Introduction & Overview of The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

The Canterville Ghost Introduction

"The Canterville Ghost" was first published serially in 1887 in Court and Society Review, a magazine for the leisured upper classes. The story did not immediately receive much critical attention, and indeed Wilde was not viewed as an important author until the publication, during the 1890s, of his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) and of several well-received plays, including The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). In 1891, "The Canterville Ghost" was republished in Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, and Other Stories.

The collected stories were severely criticized by contemporary reviewers; early critics found Wilde's work unoriginal and derivative. More recently critics have celebrated Wilde's ability to play with the conventions of many genres. In "The Canterville Ghost," Wilde draws upon fairy tales, Gothic novels, and stories of Americans abroad to shape his comic ghost story. Though Wilde offers a comic treatment, he finds inspiration for Sir Simon's character...
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