# Erskine — Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories character guide

> Erskine in Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Hugh Erskine

**First appearance:** 0017-the-portrait-of-mr-w-h

## Snapshot

A man of forty with a sad smile and a locked cabinet, who inherits a dead friend's obsession and the portrait that proves it.

## Who they are

Erskine is the quiet centre of the frame: older, steadier, and still carrying the weight of Cyril Graham's ruin. He tells the story of the forgery with the bitterness of someone who loved the forger and cannot quite forgive the fraud. The portrait of Mr. W. H. sits in his cabinet like a relic, and when he finally passes it on, he also passes on the dangerous gift of belief. His scepticism is not coldness; it is grief.

## In the story

### [The Portrait of Mr. W. H.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lord_arthur_savile_s_crime_and_other_stories_se/chapters/the-portrait-of-mr-w-h)

Hosts the narrator and recounts the story of Cyril Graham and the forged portrait.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lord_arthur_savile_s_crime_and_other_stories_se/chapters/i)

Hosts the narrator for dinner; reveals the story of Cyril Graham and the forged portrait of Mr. W. H.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lord_arthur_savile_s_crime_and_other_stories_se/chapters/iii)

The narrator's friend who becomes a devoted believer in the Willie Hughes theory after receiving the narrator's letter, and later dies in Cannes.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lord_arthur_savile_s_crime_and_other_stories_se/characters/erskine
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lord_arthur_savile_s_crime_and_other_stories_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lord_arthur_savile_s_crime_and_other_stories_se/characters