The Governess's Insanity In Turn Of The Screw By Henry James

The novella Turn of the Screw was written by Henry James and originally published in 1898. The story is a ghost tale, involving a Governess and two children. There is much debate as whether the Governess in this story is sane or insane. According to Oxford Dictionaries, insanity is a “state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, and social interaction” (Oxford Dictionaries). The Governess can be considered insane since she has disturbed perceptions, exhibits abnormal behavior, and has unnatural social interactions.
The Governess is insane since her perception is impaired. Throughout the novel, the Governess claims that there are ghosts haunting her and the children. For example, while the Governess and Mrs. Grose are by the lake,

the Governess believes that there is a ghost watching them. Despite the Governess’s beliefs, Mrs. Grose states, “She isn’t there, little lady, and nobody’s there-and you never see nothing, my sweet” (James 71). Mrs. Grose holds firm that there is no ghost. This occurrence demonstrates how the Governess is insane since she sees a ghost that Mrs. Grose cannot see. The most reasonable explanation is that the ghosts are a figment of the Governess’s imagination. Another instance that demonstrates the Governess’s flawed perception is when she thinks Flora can see the ghost but is keeping it to herself. In response to Mrs. Grose asking if Flora has admitted to seeing a ghost, she says, “She kept it to herself… she was perfectly aware” (James 30). Here, the delusional Governess believes that Flora sees the ghosts even though Flora never says she can see them and never shows any hard behavioral evidence that she can see them. The Governess imagines these ghosts and tries to push her beliefs onto the other characters, making her insane.
The argument that the Governess is insane is supported by the fact that her behavior becomes abnormal after she starts to see the supposed ghosts.

One behavioral issue that highlights the Governess’s insanity is her constant obsession with the children. For example, while watching over Miles, she thinks to herself, “what, under my endless obsession, I had been impelled to listen for was some betrayal of his not being at rest” (James 61). This quote exemplifies the Governess’s abnormal paranoia as she stays up and listens to Miles because she crazily suspects him of working with the ghosts and being possessed by them. This idea manifests in her head because she believes that since the children were close to Peter Quint and Miss Jessel before, the ghosts must be back for the children. The Governess just assumes this of the children, despite evidence of the contrary as they are described as pure and beautiful children in the beginning of the story and always deny the presence of the ghosts. Furthermore, the Governess’s insanity and obsession with the children manifests itself into more physical occurrences. For example, she physically handles Flora when she “[grips the] little girl with a spasm” (James 41). The Governess cannot control her behavior and grabs Flora because she believes that Flora is lying about her knowledge about the ghosts. The Governess’s delusions cause her to be physical with Flora, even though she is supposed to be her caretaker. This physical action

strays away from acceptable discipline, since Flora does nothing wrong and it is just the Governess that imagines Flora’s wrongdoing of being with the ghosts. The Governess’s insane behavior is not only unwarranted, it negatively affects the children in very real ways.
The Governess is also insane since she exhibits unnatural social interactions. The Governess has issues conveying her feelings and making rational decisions. When the Governess consults Mrs. Grose about seeing the ghosts, Mrs. Grose suggests contacting the Uncle for assistance. However, the Governess refuses to bother the Uncle, since she wants to maintain her undertaking to “give [the Uncle] no worry” (James 48). Although this seems noble on the outside, the Governess’s decision is not the best considering the circumstances. If any other sane person were in charge, they would have contacted the Uncle immediately if they believed ghosts to be threatening the safety of the children. Even with the possibility of the Uncle not believing her, the Governess should have contacted him since she truly believed that the children were in danger. After all, the Uncle is the only family the children have. The Governess also interacts abnormally when she encounters the ghost of Miss Jessel. When she thinks she sees Miss Jessel in the room, the Governess addresses her, “You terrible… woman!” (James 58). Given the Governess’s behavior throughout the story of being paranoid about the ghosts and freezing up with any encounter of them, it would be expected for her to be terrified of Miss Jessel and flee. Instead, she starts talking to the ghost and believes she can communicate with her. The Governess not only believes in ghosts, but she starts interacting with them. The Governess’s behavior with Miss Jessel shows how much the Governess’s belief in these ghosts has changed her ability to act and make decisions in a natural manner.
Some proponents of the Governess’s sanity may argue that at the end of the novel, Miles can see the ghost as he yells “Peter Quint-you devil,” validating the Governess’s sanity (James 86).

However, even though Miles yells this out, he cannot actually see any ghosts. This is supported by the fact that Miles asks, “Where?” in this same scene (James 86). Miles looks around but cannot see any evidence of a ghost. He only yells out Peter Quint’s name as a guess in response to the Governess’s questioning, since he knows the Governess has been seeing the ghosts. Also, grammatically, Miles is calling the Governess the devil and not Peter Quint. Miles calls the Governess the devil since he believes that she is corrupted by her insanity and that she is the real threat to him and everyone else in the story, not some imaginary ghosts. This sudden final outburst pushes Miles over the edge and allows him to express his true beliefs. Others may argue that the Governess’s obsession with the children is her just being a good and protective caretaker. While it is true that the Governess may be driven to protect the children, she is still insane as she takes her protectiveness too far. For example, she believes, “London will set [Flora] up,” as she decides to send Flora away (James 79). She separates the children due to her crazy idea that they are communicating with the ghosts. This can be seen as an unnecessary and excessive measure that the Governess takes, since there is no need for the

children to be separated. There is no evidence that the children can see the ghosts, and the children always get along and are the only two left of their nuclear family. The Governess’s insanity drives her to take unnecessary measures and separate a perfect connection.
Overall, the Governess can be considered insane as she exhibits many instances o flawed perception, abnormal behavior, and unnatural social interaction. Despite opposing arguments, it is undeniable that the Governess is insane