Henry James’s Turn of the Screw may be considered a ghost story. If it is a ghost story, it musts feature genuine apparitions. If, instead, it is a realistic story, then there must be other explanations for what the governess claims to see. The governess claims sees two apparitions, Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, throughout the story. She believes that the ghosts are haunting the children that she is in charge of, Miles and Flora, who used to know Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. There are no cases where anyone other than the governess conclusively sees the ghosts, and there are other reasonable explanations told by the children. Therefore, Turn of the Screw is not a ghost story. Rather the ghosts are a fabricated piece of the governess’s imagination. …show more content…
After finding Flora and seeing Miss Jessel across the lake, the governess exclaims to Flora, “there, there, there, and you see her as well as you see me!” (120). Flora later says, “I don’t know what you mean. I see nobody. I see nothing” (122). Still, the governess believes that the children know about the ghosts. Later, the governess tells Mrs. Grose, “They know [about the ghosts]—it’s too monstrous: they know, they know!” (51). The governess, without evidence, wholly believes that the children are lying to her, and her paranoia increases the more she …show more content…
There is no conclusive evidence to say that the story has real ghosts, and reasonable evidence to suggest that there are other explanations. The ghosts are not real. Rather, they are a made up part of the governess’s mind. Nobody sees what the governess claims to see. Even in ideal times to do so, Mrs. Grose sees nothing, and the children have plausible excuses. The governess still believes fully. However, she is interpreting the reality of the situation wrongly, and pressuring the children to confess to seeing something that they never saw. Turn of the Screw is not a ghost
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James continues to stir up an immense amount of controversy for such a short novel. Making a definite, educated decision on the actual truth considering the countless inquiries that develop while reading this story proves more difficult than winning a presidential election. That being understood, taking one particular side on any argument from a close reading of the story seems impossible, because the counter argument appears just as conceivable. Any side of the controversy remains equally disputable considerably supported by textual evidence from the novel. One issue which, like the rest, can be answered in more than one ways is why Mrs. Grose believes the Governess when she tells her about her ghost encounters. Usually one would second-guess such outlandish stories as the ones that the governess shares throughout the story, yet Mrs. Grose is very quick to believe our borderline-insane narrator. One of the explanations for such behavior could be the underlying fact that Mrs. Grose and the governess have a similar socio-economic background, therefore making them somewhat equals even if the governess does not always seem to think that way. This fact makes them susceptible to trusting and believing each other, and to believing that the ghosts are there, for the people that the ghosts are presenting used to be servants and therefore from a similar socio-economic background. To add on to that, Bruce Robbins proposes in his Marxist criticism of The Turn of the Screw that the idea of a ghost is synonymous to that of a servant, subconsciously making the two lower-class workers of Bly more vulnerable to believe that the ghosts were real; in other words, servants we...
The existence of the ghosts in The Turn of the Screw has always been in debate. Instead of directly discussing whether the ghosts are real or not, this essay will focus on the reliability of the governess, the narrator of the story. After making a close examination of her state of mind while she is at Bly, readers of The Turn of the Screw will have many more clues to ponder again and to decide to what extent the governess can be believed. While critics like Heilman argue that there are problems with the interpretation that the governess was psychopathic, textual evidence incorporated with scientific research show that the governess did go through a period of psychical disorder that caused her insomnia, out of which she created hallucinations.
Ever since the new governess shows up to the household, Bly, in The Turn of the Screw, the story of the residents’ lives change forever. Things go from peaceful, beautiful, and orderly to chaotic, ugly, and messy. Every step the governess makes seems to worsen things, but why? Is it the children making things go awry? Or could it be the ghosts messing with the balance of the peace? Or maybe, is it the one person who you would expect to trust the most who is doing the most damage. The protector is the destroyer. The savior is the killer. In The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, the governess is insane because all her actions from sleeping and sensing demons, to assuming far-fetched notions and being the hero in every situation demonstrates
Toward the end of the novel, the governess sees Ms. Jessel and tries to point her out to Flora and Mrs. Grose. However, Mrs. Grose questions the governess by wondering “[w]here on earth does [she] see anything?” (James 70). Even though Mrs. Grose claims that she does not see any figure, it is not certain that she is telling the truth. It is obvious that she is overwhelmed in this scene because Flora is fearful of the governess’ behavior. Mrs. Grose is merely trying to be rational and appeal to Flora’s anxiety over the governess’ temperamental and persuasive attitude. Another argument that could appeal to the governess’ insanity is that she is love struck by the master, causing her to be delusional. This is exemplified through her imagining that the master “would appear…and stand before [her] and smile and approve” (James 15). Nonetheless, she is not imagining any people because in the last scene of the novel, Miles recognizes Peter Quint’s presence by implying to the governess that he is in the room. If the governess was creating the ghosts in her mind, Miles would not verbally notice Peter Quint’s presence in the room. The governess is clearly sane and does not simply imagine the
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.
and tries to protect them. In the classic novel, The Turn of the Screw, the governess and the
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James has been the cause of many debates about whether or not the ghosts are real, or if this is a case of a woman with psychological disturbances causing her to fabricate the ghosts. The story is told in the first person narrative by the governess and is told only through her thoughts and perceptions, which makes it difficult to be certain that anything she says or sees is reliable. It starts out to be a simple ghost story, but as the story unfolds it becomes obvious that the governess has jumps to conclusions and makes wild assumptions without proof and that the supposed ghosts are products of her mental instability which was brought on by her love of her employer
...t want to be the only one who does. It is another feeble attempt to prove her sanity to herself and to others. However, because she “is so easily carried away”, she soon believes that the children do in fact see the ghosts by reading into their every remark and behavior. By piecing all of this together, the governess proves to herself that she is not insane. The governess in The Turn of the Screw, is a highly unreliable narrator. From the beginning of the story, her energetic imagination is displayed to the reader. With this knowledge alone, it would not be irrational to conclude that she had imagined the appearances of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. However, these facts in addition to her unsubstantiated inferences allow the reader to intelligently label the governess as an unreliable narrator. Works Cited Poupard, Dennis. “Henry James.” Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism: Volume 24. Ed. Paula Kepos. Detroit: Gale research.; 1990. 313-315.
The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, is an odd story about a young woman who, leaving her small country home for the first time, takes a job as a governess in a wealthy household. Shortly after her arrival, she begins to suffer from insomnia and fancies that she sees ghosts roaming about the grounds. James is a master story-teller and, at times, the complexities of the story make it difficult to follow. The Turn of the Screw is a story within a story, the tale of the governess being read aloud as a ghost story among friends. Harold C. Goddard wrote a fascinating piece of criticism entitled "A Pre Freudian Reading of The Turn of the Screw." When applied to the book, his theory makes perfect sense. Goddard suggests that the governess, young and inexperienced, immediately falls in love with her employer during their meeting. As a result of her unrequited love, her overactive mind creates a fantasy in which the the two ghosts intend to harm the children, in order to make herself a heroine, thereby getting the attention of her employer.
The book questions their existence indirectly, by suggesting that the governess may be imagining things, as is made particularly evident when it appears that Grose and the children are unable to see the apparitions. The žlm does the same, as it follows the same narrative path, but utilises a few visual tricks as well - after all, in a žlm something is either on screen or it isn't; therefore, how do you make a ghost's appearance uncertain? Clayton solves this problem easily. When Quint is žrst sighted atop the tower, it is against the glare of the sun, Jessel's appearances at the lake always take place amongst tall, dark reeds, which act as an interesting camouŸage and Quint's žnal appearance in the garden is amongst human statues. These visual effects allow the audience to doubt what it is
...tion was given by the spirit that was only conversed between her and another person at the time if her life. The spirit appeared and sounded like Nelly Butler as she did when she was alive and even allowed the witnesses to get as close as they wanted allowing them the opportunity to find evidence of foul play. Where the idea of fraud breaks down is when the apparition shapeshifts, there is no evidence strong enough to give a reasonable argument that it was something other than the spirit of Nelly Butler caused it to happen. The evidence given by George Butler has to be the strongest evidence available; he actually was able to put his hand through the apparition and conversed on a topic only he and Nelly discussed when she was alive. With all the evidence composed, a strong case has been built that the spirit haunting Sullivan really was the spirit of Nelly Butler.
In The turn of the Screw, the characters often communicated very indirectly with one another, hinting toward certain situations but never explaining them fully. At the beginning of this story, one of the first vague quotes, “he had been left, by the death of their parents in India, guardian to a small nephew and a small niece” depicts that Miles and Flora’s parents died in India (James 158). However, the details around their death are unknown and mysterious.
This story, although somewhat unique in its exact plot, contains many elements that make it a typical and traditional ghost story. These elements suggest common fears in today’s society of people in general, and children specifically.
When Mrs. Grose and the governess find Flora the governess points out the ghosts to them, but Mrs. Grose exclaims, “She isn’t there, little lady, and nobody’s there—and you never see nothing, my sweet! How can poor Miss Jessel—when poor Miss Jessel’s dead and buried?” (71). If the ghosts were real it would have been proven at that moment, but Mrs. Grose denies that they are there even when the governess, who is the only one who can see them, says that they are right there. The first time that the governess ever notices Miss Jessel she vaguely describes her as being, “a figure of quite as unmistakable horror and evil: a woman in black, pale and dreadful—with such an air also, and such a face,” (30). If the ghosts were real then the governess would have had a much more detailed description of what Miss Jessel actually looked like, and not have Mrs. Grose being the one to tell her who it was. When Miles and the governess were talking one day the governess notices Peter Quint, but Miles is so confused about what she is talking about, he thinks that it is Miss Jessel (86). If the ghosts were not a production of the governess’s mind, he would have seen Mrr. Quint as well, and his confusion over the whole event only proves that the ghosts are not
In his 1948 essay, Robert Heilman explores the suggestion that The Turn of the Screw is a symbolic representation of the conflict between good and evil. Heilman interprets the apparitions of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel as evil forces. He explains that the ghosts only appear to the governess because evil lurks in subtlety before it strikes. It is the duty of the governess to "detect and ward off evil." She must protect the children from the awful ghosts. The governess describes Miles and Flora as beautiful little cherubs whose only fault is their gentleness (James, 18-19). Heilman views the children's beauty as a "symbol of the spiritual perfection of which man is capable." Heilman explains the ghosts' attempts to reach the children by explaining that evil forces will always try to conquer and possess the human soul. Heilman continues to draw from the descriptions of Miles and Flora to support his theories. He points out that the two children are described as having an "angelic beauty" and a "positive fragrance of purity" (James 9, 13). The governess describes them as if they are perfect and beautiful in every way. This repeated vision of beauty, radiance, and innocence parallels the image of Eden. The house at Bly also resembles this image, "I remember the lawn and the bright flowers..." (James 7). The governess makes mention of the "golden sky" and of Flora's "hair of gold," which Heilman believes connects Bly and Flora with these images of golden hues (James 7, 9).