In Gothic fiction, imagery and foreshadowing often go hand in hand. Animals and various natural elements—including wind, weather, and the construction of the landscape—both parallel the activity of supernatural actors and foreshadow it. This is exemplified in the following passage from Chapter 1, where the Otis family first enters the grounds of Canterville Chase:
As they entered the avenue of Canterville Chase, however, the sky became suddenly overcast with clouds, a curious stillness seemed to hold the atmosphere, a great flight of rooks passed silently over their heads, and, before they reached the house, some big drops of rain had fallen.
Both the weather and the behavior of animals indicate, according to the precedent set by Gothic tropes, that Canterville Chase is home to supernatural and otherworldly phenomena. The rooks (or crows), for instance, which are typically quite noisy birds, exhibit abnormal behavior by flying in complete silence. The weather, too, is abnormal, with the atmosphere becoming unnaturally still as soon as the family enters the avenue of Canterville Chase. It is no coincidence that the weather and atmosphere darken and become moodier the minute the family enters this supernatural dwelling. This shift in nature is a deliberate technique used in Gothic fiction to foreshadow the presence of otherworldly elements.
In the following passage from Chapter 3, Wilde employs a wide range of figurative language, including imagery, personification, and simile, to evoke aspects of the Gothic for the reader. Each instance of figurative language in this sentence emphasizes the agency of the natural world, at times above or in contrast to the agency of human actors:
The owl beat against the window panes, the raven croaked from the old yew-tree, and the wind wandered moaning round the house like a lost soul; but the Otis family slept unconscious of their doom, and high above the rain and the storm [the ghost] could hear the steady snoring of the Minister for the United States.
Both the owl and the raven in this passage appear as portents of the ghost’s malicious midnight activity. Their presence is an important contribution to the Gothic imagery of the scene: often, in this literary tradition, the actions of animals—birds, in particular—parallel the actions of supernatural figures. In this passage, the ghost emerges as these animals emerge. Their nocturnal hijinks coincide with his own.
Even aspects of nature not commonly thought of as having life or agency take part in this Gothic nocturnal emergence. The wind, for instance, is personified in this passage through simile, with Wilde writing that it "wanders" like a "lost soul." Contrasting this agency of both natural and supernatural elements, the Otis family is passive, asleep, and little suspecting their "doom" (or so the ghost thinks).
In Chapter 6, Virginia reemerges from her quest to set the Canterville Ghost to rest, much to the shock and surprise of her family, who had assumed she had been kidnapped. In the passage that follows, Wilde uses sonic imagery to portray Virginia as otherworldly during her reemergence from the supernatural realm:
Just as they were passing out of the dining room, midnight began to boom from the clock tower, and when the last stroke sounded they heard a crash and a sudden shrill cry; a dreadful peal of thunder shook the house, a strain of unearthly music floated through the air, a panel at the top of the staircase flew back with a loud noise, and out on the landing, looking very pale and white, with a little casket in her hand, stepped Virginia.
Note the use of embellished language in the above passage to emphasize the sonic elements of Virginia’s reemergence: her appearance is heralded with “a dreadful peal of thunder,” “unearthly music,” and the loud banging of a panel, all in quick succession. Wilde generates a soundscape reminiscent of the appearance of apparitions and supernatural beings in Gothic fiction. This use of sonic imagery to evoke the Gothic genre cements Virginia’s alliance and sympathy with the Canterville Ghost. After the ghost has passed on, Virginia supplants his relational role to imagery within the story, adopting his characteristic use of ominous weather and noise to signal her own entrance into the physical plane. Her empathy for the ghost has made her more like him, by association.
