The Canterville Ghost

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The Last of Mrs. The Frozen Dead Edit Cast Cast overview, first billed only: Cuffy Williams Margaret O'Brien Lady Jessica de Canterville William Gargan Sergeant Benson Reginald Owen Lord Canterville Rags Ragland Sir Valentine Williams Elisabeth Risdon Lieutenant Kane Lumsden Hare Edit Storyline In the s, cowardly Sir Simon of Canterville flees a duel and seeks solace in the family castle. It puts you in the best of spirits!

Mrs Otis is given Wilde's highest praise when he says: The most colourful character in the story is undoubtedly the ghost himself, Sir Simon, who goes about his duties with theatrical panache and flair. 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 repertoire of tricks. He takes the role of ghostly apparitions such as a Headless Earl, a Strangled Babe, the Blood-Sucker of Bexley Moor, 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 gruesome, his antics do nothing to scare his house guests, and the Otises beat him every time. He falls victim to tripwires , peashooters , 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.

During the course of the story, as narrated from Sir Simon's viewpoint, he tells us the complexity of the ghost's emotions: He exposes his vulnerability during an encounter with Virginia, the Otis's fifteen-year-old daughter. Virginia is different from everyone else in the family, and Sir Simon recognises this. He tells her that he has not slept in three hundred years and wants desperately to do so. The ghost reveals to Virginia the tragic tale of his wife, Lady Eleanor de Canterville. Unlike the rest of her family, Virginia does not dismiss the ghost.

She takes him seriously, she 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 Death's mercy upon Sir Simon. She does weep for him and pray for him, and she disappears with Sir Simon through the wainscoting and goes with him to the Garden of Death and bids the ghost farewell.

Then she reappears at midnight, through a panel in the wall, carrying jewels and news that Sir Simon has passed on to the next world and no longer resides in the house. Virginia's ability to accept Sir Simon leads to her enlightenment: 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".

The Canterville Ghost

This is a short story which is available for free, or at least this version is, at Amazon, and you can add the Audio for a nominal fee. Dec 08, Piyangie rated it really liked it Shelves: What a fun read this was! I'm definitely in love with Oscar Wild works. He combines simple language with wit and humour which is easy to read and which completely holds your attention and leave you in awe once you are done with the reading. The story is about a ghost who had haunted his family castle and who had terrified all his descendants and their associates who was finally outwitted by an American family.

He was so humiliated as he says to himself that "no ghost in history had e What a fun read this was! He was so humiliated as he says to himself that "no ghost in history had ever been treated in this manner". Underlying this simple fun story, there is a contrast that has been drawn between British and American culture, values and ways of thinking. There is gentle humour on both sides. And amidst the humour, there is also an important message set in the story on life, death, love and forgiveness.

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All in all, I enjoyed the read thoroughly and had a good laugh. Jan 22, Quirkyreader rated it it was amazing. This is one of my favourite Wilde stories. Oct 12, Apatt rated it really liked it Shelves: Otis, the American Minister does not believe in no ghost, but he soon changes his mind when he has his close encounter. Even then, contrary to expectations, he is not particularly bothered.

Otis and family move into Canterville Chase, completely unmindful of the warning from Lord Canterville that the house is haunted. However, he is soon convinced by seeing the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville himself. Soon Sir Simon finds himself the object of bullying and pranks the Otis twins.

His continued efforts to scare the Otis family members meet with failure, and humiliation and he ends up being more scared of the living than they are of him. Eventually, Sir Simon is left dejected and depressed, taking to moping in some quiet corner by himself. Aww… Oscar Wilde has a strange notion of the mechanic of the ghostly state, that is how a ghost functions in practical terms. Sir Simon feels out of breath, cold, discomfort and other sensations that you would not expect a non-corporeal being to worry about.

The Canterville Ghost - Wikisource, the free online library

Still, it would be pedantic to worry about such details, if this is how ghosts work in this story then fine. The Canterville Ghost is nice, pleasant, funny, and charming. Otis had never fallen into this error. I have always been of opinion that emigration is the only thing for England. View all 11 comments. Read for the Reading Challenge: A very funny book about American behavior and redemption.

Short, light and entertaining. Recomendado si quieres algo ligero, pero al mismo tiempo con mucho significado. View all 8 comments. Oct 18, Laysee rated it really liked it Shelves: But I least expected myself to feel sympathy and even affection for the ghost that had haunted Canterville Chase for three centuries. James, bought Canterville Chase from a British aristocratic family.

Otis, his wife, three sons including a pair of young, impish twins and year-old daughter Virginia were greeted by a sudden ominous change in weather the minute they drove up the long avenue to that grand old mansion. They were a modern family and convinced there was no such thing as a ghost. An amusing competition of sorts ensued: Otis Family versus Canterville Ghost. That made for fun reading.

Oscar Wilde created a ghost protagonist that was predictably evil but unusually lovable.

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In fact, I liked him better than the Otis family. His flaws and vulnerability were relatable. The Canterville Ghost did not deliver a good scare, for which I was glad. It was a witty and delightful "palette cleanser" in between books. Apr 02, Jason Koivu rated it liked it Shelves: By which I mean this is nearly free of wit.

That's a problem for Oscar Wilde, a writer whose career was based on his rapier wit. In this story we have your typical set up where Americans come to the UK, buy up a castle, ghost-included, and then proceed to dash away hundreds of years of well-cultivated English tedium.

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And I like their tedium, so that was a drag Wilde's commentary on stuffy Brits and cocky America Almost witless. Wilde's commentary on stuffy Brits and cocky Americans is broad and soon played out. All that's left is a sappy love story. Well, that and a ghost story that's used for some good comic effect.

The only problem with this part of the story is that recently it's been done a bajillion times. That's no fault of Wilde's, mind you! I don't blame him.

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But the fact it, these days the old put-one-over-on-the-scary-ghost bit has been done ad nauseam. If only we'd all read this book before being inundated by recent tv and movies Still and all, this is an Oscar Wilde book and as such it's still good reading even with all of its faults.

Yes, I've bashed it good here, but look up there at those shiny three stars. That's a solid thumbs-tepidly-up if I ever saw one! View all 3 comments. Oct 01, Hirdesh rated it really liked it Shelves: Another book from treasure of Oscar Wilde. The way of writing was comprehensive and utterly persecuted. Ghost's different kind of preconception has seen which was awful for him.

Me ha parecido una historia floja, que no profundiza ni en los conflictos ni en los personajes, y narrad de una manera convencional. Una situazione questa che certamente farebbe fuggire qualunque famiglia dovesse soggiornare nel castello. Il dolore contro il pragmatismo? View all 10 comments. May 27, Carlos De Eguiluz rated it it was amazing Shelves: Suspiro por las letras de Wilde.

Now that was a good ghost story. I loved the humor, but there was also pathos. I kind of liked the old crusty Canterville ghost, even though he was kind of evil.

I loved how the Otis children turned the tables on him. And how Virginia felt sad for Sir Simon, and helped him to get closure. This is the second story I've read by Oscar Wilde, and I must say, I am very impressed with his writing. His work has a depth, but an airy lightness to it, and a hard to define beauty to it. Honestly, I can't find the words to really explain how I feel about it. I think that he managed to put so much into this short story, and I was very pleased with the result.

I can't believe I waited so long to read Oscar Wilde.