Definition of Mood
Unusually for the Gothic genre, the mood of “The Canterville Chase” is humorous and light. This mood serves the purposes of Wilde's satire: he clearly wishes to make the defining characteristics of Gothic fiction into humorous foibles, something he only achieves by keeping the mood light. By convention, Gothic fiction and its various derivative genres tend to maintain a darker, more somber, foreboding mood. The anticipation of supernatural events and the horrors that follow is often an important part of the plot in Gothic narratives; and for this to be the case, mood must often anticipate horror. In order to satirize the Gothic, one must infuse horror with humor. Moving from foreboding to humorous provides the necessary shift for the reader to be able to distinguish the author’s satirical tone.