Turn Of The Screw: Deranged Governess

Deranged Governess

Can ghosts make people that are sane go insane? Throughout the novella, Turn of the Screw, written by Henry James, the governess continually encounters apparitions, or ghosts, which only appear to her. From Miles being expelled from school, Miles and Flora miss behaving, to Flora becoming ill, the governess saw the ghosts the entire time. The governess is the only one able to witness the ghost that she claims possess the children. Evidence from the text proves that her psychological state due to the apparitions was declining as the novella went on.
After accepting a job offer, the governess first arrived in the house of Bly to begin her job as educating and upbringing her employer’s niece, Flora, and his nephew, Miles.

When the governess first arrived at Bly she met the maid, Mrs. Grouse, and Flora. After meeting Flora, she thought that she was the sweetest little child and cannot wait to meet Miles, even though she received a letter stating that Miles had been expelled from his school. Since the letter did not specify why Miles was expelled from school, the governess questioned Mrs. Grouse. Mrs.Grouse stated, “Miles was bad on occasion”, but “...all boys ought to be.” (10) After meeting Miles, the governess is reassured that Miles was a good kid. Thus far, the governess had a stable psychological state.
After settling in with the children and becoming acclimated to her routine, the Governess decided to take a walk outside in the courtyard during her free time.

While strolling through the yard she had thoughts about her employer and her attraction to him, and says, “...it would be as charming as a charming story to suddenly meet someone.”(15) Then, “Someone would appear there at the turn of the path and would stand before me and smile.”(15) The governess then froze and stared into the tower’s window and looked right into a man’s face and became excited and nervous, but scared because she did not know if it is a real person or a shadow dressed in all black. Later, the governess described her encounter to Mrs. Grouse. Mrs.Grouse stated that the man she described is Mr. Peter Quint, who has passed away. This confused the Governess because she was able to see him and observe every detail of him. The governess’s psychological state started to decline, because she became alarmed of her surroundings and became spooked at every ghost sighting later to come for she feared for the

children.
While the Governess is upset after already seeing Peter Quint, she later saw him again.

This time, however, he was in the dining room, causing her to doubt her sanity even more. “He appeared thus again with I won’t say greater distinctness, for that was impossible, but with a nearness that represented a forward stride in our intercourse and made me , as I met him, catch my breath and turn cold” (20). She was seeing Mr. Quint again; however she did not believe it. The governess then runs outside to where he was, and he is no longer there. She then speaks to Mrs.Grouse again who became concerned for the governess and her

sanity.
Later, one night while the governess was reading in her room, she was distracted by a noise. She goes to investigate it, and she found Mr. Quint by the stairs. She then chased the ghost down the stairs, but he disappeared again. She became worried and ran to the children’s room for she feared for their safety. There, the governess found Flora hiding behind a curtain and looked out the window where she saw Miles in the courtyard. The governess begun to panic and feels as if the ghost is starting to hurt the kids., for Mrs.Grouse stated, he was “too free” with the children.(26) After getting the children back into the house safely, she kept a watch on them all night long. She later saw apparitions of another person, which according to Mrs.Grouse was the deceased governess, Miss Jessel. Confused, the governess is the only one seeing these apparitions, she begins to doubt her sanity.
After a few days of the governess’s lessening sanity, she begun to sleep less. She continued to listen in on the children and watched everything they did. Eventually, the governess decided to write her employer, which was strictly forbidden, because she was afraid for the childrens’ lives. One night she listened in on Miles, when she found him talking. When Miles realized the governess was watching him, he invited her into his room. She then questioned Miles who denied everything that she accused him off. Mile’s suddeningly shrieked, and his candle went out. This alarmed the governess because he was all alone in his room, and she felt that he was talking to the apparitions. After leaving his room, she begun to walk back to her room where she questioned her sanity even more.
Later after school one day, Miles asked the governess to listen to him play the piano, and the governess agreed. While playing the piano, she started to doze off and became unaware of her surroundings. Meanwhile, Flora slips out of the room. Upon coming back into reality, the governess became very concerned when she did not see Flora. She asked Miles where she had went, and he ignored her. She ran through the house alerting Mrs.Grouse to help find her. After searching the house, they were unable to find her and went to the lake. When they arrived at the lake the governess is confused because the boat is missing, which would be impossible for Flora to move by herself. While searching for Flora, the governess continued to blame all of this on the ghosts, especially Miss Jessel. Mrs. Grouse was in denial of this accusation, and became alarmed of the governess’ sanity again. After going around the lake they finally locate Flora. However, this was the final breaking point for the governess’s sanity, for she saw Miss Jessel, while no one else did. Flora became concerned and asked the governess and Mrs.Grouse where their hats are, and the governess responds with, “I’ll tell you if you tell me--where she is”(26) Flora suddenly glared at the governess, and then denied everything that was happening and feared that the governess has gone insane and ran to Mrs.Grouse for safety. After having grabbed Flora, Mrs.Grouse and her ran to Bly for safety. The governess fell to the ground where she screamed in hysteria, for she felt she had lost her mind.
After having arrived back to Bly, Flora and Miles were seen acting normal. Later, after a few days had passed, Flora became very ill. After Flora’s health continued to decline, the governess blamed Miss Jessel for that. After having discussed with Mrs.Grouse on what to do, they decided Flora be sent away from Bly to her uncle, because these apparitions will kill her. Mrs. Grouse solemnly agrees to leave with Flora. After Flora was sent away, Miles and the governess, whose sanity is no longer there, are left in the house. Peter Quint then appeared before the governess and she grabbed Miles whose heart suddenly stopped. After the final sighting of Quint and Miles dieing, the governess sanity is no longer there.
It is not the ghost, as the governess suspected, that were hurting the children. It is the governess herself through her continually worsening hysteria. Both Mr. Peter Quint and Miss Jessel appear solely before the governess. Evidence proved that her psychological state was declining as the novella went on.