Enn315-Turn of the Screw

It is a story predominantly populated by people of the lower class, living servants like Mrs. Grose and a governess, which is our narrator, and the not-so-living servants like Miss Jessel and Quint. It is interesting to see how throughout the novel the Governess is proud to place herself slightly above the other servants, just as Mrs. Grose places Miss Jessel above Quint, however the fact of the matter was that to the rest of society, these people were all considered to be on the same bottom level of the socio-economic ranking at the time. Robbins brings up an interesting idea in his criticism that Henry James is trying to explain the standpoint of society throughout the novel, which is that society felt that servants were not meant to be part of real society but were meant to just blend into the background and do their job without really being noticed or acknowledged. He basically uses the ghosts as symbols, even reminders of the fact that the governess is just like them, in the way that she is below most of society since she is an “upper-class” servant, and is therefore invisible and “something less than [a] human being” (336). The housemaids, the dairywoman, the gardener, and an old pony were all said to be equivalents to each other, therefore making these servants comparable to a pony, which is definitely not making them on the same level as other human beings, let alone those of a higher class. James is

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.

Readers might wonder with whom she was in love. Then the Master told the Governess about the previous governess and her death (James 296). The readers probably want to know the reason of the previous governess' death. When the Master talked about the duties of the Governess, he required her not to contact him in any way (James 297). We do not know why he made that requirement. As the story continues, the readers have many more unsolved questions such as why Miles was dismissed from school, why the Governess could describe Peter Quint exactly though she never meet him, and why the Governess thought that ghosts wanted to catch the two children. Ned Lukacher thinks that "[the way James] has said something also becomes a way of not having said something else" (132). For instance, James revealed some hints regarding the reason Miles was dismissed. We know that "[Miles]'s an injury to the others" (304) and Mrs. Grose thought Miles was "no boy for [her]" (305). However, these hints do not help the readers to completely understand why Miles was sent away from his school. Instead, more questions are posed, such as how such a ten-year-old boy could injure other students and why Mrs. Grose thought about Miles that way. The readers can not easily find the specific and reasonable answers in the story, so they have to guess the answers based on their own

The second visitation of the ghost of Peter Quint also occurs while the governess is by herself. As the governess, the children, and Mrs. Grouse are preparing for church, the governess goes back into the house to retrieve gloves she sees a visage of the same man she saw at the tower. When Mrs. Grose sees her face she immediately asks what is wrong. The governess goes on to describe the man that she has seen in an odd mixture of attraction and revulsion. This adds question to the reader on the subject of the validity of the testimony of the visitations

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

Paragraph three is different from all the other paragraphs in this passage in that, in paragraph one, Douglass talks of his troubling background during the time with Mr. Covey. In paragraph two he reflects over his situation, while gazing over the Chesapeake Bay. In paragraph three Douglass uses stylistic elements of imagery, diction and rhetorical question, to express himself.   In paragraph one Douglas talks about his past, he opens the paragraph by saying “Drink the bitterest dregs of slavery Douglas uses the metaphor of dregs to describe the torment of slavery, he compares bitter dregs to describe how he lived as a slave.

Miles represents a socially and sexually corrupt figure by the ghost of Peter Quint who violated status on two occasions. His being “too free” with Miles leads to controversy as well as his love affair with the previous governess. The governess’s knowledge on the history behind Quint and Miles changes drastically as she learns more information to discover truth. Her rejection of the idea that Miles could be “bad” transforms into an obsession noting his every action in hopes to reveal that the children are being possessed by ghosts. Despite the connotation of Quint’s clash of class boundaries, the text also suggests the potential homosexual nature of his association with Miles. Therefore, the ghost of Quint stands for everything the Governess is afraid of, and his sense of menace dictates Miles living through his identity.

In one surface reading of Henry James’s Turn of the Screw, the governess appears to be a victim of circumstance. Some critics however, say that she is not without blame in the turn of events that characterizes the story. They claim that leading to her demise are certain character flaws, such as envy and pride. In categorizing her character as such, this novella resonates several themes found throughout literature. In Northrop Frye’s essay The Archetypes of Literature, Frye suggests that there appears to be a relatively restricted and simple group of formulas in literature. These formulas or converging patterns seem to correlate with the natural cycle. Frye considers criticism that searches for

Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw has been described as one of the best ghost stories of all time. However, there is clear evidence that the main character, the governess, suffers from delusions. The strange events that occur throughout the story happen in the estate of Bly. The anomalies, described as horrors or ghosts, only come to light after the governess arrives. These events are due to creations of the governess ' mind, her controlling intent to protect and overrule the children, and her unstable mental state. In this way, her thoughts and her actions are the cause of the strange events at Bly.

One can argue that since the story is being told from different point of views and through multiple narrations, the narrators in the story do not seem to be very reliable or believable on what they tell about the character’s feeling and deeds. In Lockwood’s case, for instance, even though he does not deliberately mislead through mischief, he jumps to conclusions and sometimes misinterprets situations. All this makes the reader feel superior to him. Since Lockwood as a narrator misinterprets sometimes the situations and some elements about the characters, it means that the reader should pay more attention and read carefully through the story in order not to misunderstand events that happened in the story. This, however, makes the reader engage

Henry James’ array of characters helps to define the reality of social conflict in this fictional horror story. His characters each have unique 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.

Finally, the main aim of Aswell's work was to emphasize the fact the ghosts were just “mirror images of herself”, a reflection and a distortion of the governess in Henry James' novel. A distortion of the reality made the governess correlate the children with the ghosts since Peter Quint appeared to her “in response to the invocation

I learned from this experience that reading through a critical lens really makes me understand how race affects a book in very small ways that we sometimes chose to over look. I learned that there are many racial remarks made in every book that we do not notice because we do not go underneath the surface of texts. Reading a novel through a critical lens is different than just reading a novel because you really try to understand what impact the book has on racial issues, so you go beneath the text and see connections. I would of not got that the Dead Family, especially Macon Dead was racist against his own race. I also would not been able to understand why Macon Dead does not like own his sister, due to that he is embarrassed for who she is.

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.

Douglas clearly cares about the governess, and maintains personal connection to the story even though it’s been sitting in a drawer for twenty years. Douglas feels attached to the story because he lived the story so many years ago.(as Miles) “Nobody but me, till now, has ever heard. It's quite too horrible.”(p. 292) This shows that the manuscript isn’t just a good ghost story for him to tell people because he’s never shared it before. He also finds that Douglas’s audience is more perceptive than he appears ready. They make inferences about he and his love, and Douglas reveals bits and pieces about her. “I liked her extremely and am glad to this day to think she liked me, too. If she hadn't she wouldn't have told me.(p. 293) In the story, she mentions several times that Miles was the most beautiful boy that she had ever laid eyes on, and over infatuation with the boy like that would easily lead Miles to believe he was the object of her utmost affection. To add to the fact that the woman he was in love with was the governess was when one of the guests mentions that