INDIAN SCHOOL AL WADI AL KABIR
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
CLASS XI – (2016-17)
THE CANTERVILLE GHOST
Canterville Ghost 1 – The American Family
Lord Canterville pointed to Mr. Otis' notice that the chase was haunted by a family member who died some three hundred years ago. Mr. Otis was not someone who would flee the place of the ghost, nor were his three sons, daughter and wife. He said, "Well, I would like to buy the ghost along with the chase!" Ghosts, we find, are jokes in America unlike they are in England.
Summary
When Mr. Otis and his family reached England from their native America, they could not find a better villa/bungalow than the Canterville chase, a huge but a little old building owned by Lord Canterville. When the two parties met and discussed the deal, Lord Canterville pointed to Mr. Otis’ notice that the chase was haunted by a family member who died some three hundred years ago. Mr. Otis was not someone who would flee the place of the ghost, nor were his three sons, daughter and wife. He said, “Well, I would like to buy the ghost along with the chase!” Ghosts, we find, are jokes in America unlike they are in England.
Finally the deal is signed and the Otises move to their new house, feared by many, avoided by the passersby and envied by ghosts!
The first unusual thing that they noticed on the first day was a patch blood-stains on the library floor. It was Mrs. Umney who told that it was the work of the ghost. She said that the stain would not go! Well, that’s not logical. Washington Otis, the eldest of the siblings, applied a little stain remover – made in America – and got the floor clean to the maid’s surprise and shock.
Bit/Bits
· An American, Mr. Otis and his family come to England.
o Mr. Otis, an American Minister
o Mrs. Otis, Lucretia R. Tappen
o Son, Washington
o Daughter, 15 years, sporty, beautiful
o Twin sons, no names mentioned.
· They negotiate with Lord Canterville to buy a three hundred year old chase (bungalow) for them to settle down.
· Lord Caterville discourages Mr. Otis from buying it. He said the chase was inhabited by a ghost of a Lord who committed suicide three hundred years.
· Mr. Otis laughs at this. He buys the Canterville Chase and gets ready to occupy the big house.
· On their arrival at the Chase, the nature sounded and appeared eerie, ghostly.
· The family was welcomed by Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper of the previous family.
· In the library they had tea together but their eyes caught sight of a patch of blood stains.
· Mrs. Umney warned them. She said that was the work of the Ghost.
· Washington removed the stains with the help of Pinkerton’s Champion Stain Remover and Paragon Detergent.
· Lord Canterville was a man of great essence. Discuss.
The owner of the Canterville Chase, a descendent of the Canterville ghost, was a man of high morals and character. Having got a mighty buyer to whom he could have sold the haunted chase without guilt conscience, Lord Canterville repeatedly discouraged the buyer, Mr. Otis. He very frankly, without mincing words, foretold the chances of danger that the Otises would face. He enumerated the instances of tragedy that the Canterville family suffered at the ghost’s hands. He also brought to Mr. Otis’ notice that the very parish priest too had a chance to experience the presence of the ghost.
Lord Canterville definitely felt a little embarrassed at Mr. Otis’ remark that in America people took a ghost for a joke or they would take the ghost for a road show, yet the gentleman insisted on not buying the chase. He then reminded Mr. Otis of the ghost’s appearance before the death of any member of the family with absolute good intentions to discourage a buyer. For Lord Canterville, the safety of a pompous, proud family was more important than the money he could get by selling the chase.
· Comment on the rude American materialism exhibited by the Otises.
With their deep rooted materialistic outlook, the Otises were the best match for a ghost. In the first place, the Otises had so much belief in the existence of a ghost that no ordinary people have ever had. It certainly surprises the reader to see that the little children – the twins – too had taken the ghost for a playmate. Their materialistic views indeed enabled them to believe in the existence of a ghost. While materialism dispels the possible existence of ghosts and Gods, the Otises exhibited a different kind of materialism that considered a deadly ghost as an ordinary old man to be mercilessly played with. Mr. Otis’ farce at Lord Canterville that he would buy the ghost along with the furniture is a product of his hardened materialism. On seeing the blood-stains on the library floor, the family was not willing to take for something to be awed, but they lay out plans to find reasons for this strange appearance. Washington’s trust in his American manufacturer of Paragon Detergent was more than that of his fear of the ghost. Neither the housekeeper’s narration of the existence of the Canterville ghost nor the visible signs of the ghost got into their nerves because they believed nothing but the material beings and for them, a ghost should behave ‘materially.’
SAMPLE QUESTIONS WITH VALUE POINTS:
1. What did Lord Canterville warn Hiram Otis about when he bought the Canterville Chase? What does this tell you about his character?
Ans. Lord Canterville informed Mr.Otis that no Canterville had lived in the castle since their grand-aunt was frightened into a fit- he claimed that the ghost had placed his two skeleton hands on her shoulders as she was dressing for dinner- ghost has been seen by several members of the family- also by the parish priest- The servants did not stay in the chaseout of fear- Lady Canterville often heard mysterious noises that came from corridor and library. This shows Lord Canterville to be an honourable man- he saw it as his duty to inform Mr. Otis about the ghost.
2. Despite being warned, Mr. Otis bought Canterville Chase. What does this tell you about him?
Ans. Everyone told him that the place was haunted- but Hiram B. Otis joked about it- he said he would buy the ghost along with the furniture – he said, Lord Canterville could put a price on the ghost and he would buy it too.
This shows- he was a practical man who didn’t believe in ghosts and such superstitions- he was a brave man – willing to buy the castle inspite of knowing about the ghost – had a good sense of humour – said if ghost existed, he would take it to America and exhibit in a museum or a road show.
3. Write a brief note on the members of the Otis family.
Ans. The head of the family- Mr. Hiram B. Otis was a wealthy American – belonged to the Republican Party and was a Minister – middle-aged, determined, rational, practical and pragmatic- a true American- believed ghost didn’t exist – jokingly told Canterville, if ghost existed he would like to take it to America and exhibit him in a museum or a road show.
His wife- Lucretia, had been a famous beauty of New York before she married Mr Otis and was stll a middle-aged good looking woman, with fine eyes and a superb profile – possessed good health and an animal spirit.
The eldest of the Otis siblings – Washington, fair haired, good looking young man – excellent dancer. His fondness for flowers – gardenias, and the aristocracy, were his only weaknesses. Extremely sensible and practical : as soon as he saw the blood stain, did not panic but cleaned the spot with Pinkerton ‘s Stain Remover and Paragon detergent.
Miss Virginia Otis- 15 year old girl, slim and beautiful with large, blue eyes. She was an independent person and a wonderful Amazon – also a good rider.
The twins- delightful boys, youngest in the family- always up to some mischief- called ‘Star and Stripes’.
4. One of the main themes of the novel is the contrast between the American and British cultures. Comment.
Ans. Two different cultures are presented – the English and the American. English culture is ancient and is based on tradition and belief. American culture- is modern based on new technologies and industries. In a country of modern outlook and culture- there’s no space for ghosts and other supernatural elements.
Between these two cultures, there is clash between tradition and progress. We see this when Mr. Otis wants to buy the chase because he doesn’t believe in ghosts .
OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS-
1. Write a brief note on the ghost of Canterville Chase.
2. Write a note on the supernatural elements in chpter 1 of the novel.
3. Write a note on the ‘blood stain’ episode.
CHAPTER 2 - SUMMARY
No ghost in the history of the spirits and ghosts suffered the indignity that the Canterville Ghost suffered that night. He had been watching the Otis family and was feeling quite unimpressed with their not fearing him. May be he thought they were pretending to be brave and unaffected by ghosts, he decided to unleash terror upon the family.
· With that in mind, the ghost put on some special costumes – a terrible look, burning eyes, long grey hair fallen over his shoulders in matted coils, garments of antique cut, rusty chains/gyves hanging from his wrists and ankles. While the family slept, he made his ghostly way to Mr. Otis’s room where he was asleep. He expected Mr. Otis open the door and faint at the sight of the ghost. The sounds woke Mr. Otis. He came out, saw the ghost, but didn’t swoon, didn’t faint, didn’t even cry. Instead, Mr. Otis gave him a bottle of Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator to oil he chains and then went back to his room!Second Day – The family woke up the next morning. They found the terrible blood-stain again on the floor. Washington confirmed the involvement of the ghost. However he rubbed out the stain.
· The Third Day – The blood stains appeared again.
· The Fourth Day – Blood stain appearance turned out to be a matter of interest in the family.
o Instead of fearing the ghost, Mr. Otis believed the ghost for the first time. He blamed himself for being highly dogmatic in his denial of the ghosts. Note that he is not scared.
o Mrs. Otis expressed her intention of joining the Physical Society.
o Washington, suspecting the permanence of Sanguineous Stains, prepared a long letter to Messers. Myers and Podmore.
· Fourth Night – The ghost’s first face to face appearance
o 21:00 The Otis family returns after a drive and have their dinner/supper.
o 23:00 The family retires to sleep
o 23:30 All lights go out
o 23:40 Mr. Otis is awakened by some curious noise from the corridor – sounds of chains being dragged – footsteps – coming nearer and nearer.
o Disturbed in the middle of night, Mr. Otis got up, grabbed an oblong phial/bottle of lubricant and opened the door.
o Seeing the ghost standing at the door, Mr. Otis advised the ghost to oil his chains and gave the phial of lubricant. While an astonished ghost stood there with the bottle, Mr. Otis went into his room, offering him more of the lubricant in case he needed more.
o Extremely humiliated in front of a mortal for the first time, the ghost dashed the bottle upon the floor and flew up to his room when the twins opened their room and threw a large pillow at the ghost.
o Escaping the pillow, the ghost flew away and vanished through the wainscoting. What a people!
o Having made his escape, the ghost sat in his secret chamber in the left wing of the huge house and tried to recollect how and where matters stood. Insulted, he recalled the various instances of his scaring people for the last three hundred years. Vengeance, he thought of vengeance.
Question & Answers:
1. Describe the way the Otises changed their impression about ghostly existence.
It was not like that the Otises had genuinely no faith in ghosts but they were too rational so they were ready to believe even ghosts provided that it followed a proof. When they saw that the blood stains were neither the detergent’s quality nor the excretion of the stone, the whole family was now quite interested in the ghost. Mr. Otis began to suspect that hehad been too dogmatic in his denial of the existence of ghosts while Mrs. Otis expressed her intention of joining thePsychical Society. Washington prepared a long letter to Messrs. Myers and Podmore on the subject of thePermanence of Sanguineous Stains when connected with Crime.
2. Why was there no grounds of doubts that the ghost’s appearance was not Mr. Otis’ imagination?
First of all, the Otises were not scared of the ghost. For them the ghost was either a subject matter for study but never one of curiosity and intrigue. Besides, the whole family had a wonderful evening spent together and a light dinner. Even during the dinner they didn’t talk about the ghost which means the family had not been influenced by the ghost’s presence in any way. Therewere not even those primary conditions of receptive expectations which so often precede thepresentation of psychical phenomena. They talked about thecultured Americans of the better class,the difficulty of obtaining greencorn, buckwheat cakes, and hominy, even in the best English houses; the importance of Boston in thedevelopment of the world-soul; the advantages of the baggage-check system in railway travelling; and thesweetness of the New York accent as compared to the London drawl. No mention at all was made of thesupernatural and of the ghost.
3. Why did the ghost decide to appear in front of Mr. Otis?
The ghost was entirely angry with the new occupants of his world where he had been living a peaceful life. Seeing that the Otises had not learnt the essential etiquette to respect ghosts, the ghost of Sir Simon decided to teach them the first lessons of that. The most possible reason why he chose to play with Mr. Otis was that to shake the foundation of the family’s source of courage and moral strength. Or it was for the fact that the man had no respect for any in the world. It turns out that the ghost resented Mr. Otis’ not bringing up his children in the fear of ghost.