My review of "THE CANTERVILLE GHOST"

Name o f The book: The Canterville Ghost

Name Of The Author: Oscar Wilde

Characters Of The Story:

1. Mr. Hiram B Otis

2. Mrs. Lucretia B Otis

3. Miss. Virginia B Otis

4. Twin Brothers also known as The stars and stripes

5. Lord Canterville

6. Mrs. Umney

7. Sir Simon De Canterville

8. Duke Of Cheshire

Briefing About Characters:

1. Mr. Hiram B Otis - American minister who bought the Canterville Chase

2. Mrs. Lucretia B Otis - Wife of Mr. Otis

3. Miss Virginia B Otis - First child of Mr. and Mrs. Otis ; looks as lovely as a fawn and has deep, blue and kind eyes

4. Twin Brothers - The second twin children of Mr. and Mrs. Otis, Also known as the stars and stripes ; both are naughtiest to the core

5. Lord Canterville - Owner of the Canterville Chase

6. Mrs. Umney - A servant for Fifty years in the Canterville Chase

7. Sir Simon De Canterville - The ghost of this story ; had assaulted his own wife in the year of 1575. Lived after her death for nine years and suddenly one day he was nowhere to be found. Both their bodies were not to be discovered and the local people think that Sir Simon's guilty spirit haunts Canterville Chase

8. Duke Of Cheshire - The very Duke who proposed to Virginia when she bet old Lord Bilton on her pony in a horse riding race.

SUMMARY OF THE STORY:

When the American Minister Mr. Hiram B Otis declared that he was buying the Canterville Chase, the local people told him that it was a foolish thing to do - as the place was haunted. But the Otises really didn't belive in ghosts and supernatural spirits. They were stubborn in buying The Chase. Lord Canterville, the Owner of the Chase himself warned him not to do so, as several living members of his family had been affected by the ghost mentally and physically. As the Chase was seven miles from the Ascot, Mr. Otis had a carriage arranged for the family. It was a lovely July evening and the air was delicate. But as they entered the Chase, it was as if the hose was embedded in darkness, and before they could go in, it had started raining. Upon entering Mrs. Otis caught sight of a blood stain and ordered it to be removed. But the very next day, the blood stain was there at the same place, intact.

This incident kept repeating, until one night, Mr. Otis was awakened by a curious noise upon the corridor. When went, he saw a terrible sight- a man in ragged clothes, legs tied in heavy iron chains and grey locks of hair on his shoulders. It was the ghost of Sir Simon. But Mr. Otis just went to his room and gave Simon some oil to grease his chains. The words Mr. Otis said

"My dear sir, I insist you on oiling those chains as it disturbs the family's peaceful sleep."

The ghost was utterly furious, but fled down the corridor until two pillows whizzed past him and hit him but tired, poor him, vanished into the wainscoating.

Poor Simon tried different ways to scare away the Otises - but in vain. Sometimes the blood stain would be dull Indian, then vermilion, then shades of purple then surprisingly emerald green. Once the twins emptied their pellets on poor Simon, and sometimes scared him away with a toy ghost. Oh, how exhausted was Simon. Fifty years of successful career of scaring people away. Not one day he was insulted horribly like this. One night, Simon was totally determined to scare the family away. He had planned to clutch Mrs. Otis's neck and her husband until they're unconscious. And for the twins, he would sit on their chests until they are paralyzed with fear. As for Virginia he hadn't planned anything for she hadn't insulted him a bit. But as he went into the twins bedroom, a heavy water jug fell on him and he fled to his wainscoating and faced severe cold next day. Another night as Simon was creeping into the book shelves, the twins scared him by shouting " BOO " right into his ear. After a month or two, Mr. Otis arranged a huge clambake that amazed the county people. The Duke of Cheshire had come to Canterville to spend his holidays. He would ride down the lanes with Virginia in great pride. One day while riding on her pony, Virginia accidently fell into a hedge and greased her shins. She decided to go through the Staircase at the back as she didn't want to be seen by her parents. As she was passing through the Tapestry Chamber, she thought she saw someone inside as the door was slightly ajar. What did she see! The Canterville Ghost himself. He was so sad and depressed, that Virginia went up to him and consoled him, as she felt pity for Poor Simon. As she spoke to him, she said to him, that she knew he was the one who stole paints from her box to colour the bloodstain. Then poor Simon mentioned that he had not slept for a hundred years, and Virginia's blue eyes opened in wonder. She asked-

"Poor, poor ghost, don't you have a place to sleep ? "

Poor Simon replied-

"Far, far away in the pine woods, where the grass grows tall and there is a little garden where the yew tree spreads it's branches so long"

Innocent Virginia's eyes brimmed with tears, as the garden he described was The Garden Of Death. Sir Simon begged Virginia to weep for His sins, pray with him for his soul. She bowed her head crying and then looked straight at Simon and agreed. She was ready to ask the angel to have mercy on Poor Sir Simon. Simon, in return with gratefulness, kissed her hands in an Old fashioned way. They both went to the Garden Of Death, with bulls and boars poring over her, dead people muttering curses. But little Virginia, did not falter. Meanwhile Mrs. Otis called everyone for tea, but no Virginia came. As she had a practice of riding her pony in the afternoon, her mother was not alarmed. But when Virginia did not come home until six o'clock her mother sent guardians to search for her. Even the duke who was in love with Virginia, came in search of her. Meanwhile, Virginia, had prayed for Simon and let his soul Rest In Peace. At eleven o'clock at night a frightful thunder stroke the Chase and all went dark for a moment. When the lights came on, they saw Virginia at the staircase, looking pale and white, with a little casket in her hand. Mrs. Otis embraced her, while Duke was gazing lovingly at Virginia. They enquired about her whereabouts, She replied as slowly as possible, with a tremble in her voice-

"Papa, I have been with the Ghost. He is Dead, you must come and see him. And before he died, he gave me this boxful of Beautiful jewels. God has forgiven him."

She led them behind the wainscoating and showed a gaunt skeleton, lying with it's legs bound by an iron chain.

The Duke of Cheshire replied-

"What an angel you are!" cried the Duke, put his arm around her neck and kissed her. Four Days after this incident, a funeral was held for Sir Simon De Canterville. All the people in the house mourned for him. An year later after this funeral, Virginia was married off to The Duke Of Cheshire.

With their Honeymoon over, the couple came to Simon's grave in the garden. The Duchess sat on a fallen pillar, with lovely roses in her hand, and the Duke sat below her on the ground smoking a cigarette and looking at her beautiful eyes. Suddenly, he threw the cigarette, and asked Virginia, about what happened when she was locked up with the ghost. She replied-

"Please don't ask me Cecil! Oh, poor Simon, he made me see what Life is, What Death signifies and why love is stronger than Both."

The Duke rose and and kissed his wife lovingly.

"You can always have your secret as long as I have your heart." he murmured.

"You always have my heart, dear Cecil."

replied Virginia.

"And you will tell our Children someday, won't you ?" asked the Duke.

Virginia blushed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Oscar Wilde, was born in Dublin 1854. In 1878, Wide received The Newdigate prize for his poem Ravenna. His first play was Vera, which did not reach great heights. He wrote his first novel The picture of Dorian Gray (1890) and a play named Salome. In 1895, Wilde was convicted and imprisoned for two years for sueing The Queensbury. Oscar Wilde died in 1900 at Paris, in the age of 46. Since his death, many biographies had been published, and some of his plays adapted and his only novel pictured as a movie.