Category: Turn of The Screw

The Victorian Age was the time in literature that was linked to the leadership of Queen Victoria. This was the time that all attention was directed towards nature and morality. It was regarded that romance and love for the opposite sex were not moral. Henry James, therefore, took advantage of this time to communicate with people about the things that existed in the lives of many. Even if romance was considered immoral, biology could still force some to stay thinking about the opposite sex. Repression is the act of hiding one’s feelings of sexual desires; this idea was evident in Governess, whom the writer chose to carry the theme to the end of the story. The writer organized the story in a way that the Governess was to take the role of being mentally ill for her to tell us about some of the inner things that we cannot easily get to understand from people especially in the Victorian time that different sexes were considered not trustable and they would promote immorality. The best way to keep natural then had to involve a mental disorder in making her speak about some two people disturbing her.

The Governess is seen to be a powerful person in the story; she is devoted to serving the people, and she manages to use her authority to fulfill her demands. She, however, fails to fulfill the demand of finding a lover. She feels like she loves some men who are involved in the whole context, but she does not agree with the situation. She manages to think of a man appearing in front of her. This was evident in the context where she said: ‘someone would appear there at the turn of a path and would stand before me and smile and approve’ (15). This statement turned out to be describing Peter Quint. She behaved like she never cared about the man but in some way, she even called him handsome. On some occasions, she managed to consider him looking good even if she could regard him as someone who does not have power. His humble nature was however important in her life, but it did not manage to make her show her feelings.

The Governess was brought out in the context as someone who, despite being a leader, managed to be frightened by ghosts that she claimed to see in her life. At some point, she even thought that she might go the wrong way and lose her role when she did flirt with men. Her attitudes are evident in the way she treated Quint; she does not trust the male gender and hates Quint when he appears to her. Even if he appears as a ghost, she still managed to see him as someone looking nicely. His looks are evident in the Governesses words, which she said: ‘in somebody’s clothes. They’re smart, but they’re not his own’ (23). The ghosts that come into her life as metaphors; they were meant to make him understand the other side of her that she did not want to admit to. The Two ghosts even went with the children whom they managed to change to become different. The sexual feelings that her two children had been evident in the children because they loved the company of Miss Jessel and Peter Quint. Even if she does not agree that the children are gone, she fought to the end where she managed to become a loser that she was meant to. This story of the children was symbolic in a way because James made it look to her like the children wanted to indulge in friendship with the opposite sex, but the mother did not want; hence, it indicated the fight she had with the inner soul and her status as the Governess.

The hidden feelings in the Governess are also evident in this context: ‘this prospective patron proved a gentleman, a bachelor in the prime of life, such a figure as had never risen, save in a dream or an old novel, before a fluttered anxious girl out of Hampshire vicarage’ (4). The statement came from her mouth and she indicated that she loved the master. She seems to think that men are bad, but it turns out to be ironical in the way she calls the master handsome. The master was also used in the story as a metaphor in representing men and how women viewed them in the Victorian Age. The decision by the writer to introduce the master in the story was a symbolic way of making the Governess look like a lovesick individual who is obsessed with what she wants to be but forgetting her inner spirit and biological composition. She seems to consider men as enemies, but she manages to interact with the master in the context and with this, she again experiences moments where she thought about him and wished to have him. The occurrence of different events in this context makes the whole context sound like a reflection of most of the things that controlled the actions of different people in society during the Victorian time. This was the best time for the writer to compose this story because it was the time that literature could be developed out of what people did. It is indisputable to say that the context never had the theme of repression in it. The whole context and all things that the Governess did contribute to this theme. The ghosts came in the plot to enable the Governess to express the theme right from her actions and words.

In general, we cannot deny that most of the things that the Governess did in her life were aimed at covering what the heart spoke to her. Just like most of the women of the Victorian time, she managed to fall in love with many men but still managed to hate them and keep off their company as a way to promote the repression theme. The theme is evident in many other actions and words that the Governess was involved in. She managed to ensure she never disappointed James in expressing the theme as he wanted.

Work cited

1. James, Henry. The Turn of The Screw. Dover Thrift ed., Dover Publications, 1991.

In this essay, the presentation of the supernatural world will discuss how it defines events that cannot be explained by nature or science and how it concerns with didactic messages. In light of this view, an introduction of the supernatural world is perceived as a means of teaching the audience moral instructions that occur in the novels. The authors use elements of the supernatural to illustrate teachings that educate the reader, in both novels, there is a depiction of the relationship between adult and child to teach the

In The Turn of The Screw, James uses the supernatural world to draw attention to the dealings of a Victorian governess, this ghostly theme shows a greater message in the lives of a governess and how lonely and taunting it can be. The reader is aware that strange events start to occur in Bly as the governess begins to see the house as a place of magic and secrets but in a darker sense once she sees ghosts of the past workers at Bly.

On the other hand, some critics have identified the novel as one of that being psychological as Smith suggests that her seeing of the ghosts may be real or not because ‘we are all vulnerable to being haunted by our own kind of ghost. The physical presence of the ghost in the story is but a representative figure for our own psychological haunts’ (Smith, 2011) It can be argued that Morrison illustrate how the ‘physical embodiment of psychological trauma’ (Selfridge, 2018) defines the representation of unaccounted slaves and how they coped with the horrific events that the endured during slavery. In particular, Morrison depicts the life of Margaret Garner, who in turn killed her children just like Sethe, to keep them out of slavery. Although this is a ghost story, the indication of historical fiction presents didactic messages to inform the reader of the horrors of slavery. What both authors support, is that the genre of writing provides didactic messages that may be the teaching of how the pain and suffering behind the significant protagonists are shown to educate the readers.

The exploration of the supernatural world in the novels are presented through relationships between adult and children which the authors exaggerate the children’s innocence. At the time of Beloved’s death, she was innocent, Christian beliefs suggest that babies are born without sin as they are pure, brand new to the world dependent on their parents. The emphasises on Beloved’s innocence shows how she did nothing wrong but live in a timeline where freedom was not an option as Sethe’s intention to kill her children was only to protect them. Despite the difference between the texts’ context, their emphasis on the innocence of children is arguably similar to which James manages to build up more suspense by making the children unrealistically well behaved. With ‘a gentleness that was only their fault’ (Chapter 4, page 22) the governess becomes obsessed with Flora and Miles when she becomes dazzled by their beauty which suggests how blinded she is by the two; unable to see anything wrong with them. Corresponding to this obsession, Morrison even highlights Sethe’s use of possessive pronouns as a method of claiming Beloved as she believes Beloved is her daughter risen from the dead, James also achieves this through repetition of the possessive pronouns to suggest that the governess is overly protective and obsessed with the children.

Moral ambiguity is achieved through the novels as the supernatural world conflicts with decisions made by characters which therefore shape the entire course of the plot leaving readers curious for more. The governess’ fondness of the children – in particular, Miles – calls to question the ambiguity of their relationship. Jacobs analyses how ambiguity employs the imagination as ‘the young boy whose descriptions range from suspiciously charming to vaguely sensual’ (Jacobs). Not only does she “moan of joy, drew him close and held him to my breast” (Chapter 24, page 24), the governess also becomes overly close with Miles as ‘my face was close to his, and let me kiss him, simply taking it with indulgent good humour.’ (Chapter 17, page 69) The enhanced proximity

Corrupted youth in Henry James’s novel The Turn Of The Screw is a result of bad influences of faulty role models or even of the society which came to be due to lacking of basic roles of the family with the intend of properly raising children. As a consequence of such factors children are forced to grow up ahead of time with the influence of the people who often don’t have the best characteristics. Altogether influences the growth and proper education of children.

Both Miles and the governess had a similar childhood in some aspects. The name of the governess is never stated because the name doesn’t have that much weightiness because it represents the masses which means that through her character we are shown that not only them (the governess, Flora and Miles), but other people in the society could have been raised in such a way. It was never really up to them to chose a different path.

Ghosts of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel are not necessarily a direct threat for Miles and Flora. It is just the opposite. They have a strong connection with them and are hence a danger that is in the children themselves. Both Flora and Miles have to be sheltered from the wraiths in order for them to grow up without any troubles and worries.

At the beginning of the story, the children are described as having angelic beauty and admirable manners but also seen as unblemished beings. As the story progresses the two are more and more influenced by the ghosts and start changing on the both physical and moral level. When the corruption from within comes out on the outside the form of intellectual and physical maturity is taken.

The governess constantly refers to their physical appearance; Miles is seen as “incredibly beautiful” whereas Flora “extraordinary charm” and “most beautiful”. Both of them share an intrinsic “beauty and amiability, happiness and cleverness”. When this physical appearance turns out to be “unnatural goodness” and the mutation finally takes place (HEILMANN, 1960; 177), which is what makes the stress on their beauty appalling. Looks, beauty and charm aren’t a principle of a person but rather show that what’s inside is far more important than what is on the outside. In that we can see that not everything that is beautiful is at the same time good.

During summer and autumn the children are seen as beautiful and innocent but as soon as the winter comes the innocence disappears and turns into corruption. Children’s innocence, influenced by the ghosts, gradually vanishes and they eventually enter the phase of experience. The governess says that Flora is an old, old woman when the girl is completely exposed to the wraith of Miss Jessel (ToS, 1994; 96). On top of that, Mrs. Grose, who knew Flora all of her life is also able to see that it has made her, every inch of her, quite old (ToS, 1994; 103). As for Miles, his corruption is shown at the moment when he states that he wants more freedom and states that (…) alter all, I’m a fellow, don’t you see? that’s–well, getting on (ToS, 1994; 78). The governess didn’t see all the changes that are happening to the kids during their growth and entering the new stages of their lives because she wanted to hold onto them whilst still young and didn’t want to let them grow up.

The governess thinks that the only way to save children from the wraiths is by educating them, and this is actually what evokes the development of a child and prepares it for the period of adolescence. Since she didn’t want to accept the fact that they are slowly becoming young people she realized, although too late, that they were on their way of becoming their own people. This can be seen when the governess began to recognise that Miles isn’t a child anymore his having lied and been impudent are, I confess, less engaging specimens than I had hoped to have from (Mrs. Grose) of the outbreak in him of the little natural man (ToS, 1994; 54). What the governess also eventually comprehended was that both kids started to go through these changes and that those changes were caused by the influence of the ghosts what it was most impossible to get rid of was the cruel idea that, whatever I had seen, Miles and Flora saw more – things terrible and unguessable and that sprang from dreadful passages of intercourse in the past (ToS, 1994; 75). Moral ageing is evoked with the increase in the corruptive presence of the ghosts. Here moral aging is meant by clear intellectual and sexual growth.

To conclude, we can see that children’s capacity or knowledge is what made them corrupted. In other words due to the fact that their intelligence came from the wraiths, they are enlightened by what they have leaned from the ghosts. Knowing about such things like sex and everything else that is considered more mature they are seen as unchildlike. When the governess becomes aware of the ways that the children manipulate her, in some ways, she considers it as diplomacy rather than deceit. We can speculate that Henry James was invested in bringing out moral corruption and naivety of the Western world at that time.