Analysis Of 'The Turn Of The Screw' By Henry James

Zacharias’s “The Extraordinary Flight of heroism the occasion demanded of me.’: Fantasy and Confession in The Turn of the Screw” describes the actions and the apparitions in the novella as a part of the governess’s anxieties and how they are the symbol which resemble the execution of her job. The readers first get an understanding of how fantasy is her coping mechanism when she first has troubles dealing with the job. As Zacharias puts it, “the fantasy relieves the anxiety she feels from feelings of inadequacy for the very fulfillment of the master’s expectations” (321). Zacharias then moves the audience towards the fact that the fantasy can also be the cause for anxiety, which is the intriguing aspect I would like to focus on.

In Anne Tyler’s “Teenage Wasteland,” the reader is given insight into the difficulty of parenting through Daisy’s desperate attempt to stop her son from his seemingly uncontrollable downward spiral. The paranoia of her “perfect” parenting techniques leads to the tainting of Donny’s innocence over time and eventually his mysterious disappearance at the end of the story. Through symbols of innocence and corruption, Tyler demonstrates the importance of keeping one’s head clear and focused while parenting, and that using common sense and logic is far more effective than relying on idealism and hope.

As a woman, the narrator must be protected and controlled and kept away from harm. This seemed to be the natural mindset in the 19th century, that women need to have guidance in what they do, what decisions they make, and what they say. John calls her a “little goose”(95) and his “little girl”(236), referring her to a child, someone who needs special attention and control. His need for control over her is proven when she admits that her husband is “careful and loving and hardly lets me stir without special direction”(49). John has mentally restrained the speaker’s mind, she is forced to hide her anxieties, fears and be submissive, to preserve the happiness of their marriage. When the narrator attempts to speak up, she is bogged down and made guilty of her actions. Her husband makes her feel guilty for asking, he says, “‘I beg of you, for my sake and for our child’s sake, as well as your own, that you will never for one instant let that idea enter your mind!’”(225-226). By making her feel guilty for her illness, John has trapped her mentally from speaking up about it, convincing her that she must be more careful about her actions. Men often impose the hardships placed upon women during this era. They are often the people reassuring them of their “womanly” duties, and guiding them

“A Sorrowful Woman” features a superficially simple narration style. “Now the days were too short. She was always busy,” Stylistically clipped, with a clear passive, detached, voice the narration style seems to be a banal, unimportant feature of the text. Yet the exact mendacity that prompts this description actually serves as a prerequisite to developing an understanding for the principal character’s mindset, and consequently the theme of the text. The last passage contains numerous examples of detached narration but the clearest occurs when “She was always busy. She woke with the first bird. Worked till the sun set. No time for hair brushing. Her fingers raced the hours.” The concise, third person narration in this segment allows the reader to experience the slightly off viewpoint of ‘the mother.’ Specifically, given the lack of motivation present through the text coupled with the concluding suicide it becomes evident in the text that ‘the mother’ is suffering from depression. Given the societal stigma surrounding mental illness authors generally face an uphill

Firstly, the writer portrays the world of children through the first person narrative which encapsulates young Leo’s fresh, spontaneous optimism and hope towards the dawning of a new era, ‘My dreams for the twentieth century, and for myself, were coming true’(Chapter 1. p. 28). Therefore, this device allows the reader direct access to the intensity yet simplicity of a child’s point of view and enhances Leo’s personal

The narrator’s varying stately yet fervent tone illustrates her obligatory feelings as well as her true emotions regarding her husband and lifestyle through her descriptions of the “nursery” where she is confined (Gilman, 648). John, since he is both her husband and doctor, “hardly lets [her] stir without special direction,” characteristic of patriarchs of the family; he also “laughs at [her], of course, but one one expects that in marriage.” (Gilman, 648 and 647). Since the narrator feels

 So much, in fact, was assigned to the woman’s role that today we can well believe that appropriate, wholesome, ‘safe’ reading-matter for the child was a boon to the mother. And into this breach, ready to fill the gap that had earlier existed in the field, when most children’s books were by English writers, came many American writers, largely from New England or the Middle Atlantic states, many of them themselves women and mothers.   The writers for these periodicals were in fact often anonymous, or signed themselves with initials or pseudonyms; Child, for example, usually signed herself ’Aunt Maria’. Editors, to fill

Oates includes this scene to share the importance of women in politics and how it is important to not alienate women at this point in history by assuming that they think politics is

In many parts of the story, it’s shown that the author is comparing the men and women of that time. Her structure however, is interesting. She would talk about the men first, give them a few points why they had lived miserable, and then bring up bigger points to the women and why they had struggled. By doing this it created an illusion of one clearly worse than the other. Her argument is built the most on these sections as she strives to show the clear differences of the suffering, and also society’s view of the different genders. By setting up these few points in the structure of the essay, the author succeeds in setting up what would persuade the crowd the

It is the rare person who cannot remember being dealt a great injustice as a child: one that felt egregious in youth, but was revealed to be perhaps less so with time. This shift in perception is due to the fact that children tend to see things in black and white. Therefore, a sign of nascent maturation is an understanding of the incalculably vast grey scale that lies between the two absolutes. In Maxine Clair’s Rattlebone, the reader is privy to the thoughts of Irene Wilson thro ughout the stories “Secret Love” and “October Brown”. This youthful viewpoint is what allows the reader to glean an understanding of not just Irene as an individual, but the nature of growing up into a world that is unnervingly contrary to the simplistic one

“Mother” starts her story rather ferociously telling her husband, “I ain’t goin’ into the house till you tell me what them men are doin’ over there in the field” (Freeman, 10). Unfortunately, Adoniram Penn is building a new barn on the site set aside for her new home 40 years earlier. “Father” tells her he wants her to “go into the house...an’tend to [her] own affairs” (Freeman, 10). Mary Wilkins Freeman purposefully writes Adoniram telling Sarah her place is in the house with the children and he wants her to stay there. Freeman wants her women readers to relate to this situation of male dominance. When Sarah does finally revolt the significance of that revolt will have a deeper meaning for Freeman’s readers, they want Sarah to outwit her husband. Adoniram does not quite recognize the woman he married for who she really is. Sarah Penn was more than willing to take on the role of wife and mother as long as he fulfilled his role as provider for the family and his promise of a new house was still an option. When he went back on his word of building her home Adoniram received a glimpse of the true woman he married. When the reader looks closely at her there is a strength of character Sarah Penn cannot hide forever. Freeman writes that Sarah “looked as if the meekness had been the result of her own will, never the will of another” (Freeman, 10).

Puissant, complex, sinister, twisted, is the human mind. The human mind is that without a moon, dark and warped. The human mind is that without the stars, sinful and impure thus corrupting others. The human mind even considered ‘sane’ is in contrast unconscious. This depiction of the human mind is depicted through the governess, who has hallucinations of ghosts, in Henry James’ Turn of the Screw. The governess, the young protagonist of this novella, moved to Bly to be a governess of two children, Miles and Flora, whom are strangers to her. Also, upon her interviewing to be governess she fell madly in love with her potential employer. Due to the governess’ job and her sexual repression, the governess’ mind is unconscious due to Freud’s theory which thus enables the diagnostic of the governess to be that she has schizophrenia.

Henry James’ arrays of characters helps to tie the reality of social conflict in this fictional horror story. His characters each have various economic backgrounds and interact differently with each other. This diversity brings these social conflicts to light and helps readers understand the root of these conflicts. In The Turn of the Screw, Henry James uses characterization and conflict to reveal the horrors of social class in American society.

Henry James's The Turn of the Screw paints a landscape that is ripe for psychoanalytic analysis. He has chosen language and syntax that symbolize his main character's psychological fragmentation and her futile attempt to mend herself. Many of Lacan's theories emerge as the Governess reveals her motivations through her recollective narrative.

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.