The Turn Of The Screw

exciting retelling of the boy’s actions and stories and as well a very good book. Hoose’s use of

Henry James's Turn of the Screw was written in a time when open sexuality was looked down upon. On the surface, the story is simply about a governess taking care of two children who are haunted by two ghosts. However, the subtext of the story is about the governess focusing on the children's innocence, and the governess trying to find her own sexual identity. Priscilla L. Walton wrote a gender criticism themed essay about the Turn of the Screw, which retells certain parts of the story and touches on the significance they provide for the sexually explicit theme. Walton's essay is accurate because James purposely put an undertone of sexuality and identity confusion in the Turn of the Screw.

Through out the short novella, 'The Turn of the Screw,' by Henry James, the governess continually has encounters with apparitions that seem to only appear to her. As Miles' behavior in school worsens so that he is prevented from returning, and as Flora becomes ill with a fever, the governess blames these ghosts for corrupting the children, Miles and Flora, and labels them as evil and manipulative forces in their lives. But why is it that these ghosts only seem to appear to the governess even when the children are present at the time of the sightings by the governess? Evidence from the short story leads the reader to believe that the ghosts are not real but are merely the evidence of the fragmenting sanity of the governess.

One of the most critically discussed works in twentieth-century American literature, The Turn of the Screw has inspired a variety of critical interpretations since its publication in 1898. Until 1934, the book was considered a traditional ghost story. Edmund Wilson, however, soon challenged that view with his assertions that The Turn of the Screw is a psychological study of the unstable governess whose visions of ghosts are merely delusions. Wilson’s essay initiated a critical debate concerning the interpretation of the novel, which continues even today (Poupard 313). Speculation considering the truth of the events occurring in The Turn of the Screw depends greatly on the reader’s assessment of the reliability of the governess as a

The governess has a deep obsession for the little boy Miles. He is charming, handsome, and so many other things she desires in a man and an obvious sexual tension is present between the two throughout the entire novel. The governess says, "…everything but a sort of passion of tenderness for him was swept away by his presence. What I then and there took him to my heart for was something divine

“We don’t accept handouts form anyone” says Rose Mary Walls, the mother of Jeannette Walls. In the memoir The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls she describes events from her life from childhood to adulthood and how she overcame her struggles. She had to adjust to her family’s situation and comply with how her parents wanted her to act, which was to be independent. Walls’ memoir embodies the theme of being self-sufficient by illustrating scenes that take place in hers and her siblings life that demonstrate the need to become self-sufficient. Jeannette Walls has been learning how to be independent from a young age.

No sleep could pass the governess's eyes without continually casting thought to the mere beauty of the child she had met only days earlier. The meeting with the young master Miles only stringed the governess's infatuation with the physical features of the young children. After receiving by letter that Miles was expelled from school, the governess herself found malcontent for the boy, but her first glance at the boy on meeting him cast away all previous distaste.

Miles and the Governess also resemble extremely ambiguous behavior. The scene of the governess’s questioning due to Mile’s appearance outside in the middle of the night seems elliptical. His kiss that the

The Turn of the Screw is a novel that has two narrators, but the main and primary narrator of the book is the new Governess of the household taking this role at the beginning of chapter one. This move of having two narrators starts the thought for the readers that the narrator of The Turn of the Screw is an unreliable narrator. Henry James then tries to correct this by explaining in the text that the story Douglas was going to tell to the other vacation goers had been written done. The reason James added the fact it had been written down into

The governess’ knowledge of Quint and Miss Jessel’s affair, despite their social class, gives the governess the idea of her and her employer’s possible relationship. The difference in the governess’ and her employer’s social standings compared to that of Quint’s and Jessel’s are quite similar, with Quint being the valet at Bly and Miss Jessel being the previous governess. The governess is “drawn to her employer...who has a higher rank than she, [so] she makes much of the illicit affair between… Miss Jessel and Peter Quint, a man of much lower class” (“The Turn of the Screw” 252). Mrs. Grose describes Miss Jessel as simply a “lady” and that Quint is “dreadfully below” her (James 185). Wilson continues to tie Jessel and Quint’s relationship with

The uncle tells the governess when she takes the job that he does not want to be bothered with what happens at Bly; he just wants the children to be taken care of. The uncle wants to live his life independent of the children and not have to worry about any emotional attachment to them. This creates a large void in lives of Miles and Flora as they lack the love and affection of a constant parental figure in their lives. The silence of the relationship between the children and their uncle creates the suspenseful mood because there is an expectation that at some point there will be an intervention by the uncle on the children’s behalf, but this never happens. Magnifying the tension in the story, the governess writes a letter to the uncle asking for help, but Miles burns the letter before it can be sent. When the governess attempts to break the silence in the novel and reach out for help, other characters prevent the truth from coming out. The silence and distance of the uncle coupled with the silence of ghost encounters are used to set up the tragedy. Whenever the ghosts make an appearance, there is no exchange of words or sounds; they just have an effect on the governess and her mind. This leads to the climax at the end when Miles dies. The governess and Miles finally communicate about the issues at hand, and the truth is too much for Miles to handle. The characters’ lack of communication and silence led to the tragic ending. If they had communicated and sought help, then the problems could have been dealt with earlier, but the uncle created the isolation that led to the

Henry James’ novel The Turn of the Screw presents to the reader a story that seems as real as the recorded ghost sightings which were the primary influence for the book. Nevertheless, upon further examination, the reader might begin to wonder about the reliability of the narrator. Considering the setting in which the story is narrated, the storyteller’s confessions and pieces of unawareness impact emerging, the governess can be described as an unreliable narrator. Most people concentrate on Governess’ story instead of the introduction for the analysis of The Turn of the Screw. However, this novel is a frame story, and more precise information can be found in Douglas’ story and the conditions in which he narrates the story (James, p.5). At the

Throughout The turn of the Screw by Henry James, the theme of ambiguous issues is constantly leaving the reader on their own. The ambiguity and uncertainty within this text causes the readers to come up with their own theories as to what the text really means. The ghost story perspective only adds to the infuriating vagueness. The title itself is about all of the twists within this story and basically foreshadows the confusion that the text will cause.

Being a fan of horror novels and especially ghost stories, I’ve been eager to make my way to more of the classics so as to see for myself where horror originated. The Turn of the Screw is one those, featuring two children who appear to be consorting with ghosts and a governess who’s sole purpose in life has become to save the children from these evil spiritual entities. Intriguing, but the incredible dense writing really killed this for me despite its short length.

In the short story “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James, a harsh war between innocence and corruption arises, taking captive the life of a young boy named Miles. This constant battle malignantly destroys the lives of many characters, incarcerating them in a labyrinth of fear and ordeal. The manifestation of fear and ordeal derives directly from the introduction of Peter Quint. A former valet, who charmingly sets to terminate the innocence of young Miles. With an inappropriately intimate relationship with young Miles, Peter Quint implants a sinister seed within Miles causing trouble in distinguishing the disparity between good and evil. With the presence of a young, pure mind, the capability of corruption is inevitable when evil decides to take advantage. If child abuse occurs, then the corruption of innocence will lead to the character’s demise.