In the first chapter of the story, we learn that the Canterville Ghost is Sir Simon de Canterville, a former resident of Canterville Chase. In 1575, Sir Simon murdered his wife, and nine years later, he died in very mysterious circumstances. His body was never found and his "guilty spirit" has haunted the house ever since, terrifying generations of guests.
In Chapter Five, we learn even more about Sir Simon when he has a conversation with Virginia Otis. He tells her, for example, that he murdered his wife because she was a poor housekeeper and that he was killed by his wife's family. We also learn that he is very tired and is desperate to enter the Garden of Death where his soul can be at peace.
In order to do this, he must enlist a girl who is pure of heart and can pray for him and the sins he committed in life. When he explains this to Virginia, she agrees to help him, and, together, they are successful. Sir Simon finally enters the Garden of Death and is never seen at Canterville Chase again.
Sir Simon, the Canterville ghost, has his soul liberated through the actions of Virginia Otis, the American girl living in Canterville Hall.
She stumbles across him by accident one day in the tapestry room. She sees he looks sad. In conversation with him, she learns that he is tired of being a ghost and wishes he could die. He became a ghost as a punishment for murdering his wife. He has been haunting Canterville Hall for hundreds of years and is weary.
The only way he can be liberated, according to the prophecy in the tapestry room window, is to have a pure young woman pray and intercede for him with God. Virginia agrees to do that. As a result, Sir Simon fully dies and is finally at peace.
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