Important Questions with Value points from Novel

Q1. ‘Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Canterville Ghost’ is written in such a way that the story, in spite of being about a ghost, does not scare the readers, instead it makes them laugh.’ Comment. 

Answer: ‘The Centerville Ghost’ does not scare readers, instead it makes them laugh.

Despite the attempts made by Sir Simon who is the ghost in the story to appear in the most scary guises, the family refuses to be frightened, and Sir Simon feels increasingly helpless and humiliated. When Mrs. Otis notices a mysterious red mark on the floor, she simply replies that she does “not at all care for blood stains in the sitting room.” When Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper, informs Mrs. Otis that the blood stain is indeed evidence of the ghost and cannot be removed, Washington Otis, the eldest son, suggests that the stain be removed with Pinkerton’s Champion Stain Remover and Paragon Detergent: A quick fix, like the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator, and a practical way of dealing with the problem.

The most humorous character in the story is undoubtedly the ghost himself, Sir Simon, who goes about his duties with theatrical elegance and talent. He assumes a series of dramatic roles in his failed attempts to impress and terrify the Otises, making it easy to imagine him as a comical character in a stage play. The ghost has the ability to change forms, so he taps into his range of tricks. He takes the role of ghostly apparitions such as a Headless Earl, a Strangled Babe, the Blood-Sucker of Bexley Moor, Jonas the Graveless, Suicide’s Skeleton, and the Corpse-Snatcher of Chertsey Barn, all having succeeded in horrifying previous castle residents over the centuries. But none of them works with these Americans. Sir Simon schemes, but even as his costumes become increasingly ghostly, his antics do nothing to scare his house guests, and the Otises succeed in failing him every time. He falls victim to trip wires, pea shooters, butter-slides, and falling buckets of water. In a particularly comical scene, he is frightened by the sight of a   “ghost,” rigged up by the mischievous twins. 
In this way, ‘The Centerville Ghost’, makes the readers laugh all the way instead of making them squeeze in horror.

2-: The Canterville Ghost is study in contrast. Justify the statement. 

Ans. The story of The Canterville Ghost is the embodiment of contrasts. The story begins with the plot where American Characters wish to settle down in European context. The story provides insights into the worlds of European conservatism & American rationalism. Mr. Otis is a representative character of American culture who wants to believe only in the present, mirroring a practical, pragmatic and capitalist point of view in every sphere of life. On the other hand, Lord Canterville and Mrs. Umney belong to the European culture and they are determined to safeguard their traditions and customs faithfully without verifying the authenticity and practical value of it. The writer has used gentle humour to point out the human foibles that make human beings superstitious, blind follower of culture and narrow minded.

In the present story, the writer wants to show the contrast and difference between the two cultures in their way of thinking as well in their way of life. Virginia establishes empathy with the ghost and the ghost narrates his tragedy of isolated life that keeps his past alive and haunted. She has held a composite dialogue with the ghost. As a result, the ghost repents of his misdeed. It contrasts with the behaviour of the rest of the family members. The author satirizes American capitalism and superior complexity and he makes fun of British puritanism and traditionalism.

Member of the Otis family always laughs at the eccentric nature of the ghost without taking into account the miserable condition of the ghost. They do not respect and try to study the value of the British tradition. It shows their conceit.

3. Virginia holds a composite dialogue to bring two cultures together. Justify it. (Value based question). 

Ans. VALUE POINTS:

-She represents the positive view of young generation.

-Believes in dialogue to understand other’s problem.

-Established empathy with the person (the ghost) who always remained in the past; escapes from the reality,

-Restores faith in the ghost through interaction

-Made the ghost realize his misdeed.
-Conduit between two culture – way of life
-Cross cultural understanding

-Mouth piece of the writer

-Aspiration of the new generation to be inclusive.

-Doesn’t neglect the traditions of Europe, respects them try to understand.

4. The Canterville Ghost mirrors the mindset of a middle class family. Discuss it. 

Ans. VALUE POINTS

-Otis family – showing off their modernism, fearlessness, superior complexity, American Capitalism

-Prefer material things to traditional values

-The Ghost – egoism, way to repent on his misdeed, male domination, sticking to tradition without any sense

-Sir Simon murdered his wife because she was not a good cook, nor could do repair work.

5. Describe the universal message of the story. (Value based  question) Ans. VALUE POINTS 

-Cross cultural understanding

-Excessive belief in tradition and customs make the person superstitious and blind follower

-Traditions keep the past alive

-The Ghost is the imagination of bankrupt mind
Through composite dialogue – solve any problem

-Modern outlook and challenging nature , pragmatism always challenge the nonsense customs and rituals

-Egoism of capitalism and puritanism of Europe - conflict

1. How does the writer justify that the place is haunted? 

Ans. The Canterville Ghost is well designed and imaginative product of a creative mind of Oscar Wilde. The Canterville Ghost is not just a suspense story of ghost but also it is the great example to give a universal message through word woven.

The following are the examples, incidents and action that may prove that the place has been haunted.

The Ghost has been seen by many a person and there was a man who can be trusted by one and all witnessed the appearance of the ghost. He was nothing but the Rector of the Parish, the Rev. Augustus Dampier. Secondly the grandmother of Lord canteville felt unconscious when two skeleton hands were placed on her shoulder. Moreover, Lady Canterville often had very little sleep at night. Mrs. Umney always found blood stains on the carpet.

The rankling of the chain heard by Mr. Otis, one who did not believe in the surreptitiousness. The disappearance of Virginia made the Otis family confirmed about the presence of the Ghost. These are the examples described by the writer to justify that the place is haunted.

 Q2. Do you think that The Canterville Ghost is just a ghost story? Justify.

Ans. VALUE POINTS

-Yes /No

-Ghost stories get us to the world of horror

-Makes the readers curious, excited, anxious

-Main themes would be – death, horror, witch, evils, traditional prophecies

-It is a story with a difference. The writer used the Ghost as an image to weave a plot of cross culture understanding. The ghost is not horrible. He didn’t succeed to terrify the  Otis family. He also wanted to leave the place

-He confessed his misdeeds, wants to terrify only not to murder anybody

-He himself was frightened by the twins; his miserable condition makes the story humorous.

3. How did the Ghost himself get rid of his stereo type  role? 

Ans. VALUE POINTS 

-Became dejected as nobody fears him
-Made no appearance 

-The ghost confides in Virginia
The Ghost seeks help from Virginia 

-He requested Virginia to weep for him as a result he got salvation. Prayed for
him -He was repentant 

-God has forgiven him because of Virginia 

4. What are the attempts made by the Ghost to terrorize the Otis family?  

Ans. VALUE POINTS

-The persistent blood stains

-Strangely there was thunder and lightning – at their arrival
-The sound of clanking metal

-The ghost with burning – red eyes
-Emitting a ghostly green light

-Extinguishing the candle, giving out frightening sounds of demoniac laughter .

5. Describe the behavior of each character in the story with the Ghost. 

Ans. VALUE POINTS

-Mr. Otis – challenged the existence of the ghost, to prove his modernism
Mrs. Otis – cool minded ordered Umney to clean up the floor

-Virginia – restored faith in him, provides platform to express his inner heart, establishes empathy and helps him to get rid of this victimisation.

-The Twins – made a fun of him, first who dared to frighten the Ghost, made the Ghost realize his mistakes and shortcoming, made him belittled.

-Washington – wanted to remove the blood stains practically, with Pinkerton’s champion.

                                                    Questions for Practice 
Q 1. It was the ghost who was haunted by the American family. Explain the statement indicating instances from the novel.  

Q. 2. The Canterville Ghost presents more instances of belied expectations and terrors than that of frightening incidents usually incorporated in ghost novels. Discuss.  

Q. 3. Describe the character of Virginia in the novel.  

Q. 4. The activities of the ghost are at the same time horrifying and amusing. Support the statement with help from relevant instances from the novel.  

Q. 5. State your views on Duke of Cheshire and Virginia’s relationship in the novel.  

Q. 6. Why did the American Republican Minister, Mr. Otis purchase the Canterville Chase despite knowing it to be haunted?  

Q. 7. Mention the plans made by the ghost to frighten the Otis family.  

Q. 8. Write a detailed note on the tricks played by the twin on the ghost.  

Q. 9. If given an option, which part of the novel would you like to change or modify and why?  

Q. 10. Explain the role played by supernatural elements apart from the ghost in the novel.  

Q. 11. The ghost and Mr. Otis’s family presented a cultural clash between English and the  
 United States. Explain.  

Q. 12. How did the ghost help Virginia to see the significance of life and death, and why love is stranger than both’? 


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Simple English translation of Canterville Ghost

THE CANTERVILLE GHOST

Characters

1. Mr. Hiram B-Otis : the American Minister he is new owner of the Chase.

2. Mrs. Lucretia Otis a healthy middle aged woman.

3. Washington Otis : Mr. and Mrs. Otis's eldest son.

4. Miss Virginia E Otis : a little girl fo fifteen.

5. The Twins Mr. and Mrs. Otis's youngest sons, called The Stars and Stripes

6. Lord Canterville : the former owner of conterville chase

7. Mrs. Umney : the house keeper of Lord Conterville.

8. Duke of Cheshire : a young friend of family.

9. The Ghost Sir Simon de Canterrville's guilty spirit

Summary

Mr. Hiram B. Otis. an American Minister wished to purchase conterville chase though his friends warned his against buying the haunted house soon after moving into the conterville chase, Mrs. Otis noticed a blood-stain on the floor near the fire place. However, the Otis reiterated that they were not afraid of the ghosts. The next morning the blood stain was found again. The family decided to go out for a drive to distract their minds. They avoided any mention of super natural in their conversation. Even when the ghost appeared before the Otis, he was taken a back at the unexpected reactions of members of the Olis family. The ghost got furious and decided to take revenge. The Otis decided to take revenge. The Otis family was amused on noticing that the blood stain kept changing colour. Only person

who did not joke was little Virginia who felt depressed to see that after the second encounter with the family, the Ghost was exasperated and fled to this room, injured and in pain. All efforts of the ghost to scare the family were wasted. The ghost decided to retire and take a break. The Otis twins still played their tricks on him. This was when he decided to teach a lesson to the twins, giving them the fright of their lives. The ghost become dejected and gove up all hope of frightening the Otis family. The ghost had become dejected and gave up all hope of frightening the Otis family. The ghost had become an invalid and made no appearance.

However, he was excited to discover his distant connection with Duke of Cheshire. In order to show his relation he planned to appear before Virginia's lover but his fear of the twins forbade him to otis out. On meeting the ghost Virginia broke the news to him about the twins going back. The ghost confided in Virginia about his wife being careless in repair work and horraible at cooking. The ghost pleaded before Virginia to weap and pray for him so that the angle of death would show mercy on him. Virginia agreed to help and pray for the ghost.

Virginia's consequent disappearance became a cause of concern and worry for the Otis fanily. Duke of Cheshire accompained Mr. Otis in his search for Virginia. Mr. Otis was touched by the Duke's concern for his daughter. At midnight, Virginia appeared mysteriously and to everyone's surprise said that she had been with the said ghost. She told them that ghost was dead. Four days later, a funeral procession was held Virginia's eyes were full of tears. She was told to keep the box of jewels gifted to her by the ghost. Following her marriage with the Duke of Cheshire and their honeymoon, Virginia visited the grave and strewed lovely roses on it. She told her husband that Sir Simon made her see "what life is and what death signifieds and why love is stronger than both."

THE CANTERVILLLE GHOST

CHAPTER 1

When the American, Mr Otis, bought Canterville Castle, everyone told him that this was very foolish,

as the place was haunted. But Mr Otis answered, 'I come from a modern country, where we

have everything that money can buy. And if there were such a thing as a ghost in Europe, we would

have it at home in one of our museums.'

A few weeks later, on a lovely July evening, Mr Otis, his wife and their children, Washington, Virginia

and the twins, went down to their new home. When they entered the avenue of Canterville

Castle, the sky suddenly became dark and a spooky stillness was in the air.

Mrs Umney, the housekeeper, led them into the library of the castle, where they sat down and began

to look around. Suddenly, Mrs Otis saw a red stain on the floor just by the fireplace and said to Mrs

Umney, 'I am afraid something has been spilt there.'

'Yes, madam,' said the old housekeeper in a low voice, 'blood has been spilt on that spot.'

'How terrible,' said Mrs Otis; 'I don't want any blood-stains in my sitting-room. It must be removed

at once.'

The old woman smiled and answered, 'It is the blood of Lady Eleanore de Canterville, who was

murdered on that spot by her husband, Sir Simon de Canterville, in 1575. Sir Simon disappeared

seven years later. His body has never been found, but his ghost still haunts the Castle. The bloodstain

is a tourist attraction now and it cannot be removed.'

'That is all nonsense,' said Washington, the eldest son of the Otis family, 'stain remover will clean it

up in no time,' and he took a bottle of stain remover out of his pocket and cleaned the spot. But as

soon as the blood-stain had disappeared, a terrible flash of lightning lit up the room and a fearful

peal of thunder made the whole building shake.

CHAPTER II

There was a horrible storm that night, but apart from that nothing scary happened. The next morning,

however, when the family came down to breakfast, they found the terrible stain of blood once

again on the floor. Washington cleaned it a second time, but the second morning it appeared again.

The third morning it was there, too, although the library had been locked up at night by Mr Otis

himself.

The following night, all doubts about the existence of the ghost were finally removed forever. At

eleven o'clock the family went to bed and some time after, Mr Otis was awakened by a strange noise

in the corridor, outside his room. It sounded like the clank of metal, and it came nearer every moment.

Mr Otis got up and looked at the time. It was exactly one o'clock. So Mr Otis put on hisslippers,

went to the door and opened it. There, right in front of him, stood the ghost - his eyes were as

red as burning coals; long grey hair fell over his shoulders and from his wrists and ankles hung

heavy chains.

'My dear Sir,' said Mr Otis, 'you must oil those chains. It's impossible to sleep with such a noise going

on outside the bedrooms. I have therefore brought you this bottle of lubricator, and I will be

happy to supply you with more if you require it.' With these words Mr Otis laid the bottle down,

closed his door and went back to bed.

Shocked, the Canterville ghost stood quite motionless for a moment, but then he growled angrily.

Just at this moment, the twins appeared on the corridor and threw a large pillow at him! The ghost

hastily escaped through the wall, and the house became quiet again.

When the ghost reached his small secret chamber, he took a deep breath. No ghosts in history had

ever been treated in this manner!

CHAPTER III

The ghost did not appear for the rest of the week. The only strange thing that happened was the

blood-stain, which they found on the library-floor every morning. It was also quite strange that the

colour of the stain changed from time to time. Some mornings it was red, then brown or purple, or

even green. These changes amused the family very much, and bets on the colour were made every

evening. The only person who did not enter into the joke was Virginia. For some unexplained reason,

she was rather annoyed at the sight of the blood-stain, and nearly cried the morning it was

green.

The second appearance of the ghost was on Sunday night. Shortly after the family had gone to bed

they heard a fearful crash in the hall. A suit of armour had fallen on the floor and in a chair sat the

Canterville ghost and rubbed his knees, which seemed to hurt. When the twins started shooting peas at him with their pea-shooters, the ghost stood up with an angry growl and passed through them like a mist. He also blew out the candle, leaving them all in total darkness. On top of the stairs the ghost turned around and, in order to frighten the Otis boys, laughed his most horrible laugh. Just then, a door opened and Mrs Otis came out of her bedroom. 'I am afraid you are not well,' she said, 'I have therefore brought you this bottle of medicine.' The ghost looked at her furiously, and then he disappeared.

When he reached his room, he was completely exhausted. This American family was extremely annoying.

But what annoyed him most was, that he had not been able to wear the suit of armour. The

weight of it had made him fall and hurt his knees.

For some days after this the ghost only left his room to renew the blood-stain. However, on Friday,

the 17th of August, he tried to frighten the Otis family again. At half-past ten the family went to

bed. For some time the ghost heard the twins laugh, but at a quarter past eleven all was still. So, at

midnight he left his secret chamber and glided through the corridors, when suddenly, behind one

corner, a horrible ghost stood right in front of him. As the Canterville ghost had never seen another

ghost before, he was terribly frightened. He quickly hurried back to his room. But then he thought

that he should go and and speak to the other ghost. After all, two ghosts were better than one, and

his new friend might help him to frighten the twins. However, when he came back to the spot, he

found that this 'other ghost' was not real, but only a white sheet which the twins had hung there to

play a trick on him. Very upset the Canterville ghost went back to his chamber.

CHAPTER IV

For five days, the ghost did not leave his room. He was very weak and tired and his nerves were

completely shattered. He also gave up the point of the blood-stain on the library floor. If the Otis

family did not want it, they clearly did not deserve it. Whenever the Canterville ghost roamed the

house now, he was careful to have oiled his chains and not to make a sound. However, the twins

still played their tricks on him. They stretched strings across the corridor, over which he tripped in

the dark, and once he slipped on a butter-slide, which the twins had constructed for him on the staircase.

This so annoyed the ghost, that he decided to teach the twins a lesson and give them the fright

of their lives.

All day long the ghost had prepared this grand event and at a quarter past one at night he finally

glided out of his room and crept down the corridor. When he reached the twins' bedroom, he found

the door slightly open. In order to frighten the boys enormously, he flung the door wide open, when

a heavy jug of water fell right down on him, wetting him to the skin. The twins burst out in shrieks

of laughter and the ghost fled.

He now gave up all hope of ever frightening this rude American family and, as he was very afraid of

the twins, from now on he crept around the house as quietly as possible. One night, it was on the

19th of September, he went downstairs to see if there were any traces left of the blood-stain. It was

about a quarter past two in the morning, and he thought that everyone was fast asleep, when suddenly from a dark corner two figures came running at him who waved their arms wildly above their heads and shouted 'BOO!' in his ear. Full of panic, which under the circumstances was only natural, the ghost hurried back to his room.

After this he was not seen again at night. His feelings were so wounded that he just did not appear

anymore.

CHAPTER V

One day, Virginia was walking along the corridor, when she saw a person in one of the rooms and

went in. To her surprise, it was the Canterville ghost himself and he looked really sad.

'I am so sorry for you,' she said, 'but my brothers are going back to Eton tomorrow, and then, if you

behave yourself, no one will annoy you.'

'It is absurd asking me to behave myself,' the ghost answered, 'I must rattle my chains, and groan

through keyholes, and walk about at night. It is my only reason for existing.'

'It is no reason at all for existing, and you know you have been very nasty. Mrs Umney told us that

you had killed your wife.'

'Well, I quite admit it,' said the ghost, 'but my wife was not very nice, you know, and she knew nothing about cookery. However, it is all over now, and I don't think it was very nice of her brothers to starve me to death.'

'Starve you to death? Oh, Mr Ghost, I mean Sir Simon, are you hungry? I have a sandwich in my

case. Would you like it?'

'No, thank you, I never eat anything now; but it is very kind of you. You are much nicer than the rest

of your rude, dishonest family.'

'Stop!' cried Virginia, stamping her foot, 'it is you who are rude, and as for dishonesty, you stole the

paints out of my box to renew that ridiculous blood-stain in the library. First you took all my reds

and I couldn't do any more sunsets, then you took the green and the yellow. Finally I had nothing

left but blue and white, and I could only do moonlight scenes, which are not at all easy to paint.'

Having said this, Virginia turned around to leave the room.

'Please don't go, Miss Virginia,' the ghost cried; 'I am so unhappy and I really don't know what to do.

I want to go to sleep and I cannot. I have not slept for three hundred years, and I am so tired.'

'Poor, poor Ghost,' she murmured; 'have you no place where you can sleep?'

'Well, I know a place where I could sleep – it's the Garden of Death, the churchyard. But only if you

weep for me and my sins and pray with me for my soul, the Angel of Death will have mercy on me.’

When Virginia promised to help the ghost and pray for him, he rose from his seat, took her hand and

kissed it thankfully. Then he led her across the room. Virginia saw the wall slowly fading away like

a mist, and a bitter cold wind was around them. 'Quick, quick,' cried the ghost, 'or it will be too late.'

Then the wall closed behind them, and the chamber was empty.

CHAPTER VI

About ten minutes later, the bell rang for dinner, and, as Virginia did not come down, Mrs Otis sent

up one of the servants. After a little time he returned and said that he could not find Miss Virginia

anywhere. So, the whole family started looking for her.

The hours passed, but they could find no trace of Virginia. So, after dinner, Mr Otis ordered them

all to bed, saying that nothing more could be done that night, and that he would contact Scotland

Yard in the morning. Just when everybody was about to leave the dining-room, the clock struck

midnight, and when the last stroke sounded, a secret door opened in the wall and in that door stood

Virginia with a little box in her hand. Everybody ran up to her.

'Good heavens! child, where have you been?' said Mr Otis, rather angrily, as he thought she had

been playing a trick on them.

'Papa,' said Virginia quietly, 'I have been with the ghost. He is dead, and you must come and see

him. He had been very nasty, but he was really sorry for all that he had done, and he gave me this

box of beautiful jewels before he died.'

Then she led the others down a narrow secret corridor to a little low room. There the family found

the skeleton of Sir Simon, who had been starved to death by his wife's brothers. Virginia knelt down

beside the skeleton, and, folding her little hands together, began to pray silently.

Meanwhile, one of the twins was looking out of the window in the little room and suddenly said,

'Look! The old almond-tree has blossoms.'

'Then God has forgiven him,' said Virginia and stood up.

CHAPTER VII

Four days later, a funeral started from Canterville Castle. In a quiet corner of the churchyard, Sir Simon's skeleton was buried. When the ceremony was over, Virginia stepped forward and laid a large cross made of white and pink almond-blossoms on the coffin.

The next morning, Mr Otis talked to Sir Simon's descendant, Sir Canterville, about the jewels the

ghost had given to Virginia. Their value was so great that Mr Otis had scruples about allowing his

daughter to keep them. But Sir Canterville shook his hand and said, 'My dear Sir, your charming little

daughter saved my ancestor's soul. The jewels are hers.'

The jewels were admired by everyone when, in the spring of 1890, Virginia married the Duke of

Cheshire. After their honeymoon, Virginia and her husband went down to Canterville Castle and on

the day after their arrival they walked over to the churchyard. Virginia had brought some lovely

roses, which she strewed upon the grave, and after they had stood by it for some time her husband

took her hand.

'You have never told me what happened to you when you were locked up with the ghost.'

'Please don't ask me, I cannot tell you,' she said, 'but I owe Sir Simon a great deal. He made me see

what Life is, and what Death signifies, and why Love is stronger than both.

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The Canterville Ghost

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