The_Canterville_Ghost

The Canterville Ghost

The Canterville Ghost

1887 short story by Oscar Wilde

For other uses, see The Canterville Ghost (disambiguation).

"The Canterville Ghost" is a humorous short story by Oscar Wilde. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in two parts in The Court and Society Review, 23 February and 2 March 1887.[1] The story is about an American family who moved to a castle haunted by the ghost of a dead English nobleman, who killed his wife and was then walled in and starved to death by his wife's brothers. It has been adapted for the stage and screen several times.

Quick Facts Country, Language ...

Summary

The American Minister to the Court of St James's, Hiram B. Otis and his family move into Canterville Chase, an English country house, despite warnings from Lord Canterville that the house is haunted. Mr. Otis says that he will take the furniture as well as the ghost at valuation.

The Otis family includes Mr. and Mrs. Otis, their eldest son Washington, their daughter Virginia and the Otis twins. At first, none of the Otis family believes in ghosts but shortly after they move in, none of them can deny the presence of Sir Simon de Canterville. Mrs. Otis notices a mysterious bloodstain on the floor and comments that "She does not at all care for bloodstains in the living room", Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper, tells her that the bloodstain is evidence of the ghost and cannot be removed. Washington Otis, the eldest son, suggests that the stain will be removed with Pinkerton's Champion Stain Remover and Paragon Detergent. When the ghost makes his first appearance, Mr. Otis promptly gets out of bed and pragmatically offers the ghost Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator to oil his chains. Angrily, the ghost throws the bottle and runs into the corridor.

The Otis twins throw pillows on him and the ghost flees. The Otis family witnesses reappearing bloodstains on the floor just by the fireplace, which are removed every time they appear in various colours. Despite the ghost's efforts and most gruesome guises, the family refuses to be frightened, leaving Sir Simon feeling increasingly helpless and humiliated. The Otises remain unconcerned. The ghost falls victim to tripwires, toy peashooters, butter slides and falling buckets of water. The mischievous twins rig up their own "ghost", which frightens him. Sir Simon sees that Virginia, the beautiful and wise fifteen-year-old daughter, is different from the rest of the family. He tells her that he has not slept in three hundred years and wants desperately to do so. The ghost tells her the tragic tale of his wife, Lady Eleanor de Canterville. Virginia listens to him and learns an important lesson, as well as the true meaning behind a riddle. Sir Simon de Canterville says that she must weep for him, for he has no tears; she must pray for him, for he has no faith and then she must accompany him to the Angel of Death and beg for Sir Simon's death. She does weep for him and pray for him and she disappears with Sir Simon through the wainscoting and accompanies him to the Garden of Death and bids the ghost farewell. The story ends with Virginia marrying the Duke of Cheshire after they both come of age. Sir Simon, she tells her husband several years later, helped her understand what life is, what death signifies and why love is stronger than both.

Adaptations

The Ghost Castle (after Oscar Wilde) (Das Gespensterschloß (nach Oskar Wilde)) MET DP848994

Theatrical films

On television

According to The American Film Institute Catalog, "Among the many other adaptations of Oscar Wilde's story are the following television versions, all titled The Canterville Ghost :"[6]

Sept.28, 1949, on ABC network, directed by Fred Carr and starring Wendy Barrie and Edward Ashley

November 20, 1950, on NBC network’s Robert Montgomery Presents Your Lucky Strike Theatre, starring Cecil Parker and Margaret O'Brien[7]

April 12, 1951, on the Du Mont network, directed by Frank Wisbar, starring Lois Hall, Reginald Sheffield and Bruce Lester

May 1953, Ziv TV’s syndicated version, directed by Sobey Martin, starring John Qualen and Connie Marshall

November 9, 1966, The Canterville Ghost, a 1966 ABC television musical that aired 2 November and featured Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Michael Redgrave. Featured songs by Fiddler on the Roof songwriters Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.[8]

October 15, 1986, for syndication, directed by Paul Bogart, starring John Gielgud, Ted Wass, Andrea Marcovicci and Alyssa Milano.

On January 27, 1996, a movie, The Canterville Ghost aired on ABC, starring Patrick Stewart and Neve Campbell

On October 31, 2021 a BYUtv and BBC series titled The Canterville Ghost premiered.[9][10][11]

In addition to the AFI list:

On radio and audio

In print

A graphic novel version published by Classical Comics in 2010 adapted by Scottish writer Sean Michael Wilson, with art by Steve Bryant and Jason Millet

In music

References

  1. [1]
    Sherard, Robert Harborough (1906). The Life of Oscar Wilde (Abridged). New York: Mitchell Kennerley. p. 454. canterville court and society 23 2.
  2. [2]
    Sonia Chopra. "Bhoothnath". Sify. Archived from the original on 12 April 2014.
  3. [3]
    Bettridge, Daniel (25 October 2012). "Fry and Laurie to reunite for The Canterville Ghost". Radio Times. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  4. [4]
    "Animated Feature: Canterville Ghost". Deadline. 29 August 2023.
  5. [5]
    Mayorga, Emilio (11 May 2020). "India's Toonz to Co-Produce Oscar Wilde's 'The Canterville Ghost' Adaptation".
  6. [6]
    "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  7. [7]
    "Television . . . . . . Highlights of the Week". Detroit Free Press. 19 November 1950. p. 22. Retrieved 13 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. [8]
    Jones, Kenneth (28 July 2012). "Bock & Harnick TV Musical "The Canterville Ghost" Gets NYC Screening". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  9. [9]
    "Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost - Episode guide". BBC. 20 December 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  10. [10]
    "Oscar Wilde's 'The Canterville Ghost' is being adapted by BBC as mini-series". British Period Dramas. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  11. [11]
    "The Canterville Ghost: BYUtv Drops Teaser for Contemporary Adaption of Classic Story – The British TV Place". The British TV Place – Telly that bridges the Pond. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  12. [12]
    "Duch z Canterville". FilmPolski.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  13. [13]
    "Canterville i kísértet" (in Hungarian). Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  14. [14]
    The Canterville Ghost (Audiobook Review) Booklover Book Reviews
  15. [15]
    www.qcm.cz, QCM s r o. "Bílý pán aneb Těžko se dnes duchům straší". Národní divadlo Brno (in Czech). Retrieved 19 December 2019.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article The_Canterville_Ghost, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.