Psychosexual Problem of Governess in “the Turn of the Screw”¬¬¬

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.

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.

Grose agrees with the Governess proves her sanity. This however is not true because Mrs. Grose is an unreliable source because of her protectiveness of the children and lack of intelligence. In the quote “I judged best simply to hand her my letter… [but she] simply put her hands behind her [and] shook her head sadly… My counselor couldn´t read!" we learn that Mrs. Grose is uneducated which, along with her protectiveness of the children, proves her unreliability. How can an uneducated person who is already extremely overprotective of the children be a reliable source. We also learn later that Mrs. Grose, in fact, never believed in the ghosts and was actually afraid of the governess all along. Because Mrs. Grose is an unreliable source and never actually saw the ghosts, this counterclaim is disproven. Some may say that children see the ghosts which proves the governess’ sanity, however, this is false. We never see any proof that the children see ghosts, so it is safe to say that the governess was pushing the belief of ghosts onto the children so that she doesn’t need to admit that she is insane. The governess also didn’t want Flora and Miles to meet after she questioned Flora about Miss Jessel because she didn’t want them to have a chance to discuss the outburst she had earlier. Miles is questioning her suspicion when he asks where Peter Quint is. When the governess points him out, Miles turns around shouting “Peter Quint-- you devil!”

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

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.

In Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw the governess believes that the ghosts of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, the past governess, haunt Flora and Miles. The governess believes that they contribute to the poor behavior of Miles and Flora. The ghosts appear to be real to her when in all reality she is only imaging them. Whenever she sees Miss Jessel or Peter Quint, Miles, Flora, and Miss Grose do not seem to see them. The governess may be seen as a heroine in this story, but her insanity appears in many examples throughout 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

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.

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.

Shortly before the governess discovers Flora’s disappearance, she is distracted by the prowess Miles displays while playing the piano as he “played as he had never played,” and how she was left with “a strange sense of having literally slept at [her] post” (James 367). At this point in the novella, the governess has been bewitched into a sort of trance, missing Flora’s departure and essentially delaying the governess’ search for her. While searching for Flora’s whereabouts, the governess believes Flora may be near the banks of the Sea of Azof. Without proof, she ostensibly believes that Flora took the boat across the water, and when she is challenged with the disbelief that the child does not have the physical

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.

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

Ironically, the other present characters at Bly are also fragmented and desire to fulfill the Governess's desires, if the narrative is reliable. Mrs. Grose, who could very well slap the Governess back into

The critics from psychanalytic perspective claim that the existence of ghosts is the governess’s hysterical delusion. The ghost is the projection of governess's own sexual hysteria, which resulted from the conflict between native romantic impulses and idealistic innocence required by Victorian society (Renner). The inexperienced governess encounters the "handsome," "bold," young gentleman with "charming ways with women" (James, 4) and she

Although it was typically unusual, due to social acceptability, women like Mrs. Joe who beat and dominated their husbands were subjected to public humiliation as an informal form of popular justice (Clark 188). Although spousal abuse was acceptable as a means of obtaining control, murder was completely unacceptable. Going back to the idea that female crimes were a betrayal of nature, there was an extra twist to murder when the murderer was a woman (Hughes 86). Female murder criminals were stereotyped as Mr. Jaggers' housekeeper: oversexed, insane, hormonally unbalanced or suffering from some biological defect (Hughes 68). As Pip is told to look at Jaggers housekeeper--"you'll see a wild beast tamed"--one notices the suggestion of a biological defect, or hormonal unbalance (195; ch. 24). Pip is also instructed to "keep your eye on it," as if this woman belongs to neither sex nor is she portrayed as human (195; ch. 24).