Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde.

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Chapter 1
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime
Lord Arthur Savile attends Lady Windermere's reception where a chiromantist, Mr. Podgers, reads his palm and reveals that he will commit a murder. Horrified by the prophecy, Arthur becomes consumed by the idea that he must fulfill this fate before he can marry Sybil Merton. He decides to commit the murder as a duty, setting off a darkly comic series of attempts.
Chapter 2
I
The narrator dines with Erskine, and their conversation turns to literary forgeries. Erskine reveals that his friend Cyril Graham forged a portrait of Mr. W. H. to prove his theory that the young man addressed in Shakespeare's Sonnets was a boy-actor named Willie Hughes. After the forgery was discovered, Cyril Graham shot himself.
Chapter 3
Chapter II
The narrator awakens and immerses himself in Shakespeare's Sonnets, finding evidence for Cyril Graham's theory that Mr. W. H. is Willie Hughes, a boy-actor. He interprets the sonnets as Shakespeare's invitation for Hughes to marry his Muse and create immortal art through the stage, while also noting Shakespeare's ambivalence toward the theatre. The narrator resolves the puzzle of Shakespeare's urgings for Hughes to marry by interpreting it as a call to artistic rather than literal marriage.
Chapter 4
III
The narrator recounts his attempt to persuade Erskine to embrace Cyril Graham's Willie Hughes theory, only to experience a sudden loss of faith himself. Despite his efforts to dissuade Erskine, Erskine becomes a fervent believer and later dies, apparently by suicide, for the theory. The narrator rushes to Cannes only to learn from the doctor that Erskine actually died of consumption, and Lady Erskine gives him the forged portrait of Willie Hughes as a memento.
Chapter 5
IV
The Canterville Ghost, weakened and humiliated by the Otis family's relentless pranks, retreats to his room. He attempts to fulfill his supernatural duties with caution but is continually thwarted by the twins' traps, including a butter-slide and a falling water jug. After a final failed attempt to scare the young Duke of Cheshire, he resigns himself to defeat, while Virginia rides with the Duke and the family resumes their normal activities.

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Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime

I

Chapter II

III

IV