Resumen
Resumen de El fantasma de Canterville
Para quién es
For readers who love comedy with a soft heart, gentle satire of national manners, and ghost stories full of mischief, wit and tenderness.
De qué trata este libro
The Canterville Ghost is a short comic tale by Oscar Wilde. It first appeared in a London magazine in 1887, in two parts, and Wilde later gathered it with other stories in a book in 1891. It takes the old English ghost story, with its chains, its bloodstain and its curse, and drops it into the path of a family that does not believe in any of it.
The family is American, practical and cheerful, and it buys a haunted English country house with the ghost included. What follows is a long, funny contest between a spirit who takes his job very seriously and tenants who treat him as a household nuisance. You will meet a stain remover, a bottle of oil, two mischievous twins and a ghost whose pride is wounded night after night. Under the jokes there is a gentler tale about one girl who sees the old man behind the sheet. Let us begin with the sale of the house.
En este resumen
- 1An American family buys a haunted houseFree
- 2The stain returns and the chains are oiled
- 3The ghost fails at his old tricks
- 4Virginia sees the sorrow behind the sheet
- 5Two cultures and one old house
- 6How Wilde tells it, with wit and tenderness
Idea clave 1 de 6
An American family buys a haunted house
The story opens with the sale of Canterville Chase, an old country house in England. The buyer is Hiram B. Otis, the American minister, a brisk and sensible man. Lord Canterville, the owner, feels honour bound to warn him that the house is haunted. The ghost has been seen by several members of the family, and a young relative once died of fright after meeting it.
Mr Otis is not troubled. He answers that if there were such a thing as a ghost in the house, his country would long ago have put it in a museum or taken it on tour. He believes in modern goods and good sense, and a spirit sounds to him like an item that could be bought, fixed or exhibited. Lord Canterville says only that he has done his duty and the family should not complain later.
The Otis family arrives and is lively and varied. Mrs Otis, once a famous beauty in New York, is now a handsome woman with fine health and a great deal of energy. Their eldest son Washington is a fond follower of fashion. Their daughter Virginia is a charming girl of fifteen who loves her pony. Then come the twins, so full of mischief that the family calls them the Stars and Stripes.
At the house they meet the housekeeper, Mrs Umney, who wears black silk and takes the old traditions very seriously. She tells them about a bloodstain on the library floor and about the tragic Lady Eleanore, whose husband Sir Simon is said to have murdered her. The Otises thank her politely and are not afraid at all. From this first meeting the joke is set: old Europe brings its legend, and young America answers with practical questions.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
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Who’s who
- Sir Simon de Canterville
- The proud, theatrical ghost of Canterville Chase tries to frighten the practical American family occupying his house.
- Virginia Otis
- The Otises’ kind, brave fifteen-year-old daughter feels sympathy for the ghost whom her family treats as a nuisance.
- Hiram B. Otis
- The practical American minister buys Canterville Chase for his family despite its owner's warning about the resident ghost.
- Mrs Otis
- Hiram's lively, firm wife treats the haunting as another household problem rather than a reason for fear.
- Washington Otis
- The Otises’ eldest son trusts modern products and tackles the mysterious bloodstain with a commercial stain remover.
- The twins
- The Otises’ mischievous younger sons torment Sir Simon with practical jokes instead of fearing his supernatural performances.
- Mrs Umney
- The housekeeper preserves Canterville Chase's legends and fears its ghost far more than her new American employers do.
- Lord Canterville
- The English owner sells Canterville Chase to Hiram and conscientiously warns him that the house is haunted.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 12,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 45 min
- Listening time1 h 20 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages
Questions about El fantasma de Canterville
What is The Canterville Ghost about?
It tells of an American family that buys an English country house haunted by a ghost. The family laughs at his tricks and pranks him in return, until their daughter Virginia learns how unhappy he is.
When was The Canterville Ghost written?
Oscar Wilde's story first appeared in a London magazine in 1887, in two parts. It was gathered with other tales in a book in 1891. It is fiction, not a true story.
Is The Canterville Ghost a horror story?
No. It borrows the gothic ghost story but plays it for laughs. There are old crimes and spooky nights, but the tone is comic and gentle, and the ghost is more pitiable than frightening.
What is the main message of The Canterville Ghost?
The tale mixes satire of English and American manners with a quiet plea for pity. Wilde suggests that kindness can reach what modern cleverness cannot, and that a person is more than his past.
Is The Canterville Ghost hard to read?
Not at all. It is short, funny and easy to follow. Wilde's sentences are polished but clear, and the plot moves in simple scenes, which makes it a good first book by this author.