Essay on Protecting Miles and Flora in The Turn of the Screw

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’ The Turn of the Screw is one of the more disputed texts in all of literature, as it is famously known as an ambiguous text. The primary uncertain element of is whether there are ghosts scaring the governess and the children, or whether the governess is actually going insane. Even though a certain portion of the text is ambiguous, there are other portions of the text that are much more black and white. For example, the relationships in this novella are nothing close to normal. There are three key relationships in The Turn of the Screw: the Governess and Mrs. Grose, the Governess and Miles, and the governess and Flora. All of these relationships show how the governess’s maternal instinct influences her interactions and

Ambiguity in The Turn of the Screw The Turn of the Screw, is a tale about two young children who live under the care of their newly hired governess out in the countryside at Bly. Shortly after the governess’s arrival, two ghosts sporadically appear to her, but it is not long before she realizes that they are not there to see her. “On the spot there came to me the added shock of certitude that it was not for me he had come there. He had come for someone else” (James 34). Also, it just so happened that the people who the ghosts decided to come for, where the children she would now be looking after.

Whether it was increased rent by corrupt landowners or a typical drought, the result was

In the governess's insane pseudo-reality and through her chilling behavior, she managed to bring downfall to Flora and Miles, the children of Bly. With compulsively obsessive actions, irrational assumptions, and demented hallucinations, the governess perceived ghosts bearing evil intentions were attempting to corrupt and destroy the children she had taken the role of care for. In reality, the governess herself brought tragedy to the children through her own selfishness and insanity.

land by the bank, which owned it because the drought from the Dust Bowl had

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.

The fear of Peter Quint had caused his heart to stop. He was dead, and the ghosts had gotten to him. The governess’ worst fear had com to life, no matter what she did she could not prevent what had occurred.She tried her best, but didn’t come through for Miles. She let the poor boy down, and it cost him, his life. The governess’ greatest mission was now a major failure. She promised herself that she would protect both of the children at all cost, but she could not keep keep her promise, as Miles fell to the hands of the apparition of Peter Quint.

The governess in the Turn of the Screw hallucinates ghosts throughout the novella. The novella is in order of all of her memories on the situation and is in her perspective. In the Turn of the Screw, Henry James reveals an ambiguous reality through the governess, who eventually doubts her own perceptions. In the beginning, the governess trusts her own perception entirely, but after some time it is revealed through her actions that neither she nor the readers can completely trust her perception of what is real and what is not. The governess’s misconceptions of reality are contributors to her ghost sightings. She is a very suspicious and doubtful woman. Her suspicions cause her to know and see things she does not want nor need to know or see. The governess is loving and affection toward Miles and Flora, but her affection exceeds its limits.

During the course of the novella, “The Turn of the Screw”, by Henry James, the governess continuously encounters ghosts that seemingly only appear to her. As the story progresses, the governess starts postulating a relationship between Miles, Flora, and the supposed corruptive ghosts. However, due to the fact that the ghosts are not seen when others are present at the time of the sightings indicate that they fail to exist. Moreover, through the evidence presented in the text, the governess is an unreliable narrator and her actions should be judged as insane due to her delusional mental condition.

The ghosts are the cause of the governess’s insanity that drives Flora to be heroic in her escape from the madness. The gothic conventions of the supernatural world are breached when the ghosts are trying to reach the children. James describes the scene thoroughly “you’ve the cleverest little person to deal with. They’ve made them-their two friends. What Flora wants of course is to get rid of me.” One critique argues “the feeling after perusal of the horrible story is that one has been assisting it in outrage upon the holiest and sweetest fountain of human innocence, the pure and trusting nature of children” . It might be said that the ‘two friends’ are in fact the ghosts in whom the governess is referring to. If Flora can see the ghosts, it is damaging her holy innocence, and visually exposing her to the supernatural world. Flora is represented within

The governess can be perceived as morally upstanding hero. Her love for the children motivates her need to protect them.. It is logical to perceive the governess as overly concerned mother figure of two children who unfortunately finds herself in a losing battle between evil ghost and deceptive children. After the governess realizes that Flora can see the ghost, she becomes concerned as to what the ghost are saying to them.

In The Turn of the Screw written by, Henry James, the Governess may be insane. The Governess has taken a new job and has moved away from her family and home. The Governess is becoming overwhelmed with the two children and is going mad. There are many events that lead the readers to believe the Governess is going insane.

Written Response- Henry James Turn of the Screw • Which assertion do you find to be most persuasive and why? Harold C. Goddard’s assertive implication (with roots to the Freudian theory) that the governess, the heroine of Turn of the Screw, suffers from psychological fixations and a hallucinatory narrative of ghosts derived from her passion of the employer is a detailed observation of the novels alternate, all be it underlined, narrative of Henry James asking questions and demonstrating themes such as the roots of unreliability and observing the psychological phenomenon in which a series of mainstreamed hallucinations, brought on by the governess’s repressed feelings in an isolated location, coerced into a singular tale of detailed filled

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.