chief traits of characters of the Otis family

Mr. HIRAM B. OTIS: He is the American ambassador to the royal court of England. He is a rational and pragmatic American Republican. He comes ‘from a modern country’ which has everything that can be bought. He refuses to believe that Canterville Chase is haunted despite what his acquaintances say. Later, however, after the constant reappearance of the bloodstain in the library, he has to accept the existence of the disembodied spirit. MRS. LUCRETIA OTIS:   She is the wife of the American ambassador to the royal court of England. Before marriage, she was called Miss Lucretia R. Tappan and was well known for her beauty. She is described as ‘a very handsome, middle-aged woman, with fine eyes, and a superb profile’. The author praises her for having ‘a magnificent constitution’ and ‘a really wonderful amount of animal spirits’. He says that on this account she was more English than American. WASHINGTON OTIS: He is the eldest of the Otis children. We are told that Washington, named after the first President of the United States, does not like his name very much. He is described as ‘fair-haired’, ‘good-looking’ and an ‘excellent dancer’. He is said to display an excessive fondness towards the nobility. This sets him apart from his father who does not approve of titles and the enfeebling influences of the ‘pleasure-loving aristocracy’ VIRGINIA OTIS: She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Otis. She was born in a London suburb ‘shortly after Mrs. Otis returned from a trip to Athens’. She is athletic and free-spirited, with golden hair and large blue eyes. She is a good rider who once raced and beat Lord Bilton. Virginia is shown to have a sense of right and wrong. She censures the ghost for murdering his poor wife. She has a great regard for her family. So, she takes offence when the ghost calls her family ‘horrid, rude, vulgar, dishonest’. THE OTIS TWINS: They are the youngest members of the Otis family. They study at Eton, an English boarding school. We are told that ‘The Star and Stripes’—a reference to the American flag—is the nickname for the twin brothers. They prove to be the Canterville ghost’s nemeses. They attack him with pillows and pea shooters. They dress up as ghosts to scare him off his wits. They set trip wires and butter slides in different parts of the house to make him fall.