Story summary
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories summary
- 8 min read
- 8 parts
- Audio soon
A palm reader sees murder in Lord Arthur's hand, and a polite young aristocrat sets out to do his duty.
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Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 2 h 35 min2 h fast, 3 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 36,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories in short
Five tales, one habit of mind. A prophecy sends a gentle young lord through failed murder attempts. A ghost three centuries old meets people who will not be afraid of him.
What Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories is about
What would you do if a stranger read your palm and told you that you will commit a murder? Lord Arthur Savile, a rich and courteous young Londoner, does not run to the police. He decides it is his duty, and he sets out to get the crime done before his wedding, with the calm of a man planning a dinner.
Oscar Wilde, the Irish wit who died in 1900, wrote these five stories around 1887 to 1889. Each one plays a joke on the way people judge by surface, and each one carries a small sting. You get his humor, his ideas about art and truth, and a warm picture of Victorian society.
Who it’s for. Readers who enjoy sparkling dialogue, comic ghosts, English country houses and clever endings will love this book. It also suits admirers of Wilde's humor and anyone drawn to art, Shakespeare and Victorian manners.
The story in 8 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A palm reader hands Lord Arthur a duty
The first tale begins at Lady Windermere's last reception before Easter. Bentinck House is crowded with ministers, bishops and a princess in emeralds. Lady Windermere asks for her favorite palm reader, Mr. Podgers. He is a small, stout man with a bald head and gold spectacles, and he looks more like a country lawyer than a mystic.
Podgers reads a few hands for fun, and the guests laugh. Then Lord Arthur, engaged to Sybil Merton, holds out his hand. Podgers turns pale and sweats. He says only that Arthur will take a voyage and lose a distant relative. Arthur is not fooled. He offers a hundred pounds for the truth, and ten minutes later he rushes out into the night, shaken to the bone.
All night he walks. He stops before a police notice about a murderer, and he thinks he sees bloodstains on his hands. By noon the fear has become a plan. Arthur, practical and conscientious, decides he cannot marry Sybil with a crime hanging over him, so the deed must come first. Wilde lets this logic run so neatly that the horror turns into comedy. A prophecy believed too well becomes a duty.
- 2Start free to read
Poison and dynamite meet bad luck
Arthur needs a victim, and his choice is gentle.
- 3Start free to read
An American family buys a ghost
The Canterville Ghost starts with a polite warning.
- 4Start free to read
The ghost fails again and finds Virginia
The ghost tries to repair his pride.
- 5Start free to read
A lord loves a woman he cannot understand
The Sphinx Without a Secret is a story told inside a story.
- 6Start free to read
Charm is worth little without money
The Model Millionaire opens with a joke that is also a lesson.
- 7Start free to read
A beautiful portrait and a theory that spreads
The Portrait of Mr. W. H. is a tale about art, belief and the reading of literature.
- 8Start free to read
Appearances mislead in every story
All five stories rest on the gap between how things look and what they are.
Read all 8 key ideas now
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Check yourself
Why does Arthur believe he must commit his crime before marrying Sybil?
Right. “Arthur, practical and conscientious, decides he cannot marry Sybil with a crime hanging over him, so the deed must come first.”Not quite. “Arthur, practical and conscientious, decides he cannot marry Sybil with a crime hanging over him, so the deed must come first.”
What does Virginia offer the ghost that the others have not?
Right. “Kindness is the one gift the old ghost has never been offered.”Not quite. “Kindness is the one gift the old ghost has never been offered.”
What does the narrator's belief in Willie Hughes reveal about beautiful ideas?
Right. “A beautiful idea can persuade us long before it proves anything.”Not quite. “A beautiful idea can persuade us long before it proves anything.”
Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Lord Arthur Savile A rich, kind young Londoner who treats a palm reader's prophecy as a duty and tries to finish it before his wedding.
- Mr. Podgers A small, stout palm reader with gold spectacles who entertains Lady Windermere's guests and frightens one young lord.
- Mr. Hiram B. Otis The practical American minister who buys a haunted house and meets its ghost with oil and good humor.
- Virginia Otis A fifteen-year-old horsewoman who has a serious heart and feels pity for the lonely ghost of the house.
- Sir Simon de Canterville The proud, weary ghost of Canterville Chase, who wants to frighten his tenants and, above all, to sleep.
- Lord Murchison An honest, high-spirited lord who falls in love with a beautiful widow and cannot bear her secrets.
- Hughie Erskine A handsome, penniless and good-natured young man who wants to marry Laura Merton and has no profession.
- Cyril Graham A handsome, vain young actor who builds a daring theory about the young man of Shakespeare's Sonnets.
How it ends (spoiler)
Lord Arthur pushes Mr. Podgers into the Thames, reads that the palm reader has been found drowned, and marries Sybil, forever thankful to palm reading. Sir Simon dies at peace after Virginia's prayer, and she later becomes a duchess. Lady Alroy's secret rooms hold nothing but a love of mystery. Hughie's beggar is Baron Hausberg, who gives him ten thousand pounds. The Willie Hughes portrait is a forgery, and Erskine dies of illness, not by his own hand.
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Questions about Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories
What is Lord Arthur Savile's Crime about?
A palm reader tells young Lord Arthur Savile that he is fated to commit a murder. Arthur decides to do it quickly and neatly, so he can marry Sybil Merton with a clear conscience. His plans meet comic trouble at every step.
Who is Mr. W. H. in Wilde's story?
Mr. W. H. is the person to whom Shakespeare's Sonnets are dedicated. In the story, Cyril Graham argues that he is Willie Hughes, a boy actor in Shakespeare's company, and the tale follows how that idea takes hold of everyone who hears it.
Is The Canterville Ghost a scary story?
It is a comedy of manners. The ghost is meant to terrify, but a practical American family answers him with stain remover, lubricating oil and pillows. The tone is playful, with a gentle and moving turn in the later scenes.
When did Oscar Wilde write these stories, and are they true?
They are works of fiction written in the late 1880s and gathered into a book soon after. Wilde borrows real settings, such as London society, Shakespeare's Sonnets and English country houses, but the people and plots are invented.
Is Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories easy to read?
The stories are short and built on quick dialogue, clear scenes and plain jokes. Each tale can be read in one sitting, and the humor carries you from one page to the next.
Cite this page
“Summary of Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories: the key points in 9 minutes.” Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/pages/lord-arthur-saviles-crime-the-portrait-of-mr-w-h-and-other-stories-summary.
Library of Alexandria. (2026). Summary of Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories: the key points in 9 minutes. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/lord-arthur-saviles-crime-the-portrait-of-mr-w-h-and-other-stories-summary
“Summary of Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories: the key points in 9 minutes.” Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/lord-arthur-saviles-crime-the-portrait-of-mr-w-h-and-other-stories-summary.
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title = {Summary of Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories: the key points in 9 minutes},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/lord-arthur-saviles-crime-the-portrait-of-mr-w-h-and-other-stories-summary}
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Cite this edition
Wilde, Oscar. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/lord-arthur-saviles-crime-the-portrait-of-mr-w-h-and-other-stories.
Wilde, O. (2026). Lord Arthur Savile's crime; the portrait of Mr. W.H., and other stories. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lord-arthur-saviles-crime-the-portrait-of-mr-w-h-and-other-stories
Wilde, Oscar. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lord-arthur-saviles-crime-the-portrait-of-mr-w-h-and-other-stories.
@book{wilde2026lord,
author = {Wilde, Oscar},
title = {Lord Arthur Savile's Crime; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lord-arthur-saviles-crime-the-portrait-of-mr-w-h-and-other-stories}
}
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