Wilde, Oscar - The Canterville ghost, scheda libro

What was the life and career of Oscar Wilde?

He was born in 1854 (eighteen-fifty four) in Dublin and he died in 1900 (nineteen hundred) in Paris He attend the Trinity College in Dublin and after he won the scholarship for the Oxford school In 1887 he wrote “The Canterville Ghost”. He was definite homosexual, after being discovered in a relationship with another man and therefore had to do forced labor for two years. At the end of them, his wife and children no longer wanted him so he moved to Paris and changed his name.

Main Characters of the Story

The main characters are: Sir. Simon de Canterville is the ghost, he was damned by his wife because he killed her. Miss Catherine Humney is the maid of the house, she is definite a comical character because she always faints. Mr. Hiram Otis is the father of the family, he was the American Minister. Miss. Lucrezia Otis is the wife of Mr. Otis, she had been celebrated like New York belle (=beautiful young woman). Miss. Virginia Otis is the eldest daughter of Hiram and Lucrezia, she is most important for the plot of the book The Otis twins: Stars and Stripes are the youngest sons of the family. Mr. Cecil is the descendant of Canterville family and the boyfriend of Virginia

The Otis Family and Their Arrival

The Otis family moved from New York to Canterville Chase. The story is set around 1887, like the year when the book was published
The Otis family moves from the United States to England to Canterville Chase, where they find Miss. Catherine Umney, the maid, who has lived in the castle of Sir Simon ever since. The family immediately settled into the new house along with the ghost. The twins joked with him even if he just wanted to scare them and make them run away. Mr. Cecil went to visit the Otis family because he wanted to claim old debts, but when he saw Virginia, he immediately fell in love. Sir Simon was disgusted by the sight of the two lovers, because they made him remember his wife. The time passed and it was Halloween night, but Virginia decided to stay with the ghost to console him rather than stay with her boyfriend and her family. Sir Simon told her that he wanted to go with his wife and he started to say the prophecy that will make him free: if a girl cried for him, his soul would be free. The girl started to cry so the ghost died. The Otis family, with Cecil, started to search for her, until she arrived at the house and told them that the ghost had died, so they made him a funeral.

Main Themes of the Story

The principal themes are 2: The first is redemption (=redenzione) because Sir. Simon regrets (=rimpiangere) what he did during his life, like the killing of her wife, but in the end, he freed himself from his faults. The second is American versus British cultures because the Otis family is American and they have a different culture as compared to the British people that lived in the house. Over the years the ghost scared a lot of family members, some to the point of death. Otis is skeptical, in fact as a good pragmatic and positivist American he only believes in money. So the presence of a ghost doesn't worry him.

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