Give a brief character sketch of the Canterville ghost.

Sir Simon, also known as the Canterville Ghost, has a number of key character attributes. Here are a few examples:

• He is impatient with people. The ghost killed his own wife because she was not a good housekeeper, for instance, and is vexed by the "gross materialism" of Mrs Otis.


• The ghost is nostalgic and loves to think about his previous successful hauntings. When he fails to frighten Mr Otis in Chapter Two, for instance, the ghost's mind immediately turns to his past victims, like the Madame de Tremouillac who had an attack of "brain fever" after waking up to find the ghost reading her diary.


• He is deeply affected by his failure to frighten the Otis family. He becomes depressed, for example, and confines himself to his room. By Chapter Five, he is so forlorn that he seeks eternal rest in the Garden of Death.