Examples Of Screw In The Turn Of The Screw

Screw Loose in the Unscrewed

Throughout his life, American born writer, Henry James, was not only a novelist, He was also a playwright and a short story author. He is known, mainly, for his novels that depict young girls in oppressive situations and his use of vague details and hints to force the reader to make his/her own assumptions as to what is ultimately happening in the world around them and what could be causing it. The Turn of the Screw is no different in that it depicts a young girl that is being put into a situation that could, in the end, be actual madness brought upon by the situation or something a little more supernatural all together. Critiques and fans of James’ work have poured countless hours into the analyzing and determining of the “truth” of the book. However, even with all of the time and effort that has been poured into uncovering the underlying story in the book, there are two widely regarded “Issues of controversy to date has concerned, of course, the reality of the ghosts and the sanity of the governess” (Bontly 721). The first explanation is essentially that the apparitions that are mentioned in the book are real and could be actually physically present at the manor. The second is that the ghosts are figments of the governess’ imagination brought upon by personal and cultural factors, common in the late Victorian period, for young women. The second explanation, being based in logic, reasoning, and an understanding of the Victorian era time period, is a much more plausible theory than the first explanation (involving actual ghosts) when the evidence and subtle hints that were left from Henry James are brought forth.

To explain the reasoning behind why the governess could be going mad, some background k...

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...ess. James did this, “not to discredit her story, it is rather to render her account more credible by keeping the natural explanation of her madness constantly before us.” (Bontly 723) This writing technique was clearly thought out by James to make his tale of psychological terror that much more in depth and it just shows his literary genius in telling stories.

In conclusion, the evidence clearly points to the fact that the governess is not quite right in the head when looked at from an analytical perspective and looking at James’ writing techniques and the pressure of Victorian era women only firmly cements what is going on at the manor for most. However, after over a century of debates, it is pretty clear that there will never be a definite answer to the questions that have plagued scholars and readers since the publication of The Turn of the Screw.