The Canterville Ghost is set in the English countryside in the late 19th century. Most of the story takes place in Canterville Chase, which is described as an old mansion with secret rooms and passageways, long corridors stained glass windows, and oak paneling. Pictures of long-dead Canterville ancestors, ancient tapestries, and a suit of armor add to the medieval-like setting. Overall, it seems to fit the stereotype of a haunted house.
The book follows fairy tale conventions and Wilde introduces Virginia Otis, a fairy-tale type heroine. Otis must believe that there is a soul worth saving in the murderous and grisly Sir Simon. Her actions, however, lead to a happy ending. Otis marries a Duke and receives a casket of valuable jewels from the Ghost.
About the Author
Oscar Wilde was an Irish poet, and dramatist. However, Wilde’s reputation mainly rests on his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray and on his comic masterpieces Lady Windermere’s Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest. The author was a spokesman for the late 19th-century Aesthetic movement in England, which advocated art for art’s sake. During this period of apprenticeship as a writer, he published The Happy Prince and Other Tales, which reveals his gift for romantic allegory in the form of the fairy tale.
Wilde’s collection of essays, which were published as Intentions, consist of previously published essays, restated his aesthetic attitude toward art by borrowing ideas from the French poets and the American painter. Many found the author’s creative ingeniousness in his two volumes of stories and fairy — Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime, and Other Stories and A House of Pomegranates.
