The Canterville Ghost
1887
When the American Otis family purchases Canterville Chase, they dismiss the warnings about its legendary ghost with characteristic pragmatism: Mr. Otis offers the specter lubricant for his chains, while Mrs. Otis suggests atmospheric wallpaper. For Sir Simon de Canterville, who has terrified generations of British aristocrats, this casual indifference is far more unnerving than any screaming match. The family refuses to believe in him, and their modern American attitudes reduce centuries of haunting to an annoyance. Only young Virginia, the gentle youngest daughter, sees past the ghost's bluster to his ancient sorrow. Wilde transforms what begins as a clever comedy of cultural collision into something unexpectedly moving: a story about loneliness, the hunger for redemption, and the kind of compassion that transcends the grave. The satire cuts both ways, Wilde mocks the pompous British nobility and the materialistic Americans with equal precision, yet the tale's heart belongs to Virginia, whose kindness finally gives the ghost what centuries of fear could not.
