."
What does Virginia say when her husband Cecil asks her, years later, to reveal what happened with the ghost?
"He made me see what Life is, and what Death signifies, and why Love is stronger than both" — Virginia's only explanation, which she keeps as a secret from everyone else for the rest of her life.
What does the ghost say when Virginia tells him he should "behave himself"?
"It is absurd asking me to behave myself... I must rattle my chains, and groan through keyholes, and walk about at night, if that is what you mean. It is my only reason for existing."