Horror Literature: The Turn Of The Screw

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.

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.

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

Henry James’s ‘Turn of the Screw’ can be interpreted in many different ways. He constructed his novel in order to make allusions to sexual topics, (without stating anything explicitly) madness, ghosts and the Victorian society. In this essay I will be analysing each of the above in order to make a conclusion as to what I think the children need protecting from. As for the ghosts being present or not,

Horror, what is it, according to literary historian J.A. Cuddon, it is “a piece of fiction in prose of variable length…which shocks or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing.” This sets the guidelines for how the generic horror piece is written, as long as it can scare the reader in one sense or the other, or cause them to loath a certain part or character, then it can be called horror. The horror today has roots stemming from old folklore and religious traditions which had elements that dealt with death, the afterlife, and the demonic, along with the things or thing that embody a person. Horror during the 18th century was called gothic horror and this particular type of horror was invented in the

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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.

As ‘The Turn of the Screw’ was written in the 19th century when most of his family were famous and praised for their study of the mind and investigations into spirit phenomena, this could have inspired Henry to write the story. The fact that his older brother was famous and successful man when it came to psychology and physiology may have contributed to sibling rivalry. Henry had written novels that hadn’t sold well and had written plays that were far too intellectual for many of the general public to even watch. Writing a psychological ghost story in a spirit-obsessed era when his family were renowned for their knowledge seems to be best explanation as to why the novella was written.

Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw has led to a great deal of discussion and analysis from scholars and students for over fifty years. James’s novella is a ghost story that is mostly told through the perspective of a young woman, a Governess, who is put in charge of taking care of two children, Miles and Flora, at an estate in Bly. The Governess adores the two children and considers them both charming, beautiful, and perfect, which is understandable given that Miles and Flora are portrayed as well mannered, innocent children; and as the Governess becomes more absorbed in her responsibilities, the children give her little to no trouble. One evening, the Governess takes a walk around the estate, and she begins to think, quite romantically, about her employer, the children’s uncle. This is before she sees an estranged man on top of the house’s tower, who stares down at her for a long moment, intensely. The Governess sees this intruder again; this leads her to discuss her sightings with the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, who tells her that the man she saw is Peter Quint, a former valet for the house who is now dead. Furthermore, while the Governess is out with Flora, watching her play, she feels the appearance of a second intruder, Miss Jessel, who Mrs. Grose says is the Governess’s deceased predecessor. In the context of the whole novella, how the Governess reacts to the ghosts shows three different states of mind that the Governess was possibly in throughout the story. Peter Quint

After reading Turn of the Screw, I found the experience and life of Miles and Flora very interesting because they were different from the other children and the situations they got into were absurd. In my opinion I believe the ghosts were real because the behaviors that the children exhibited were abnormal and strange. For example when Miles went outside the mansion at night, it was strange that he was not afraid to go out alone at night and his only response when the governess asked him to tell her the truth was that he wanted to show how naughty he could be. A strange situation that happens with Flora is how she sings the song to Miss Jessel, but when the governess confronts her and tries to make her admit she sees someone she refuses. Overall,

Jordan McGuire Mrs. Cline AP English March 5th, 2015 The Turn of the Screw Insanity at its Finest The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, is a ghost story set in victorian England at the estate of Bly. The main character is the governess who accepts a job from a wealthy bachelor to be oversee his niece and nephew at the estate. The governess wandering in the courtyard one night while fantasizing about meeting someone sees a man atop a tower.

Turn of the Screw by Henry James is a psychological case study of the narrator, the Governess, who is emotionally unstable with phantasms of the living which are merely illusions of her psychotic mind. The governess’s illusive mind leads to her obsession with becoming the heroine of Miles and Flora who she suspects are on the verge of corruption due to the supernatural activity of Miss Jessel and Peter Quint. However, her excessive obsession to become the heroine only leads to a major downfall because instead she is depicted as an insane anti-heroine. She goes from longing to save the innocent and unimpeachable children to forming mindless accusations against them. Considering this, James depicts her as an unreliable and unsound character with illusions of supernatural activity that is only existent because of her tormented and unsound state which prevents her from noticing the tell tale signs of her becoming an insane anti-heroine instead of a heroine. By highlighting the governess’s flaws, James is trying to communicate how obsession of heroism is not essential to survival as it only leads to a defective character.

The Turn of the screw by Henry James is regarded as one of the most fascinating psychological thrillers of all time. Published in the late nineteenth century, this novella sets up a narrative story of a young lady who appears to have seen the ghost of the former dead employers of the place where she was working. In this novella Henry James combined drama, suspense, and mystery to make it one of the most preferred stories among the readers of all generations. The Turn of the Screw raises many questions, however: Is the governess going crazy? Is she really seeing the phantoms of those dead former state workers? Is she innocent? Is she the villain or the heroine of

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.

The Turn of the Screw is one of the most controversial works in literature and the text has provoked a variety of critical interpretations from its publication in 1898. In this novel, the governess tells her experience with two apparitions that no one but she could see. And the governess accuses the ghosts of servants for corrupting the children, Miles and Flora. Critics concerning about the truth of the story are divided two basic camps based on their acceptance or rejection of the governess's credibility as a storyteller. Some critics believe that the ghosts are real and the governess is a rational and credible narrator, while the others believe that the ghosts are hallucinations of the governess and regard the governess as an incredible and mentally abnormal narrator. Also, we could speculate the author’s intention on the basis of his life experience and other works of Henry James. This essay will examine the reliability of the governess on the basis of the text and interpret Henry James’s intention on the basis of other sources.