The Canterville Ghost

Short questions

1. Why did everyone tell Mr. Otis that he was doing a very foolish thing by buying the Canterville Chase? 

Everyone told Mr. Otis that he was doing a foolish thing buying the chase because it was believed that the house was haunted.

2. Who was Lord Canterville? Why did he discourage Mr. Otis from buying the Chase? 

Lord Canterville was the owner of the Canterville Chase before it was bought by Mr. Otis. Being an honest man, Lord Canterville thought it his duty to inform Mr. Otis that the house had an ghostly history.

3. Who was Dowager Duchess of Bolton? What frightened her to a fit?  

Dowager Duchess of Bolton was the grandaunt of Lord Canterville. While she was dressing for dinner, she was frightened by the Canterville ghost who placed his skeleton hands on her shoulders.

4. Who was the suspected Canterville Ghost? What was his criminal record while alive?   

The suspected Canterville Ghost was Sir Simon de Canterville. His criminal record was that he murdered his wife Lady Eleanore de Canterville in 1575.

5. Who received the Otises at the Canterville Chase?  

Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper, received the Otises on their arrival at the Canterville Chase.

6. What on the Library floor, near fireplace, caught the sight of Mr. Otis?  

A patch of blood on the floor near the fireplace caught the sight of Mrs. Otis on her arrival at the Canterville Chase.

7. Why did Mrs. Umney smile when she asked to remove the bloodstains on the floor?  

Mrs. Umney had been in the Canterville Chase for years as housekeeper. She had strong belief in the existence of the Canterville Ghost. She believed that the blood on the floor belonged to the late Lady Eleanore De Canterville who was murdered by her husband Sir Simon de Canterville in the year 1575.

8. Why did Mrs.Umney alone faint at the sudden flash of lightning and the peal of thunder?  

When Washington Otis removed the blood stains from the floor, suddenly a terrible flash of lightning and a peal of thunder happened as if in response to Washington’s cleaning the blood stains. Mrs. Umney alone fainted because she had feared the wrath of the ghost for Washington’s reckless action.

9.What was peculiar about Mr. Otis’ behavior when the housekeeper fainted?  

Mr. Otis was quite unmoved and unperturbed. When the housekeeper.Mrs.Umney fainted, Mr. Otis lit a cheroot cigar and began to complain the terrible weather of the countryside while the housekeeper lay fainted.

10. Give a brief account of Mrs. Umney’s weird character. 

Mrs. Umney, the house keeper, was the possessor of a peculiar, weird character. Her receiving the Otises in black silk, not leaving a haunted house even after incidents in front of her eyes, fainting at lighting and thunder to scare the Otises and making a request to increase her salary just after a fainting are all examples of her weird character.