Modernism
is originally arising in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The term
is used as opposed to the "traditional" forms of art, architecture,
literature, religious faith, social organization and daily life that were
becoming outdated in the new economic, social, and political conditions. In the
era which is full of innovation in various fields, such as technology,
transportation, and communication, people’s mindset becomes more logical and
rational. Most of them had left the traditional thinking which is related to
mystical things. It is shown by some literary works at that time, some of which
are Oscar Wilde’s short stories, “The Canterville Ghost” and “Lord Arthur Sevile’s Crime”.
The
modernism is clearly visible in “The Canterville Ghost” as the narrator
mentions that Otis family are modern Americans. No one in that family believe
about ghost that people are telling has haunted the house they have purchased. They are not scared at all even though the owner of the place himself warns about the ghost.
However, the modernism is represented by Americans who move to England, while
the British still believe and are scared of ghost. Since at that time England
was still in the beginning of modernism era, Wilde intends to bring the contrast
between American who already had modern thinking and British who still had
traditional mindset. Mr. Hiram B. Otis, an American Minister, and his family
unhesitatingly move to Canterville Chase of which people are scared. It is seen
that Wilde tries to change people who still think that kind of unreal things
matter.
Canterville
Chase is an old English country house which actually is a traditional haunted
house. The Gothic setting which is apperently real is enough to symbolize the
traditional belief in England. Wilde criticizes British people who was still
have traditional mindset in technological era. On the other side, he also
satirizes the materialistic American that do not mind anything not in the form
of material. Mr. Otis even jokingly says that he “will take the furniture and
the ghost at valuation” when Lord Canterville tells about the ghost in that
house. He then continues, “I come from a modern country, where we have
everything that money can buy.” He generalizes the opinion by bringing the
country, that indicates Wilde’s view about American.
This
story seems like a horror story by involving ghost that usually will scare the
reader. But in fact, it is more like a parody of horror story due to the nonexistence
of terrifying scene. The figure of ghost that shoud have been scary and brings
darkness to the story, instead looks ridiculous and even could bring laughter.
Moreover, the narration mostly shows the ghost’s perspective so that we see the
unusual ghost’s image. Normally in other stories, ghost is mysterious and
brings the feeling of terror, but here we can see the ghost whose name Sir
Simon, like a comedy, do foolish things to threaten the Otis family. He absurdly
describes his being a ghost as a career and he does it like normal people do
their job, like choosing clothes to scare people, or using the paints he steals
from Virginia, Mr. Otis’ daughter, to create bloodstains on the floor. He is even
scared when he sees the fake ghost made by the twins and often tricked by them.
Not
only the depiction of ghost which is not ordinary, but also the way the Otis
family treat the ghost. At first, they do not believe that ghosts exist, but as
they see strange things happen, they begin to consider the ghost’s existence in
the house. However, it still does not make them scared, instead they find it
quite interesting. The way they think so logically makes it more illogical
since the reaction of every mysterious phenomenon are very unexpected. For
example, when Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper, tells Washington Otis the story of
bloodstains in the library:
“It is the blood of Lady
Eleanore de Canterville, who was murdered on that very spot by her own husband,
Sir Simon de Canterville, in 1575. Sir Simon survived her nine years, and
disappeared suddenly under very mysterious circumstances. His body has never
been discovered, but his guilty spirit still haunts the Chase. The blood-stain
has been much admired by tourists and others, and cannot be removed.'” (Wilde 1891)
He
answers with, “That is all nonsense.” It is not for the fact that it is the
ghost’s blood and all as the reader would think, but it is for the fact that
the blood cannot be removed. Then he naturally uses Pinkerton’s Champion Stain
Remover and Paragon Detergent to clean it up, that proves that in fact it can
be removed, though it comes again later. He ignores all the stuffs related to
supernatural and only mind the physical things. In addition, a terrible flash
of lightning that happens afterwards only makes the American minister whines
about the climate, instead of being frightened because of the mystic aura. Even
when he himself sees the frightening appearance of the ghost after hearing
sounds of the clank of metal at the midnight, he still shows his calmness that
makes the ghost offended.
'My
dear sir,' said Mr. Otis
[to the ghost], 'I really must insist on your oiling those chains, and have brought you for
that purpose a small bottle of the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator. It is said to
be completely efficacious upon one application, and there are several
testimonials to that effect on the wrapper from some of our most eminent native
divines. I shall leave it here for you by the bedroom candles, and will be
happy to supply you with more should you require it.' (Wilde 1891)
Besides
the modernism that the Otis family brings from America, the traditional English
is also shown in Mrs. Umney. She is the representative of British that has
disadvantage because she is scared of ghost and faints when hears the thunder.
It looks like a mockery to British people who still think traditionally.
Different with the Otises that has no problem since they do not think ghost as
a thing that they should be scared of, but instead they treat him just like a
human, and actually it gives the ghost humiliation.
However,
the short story has an emotional happy ending as the character Virginia finds Sir
Simon, the ghost, sitting by the window
with “extreme depression.” She talks to him and they go through some
misunderstanding, until Sir Simon asks her to help him go to Death beyond the
pine woods, which she agrees. Once again, Wilde turns the scary image of ghost
to an emotional creature. Then, for the first time we can see the whole Otis
family feel scared and panic which is caused by the missing of Virginia. What
scares and worries them are just rational things, like missing their family.
Then she returns and makes her family relieved. She brings a box of beatiful
jewels given by the ghost, showing their friendship, that she wears when she is
married with Duke
of Cheshire.
Another
Wilde’s short story that indicates the modenism era is “Lord Arthur Savile’s
Crime”. In oppisite of “The Canterville Ghost”, the main character in “Lord
Arthur Savile’s Crime” does not show logical thinking like modern people in the
former story. Lord Arthur, the main character, still believes in mystical
things, such as fortune telling, that brings him difficulty. He gets tricked by
Mr. Podgers, the cheiromantist, when he looks so terrified after reading his
palm. Lord Arthur suspects Mr. Septimus Podgers
does not tell truth when he says the fortune that he will lose a distant
relative. He thinks that the fortune teller hides something more than that, and
insists him to tell what he really has seen and even pay him to hear “the
truth”. He feels so down and depressed
after hearing that “murder” is what the cheiromatist has seen on his hand. He does not know why he wants to murder
someone because he does not have anyone to kill or the reason of it. But it
always haunts him and he believes that he will become a murderer.
The
short story also shows absurdity when Lord Arthur see the fortune telling as
his duty, although in fact there is nothing that makes him should do the
murder. When he remembers about his lover, Sybil Merton, whom he will marry not
long after, he realizes that he cannot marry her before he does the murder
because he does not want her to live with him in “terror of wrongdoing.” Thus,
he decides to postpone the marriage until he commits the murder. It becomes
more absurd since he looks for someone who is available to kill. Irronically,
the narrator, with the perspective of Lord Arthur says, “He had that rarest of
all things, common sense,” when in fact, all he does and thinks are absurd.
After
he convinces himself that what he does is not a sin, but a sacrifice out of
duty for someone he loves, he chooses some candidates whom he will murder. After
careful consideration, he decides to kill Lady Clementina Beauchamp, a dear old
lady who lives in Curzon Street. Weirdly, when he has decided to do his
“mission”, he does not feel “turbid feelings” anymore as before. The fact that
he will kill someone that he thinks as a sin before no longer bothers him. He
only thinks about Sybil and their marriage. “He [wonders] how he could have
been so foolish as to rant and rave about the inevitable.” The inevitable
actually is not inevitable since nothing rational that forces him to commit the
murder if he does not believe that kind of mystical thing.
Lord
Arthur does his murder mission just like his real job, and does not assume it
as something dreadful because it is just his duty he has to fulfil. He does not
consider murder as a terrible thing and he does not feel guilty at all when implementing
his plan, instead he only feels anxiety and excitement whether his plan
succeeds or not. He gives a poison to Lady Clementina that he claims as a
medicine for her heartburn. He even does not feel bad in the slightest when she
treats him so warmly when he comes to her house, or when she gives him her
little house in Curzon Street and some other goods in her will after her death.
All Lord Arthur feels is relief and happiness for he finally can marry the girl
he really loves, that is ended after he knows that his aunt apperently has died
a natural death. However, he looks for the second victim to make his “mission”
succeeds. Finally he decides to kill his distant relative, the Dean of
Chichester. He sends a bomb disguised as a carriage-clock from a Russian
anarchist anonymously. His second attempt also ends to no avail since the bomb
does not kill or damage anything, instead just makes tiny, harmless explosions
that amuses Chichester family, especially the Dean’s son who plays with the
clock happily. These kind of scenes just look like a comedy and it looks as ridiculous
as the ghost’s attempt to scare the Otises in “The Canterville Ghost”.
The
prophecy finally happens in reality when Lord Arthur kills Mr.Podgers by
sinking him in the water when he has the chance. Ironically, the cheiromantist
dies because of his own prophecy. It also shows that suggestion will work when
it is believed. However, the story ends with a happy ending with the marriage
of Lod Arthur and Sybil after the struggle he has gone through, which is
actually absurd, the term that Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre (1940s) introduced as a recognition of
their inability to find any rational explanation for human life. The term
described what they understood as the fundamentally meaningless situation of humans in a
confusing, hostile, and indifferent world. It is even becomes clearer that what Lord Arthur
has done are meaningless when Lady Windermere tells Sybil that the
cheiromantist is an impostor. However, Lord
Arthur himself never knows the fact, even he belives that he owes his happy ending
to cheiromancy.
In
modern era where technology had much
more developed, Oscar Wilde wished to change people’s mindset in England at
that time not to think traditionally anymore, especially mystical things that
are not logical and rational. He makes such commedy stories to show the disadvantages
of thinking in traditional way and the advantages of thinking in modern way.
References:
“Modernism” (accessed on December 17th
2014) <http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Modernism.html>
“The Canterville Ghost” (accessed on
December 17th 2014) <http://theghostofcanterville2008.es.tl/Book.htm>
Wilde, Oscar. (1891). “Lord
Arthur Savile’s Crime”. Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories. Project Gutenberg EBook.
Wilde, Oscar. (1891). “The
Canterville Ghost”. Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories. Project Gutenberg EBook.
