At several points in "The Canterville Ghost," Wilde satirises American behaviour and the American way of life. In the opening lines of the story, for instance, the narrator refers to the Otis's purchase of Canterville Chase as a "foolish thing." This is because the American family have not heeded the warnings that the house is haunted and, in pointing this out, Wilde pokes fun at their supernatural scepticism.
Later, in Chapter Two, Wilde satirises the...
At several points in "The Canterville Ghost," Wilde satirises American behaviour and the American way of life. In the opening lines of the story, for instance, the narrator refers to the Otis's purchase of Canterville Chase as a "foolish thing." This is because the American family have not heeded the warnings that the house is haunted and, in pointing this out, Wilde pokes fun at their supernatural scepticism.
Later, in Chapter Two, Wilde satirises the family's conversation. He refers to the family as "cultured Americans" and then follows this with an overview of the topics they discuss:
The subjects discussed...such as the immense superiority of Miss Fanny Devonport over Sarah Bernhardt as an actress; the difficulty of obtaining green corn, buckwheat cakes, and hominy, even in the best English houses.
This is satirical because these topics are, in fact, quite frivolous and, in mentioning them, Wilde suggests that the family aren't really very cultured at all.
Finally, Wilde also satirises the way in which the family copes with the blood-stain in the library. After its re-appearance, for instance, Mrs Otis composes a letter to the "Psychical Society" which has a comforting effect on the family:
That night all doubts about the objective existence of phantasmata were removed for ever.
In this example, Wilde mocks the family through their appeal to a pseudo-scientific society which, again, pokes fun at their belief systems and their construction of knowledge.
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