Mercy and Empathy Theme Analysis

In a biting exchange between Sir Simon and Virginia Otis, the ghost tells the girl that he doubts that he would enjoy living in America. Virginia suspects that this is because America lacks the ruins and curiosities of England, but Sir Simon admonishes her: “No ruins! No curiosities! [Y]ou have your navy and your manners.” While the audience is surely tickled by this bit of humor, Virginia is insulted by it and makes to leave immediately afterwards. This, Wilde suggests, is at the heart of the problem between the English and the Americans. They are so mired in attacking one another that they can’t come to any kind of real, productive conversation. In the end, when Virginia shows both empathy and mercy to Sir Simon, he is rewarded with the eternal rest he’s sought for so long, and she is rewarded with wisdom about life, love, and death, as well as a handsome cache of jewels. Thus, Wilde shows mercy and empathy as the only potential escape from the cynical cycle of mutual sniping between the decaying British Aristocracy and the vulgar Americans.

Most of the time, both the Otis family and Sir Simon behave horribly to one another. Sir Simon instantly begins an attack on the Otis family, practically the moment they arrive. He waits until they’ve gone to sleep and then attempts to scare them through a combination of loud moans and dragging long, rusted chains. So, too, do the Otis family begin an attack on Sir Simon. This is true physically, in the sense of the Otis twins throwing pillows at and laying traps for him. But it is also true metaphorically, as with Washington Otis’ removal of the bloodstain, which had stood as a kind of historical landmark for centuries, and their general breaking down of Sir Simon’s will through their immunity to his efforts at scaring them. A perfect example of this occurs when Mrs. Otis offers stomach medicine to Sir Simon after he’s just unleashed his most demonical laugh.

Importantly, both sides engage in this behavior because it’s what they’ve always done, which hinders their ability to understand one another. Sir Simon’s haunting, for example, is what the British have always expected of their ghosts, and he has excelled at it for centuries. As such, when the Americans find him distasteful and disruptive, Sir Simon redoubles his efforts, rather than considering how he might adjust his behavior to accommodate the new residents. Because he refuses to see their side of things, he cannot understand why they don’t fear him the way that generations of Cantervilles always have. The Otis family, conversely, takes no account whatsoever of Sir Simon’s long history of haunting or even of what’s expected of him. They simply consider themselves the owners of Canterville Chase, and expect that it should run as they see it, regardless of how things have always been. Like Sir Simon, the Americans fail to understand the deep history and tradition that underlie Sir Simon’s behavior. This relationship mirrors the relationship between Britain and America at that time: as the American nation rose in power and prestige, the British empire fell. Yet, both had to continue to exist in the world together. Just as the British were alarmed by the ascendance of what they saw as vulgar American culture, so too were the Americans perturbed by the persistence of British tradition. Neither side, Wilde suggests, wanted to resolve these issues. That is, they both lacked empathy for the position of the other.

The ending of The Canterville Ghost, however, is surprisingly kind, in contrast to the raucous satire contained in most of the text. Exhausted by his efforts to terrify the Otis family, Sir Simon enters into conversation with Virginia, initiating the story’s first productive dialogue. The conversation is marked by Virginia’s concern for Sir Simon. She shows empathy for his situation and real distress over the idea that he hasn’t eaten or slept in centuries. This genuine anxiety about his condition softens Sir Simon, who is then able to let down his guard and talk earnestly with Virginia about his struggles and fears. This conversation ultimately leads to Sir Simon being released from torment, and it also rewards Virginia with personal growth and wealth.

Importantly, the six lines of prophecy written in the Canterville library, which predict that Sir Simon will be released from his torment through a show of empathy, predict that it will be a child who shows him this compassion. This suggests that what Sir Simon truly had to wait for was a new generation of children that wasn’t invested in the traditional sniping between Brits and Americans but instead was able to look past the superficial stylings of that conflict and see the pain and suffering that Sir Simon’s long purgatory had caused him. Such a reading is compelling, because it is precisely a lack of empathy that led to Sir Simon becoming a ghost in the first place, both on his part (because he killed his wife) and on the part of his in-laws who murdered him as revenge.