Summary
The next morning, the stain has reappeared, and despite Washington’s diligent efforts to clean it away, it continues to reappear every morning. The Otis family begins to consider the possibility that the ghost may actually exist after all.
A few days later, Mr. Otis is awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of clanging metal. He goes out into the hallway and confronts the horrifying figure of a ghost. However, Mr. Otis remains perfectly calm and suggests the ghost oil his chains so that he does not cause so much noise. On top of this, as the ghost walks away, the young twins, who are also unafraid, throw pillows at him. Back in his room, the ghost reflects on the upsetting realization that after hundreds of years of terrifying anyone who came to the house, the Otis family seems to have no reaction to him. He begins to strategize about the best way to proceed.
Analysis
The reappearance of the stain reflects that the struggle between ancient traditions and modern values is not going to be a simple one to resolve. Because of their pragmatic outlook, the Otis family assumed they had solved the problem by scrubbing the stain away, but things that have been around for centuries, including the stain and an entire system of cultural values, are not simply going to vanish overnight. Still, the Otis family views the possibility of the ghost actually existing as an interesting intellectual possibility, not anything to be afraid of. Their outlook is so rational and scientific that they are not impressed, merely intrigued.
The first sighting of the ghost confirms this disconnect between anticipated and actual response even further. The description of what Mr. Otis sees when he goes out into the hall and encounters the ghost is quite horrifying: the ghost is clearly a menacing and hostile presence. This would be a moment of climax in a typical Gothic story, but here it functions as a sharp anti-climax. Mr. Otis is not at all impressed, and just wants to get back to sleep. While "the fictional ghost-seer is typically caught in a disconcerting double-bind between instinctive faith in the evidence of one's sight and the troubling knowledge that vision is often deceptive and unreliable" (Smajic pg. 1109), Mr. Otis's supreme self-confidence and self-assurance allow him to remain perfectly calm and unfazed at this moment. He again references a commercial, mass-produced product; for Mr. Otis, buying the right thing seems to always be the solution to a problem. The lack of reaction from Mr. Otis is heightened by the reaction of the twins: usually, children would be the first to be frightened by a menacing ghost. But here, in fact, the two little boys are more aggressive, and the person who is endangered by this encounter is the ghost himself!
The ghost's reflections after he returns to his hiding place offer insight into how he thinks of his identity and role at Canterville Chase. He takes a lot of pride in having successfully frightened many people during his time there: the memories he recollects allow Wilde to poke fun at many of the typical plotlines of popular Gothic and ghost stories. They also show the ghost as someone who dwells in the past: not just the past of his own lifetime, but all the history he has lived through over the past 3 centuries. While Lord Canterville seemed to be able to sell his home and heritage without a second thought, the ghost here becomes a proxy figure for the individual with a deep emotional connection to a place based on their connection to its history, and the memories it holds.
The ghost is also positioned as an artist, specifically an actor. The different personas he appears in are presented as stage roles, the way an actor might be known for their performance of Macbeth or Ophelia. Especially in the late 1800s, when theatre was a dominant form of entertainment and well-known actors could attain celebrity status, likening the ghost to an actor who is starting to lose his popularity would have heightened tension and sympathy. In the same way that someone who has been very popular while young and beautiful might be dismayed to notice that their looks and popularity are fading, the ghost is alarmed to think that the modern audience as represented by the Otis family is no longer impressed by him.
