Is Henry James' The turn of the Screw a traditional ghost story?
Ghost stories are found way back in history, some dating back to the
Victorian times. The Victorians were known to be greatly interested in
ghosts and the supernatural and showed this fascination through
telling ghost stories.
The telling of ghost stories was used as a way of entertainment
especially around Christmas time and it was also very common for upper
class Victorians to participate in seances where they would try to
make contact with the ghosts/spirits of their dead loved ones. However
this was not the only reason, in the later Victorian age, with many
people having a great mixture of beliefs there was a disaffection with
organised religion and more towards scientific influences and
discoveries. Therefore this could mean that Victorians societies
interest in the supernatural was just a move away from religion and
the idea that God provides all the answers.
In this essay I will look at Henry James' 'The Turn of the Screw'
which was written in the Victorian era. The question I will be looking
to answer is, does James' 'The Turn of the Screw' fit into the
traditional mode of a ghost story or does he do something different
and more sinister?
The story is initially about a lonely governess and her new job
looking after two young children. The story is set in a large house
named Bly which is isolated in the countryside. The governess starts
to form a strange relationship with the children and in many ways
becomes too attached, finding it hard to separate herself from them,
enchanted by their surposide innocence.
Life at Bly runs smoothly until the governess receives a letter from
Miles' school informing her that he has been exp...
... middle of paper ...
...e contaminating
and corrupting of the idea of innocence by the governess and not by
the apparitions. There seems to be answers for the happenings at Bly
however these answers appear to lie in the mental state of the
governess. She seems to have developed delusions, resulting in the
obsession with the ghosts and their relationship with the children.
This climaxes in Flora's exit to London with Mrs Grose and Miles'
death. The role of the governess in Miles' death is not clear, was he
smothered by his affection? Or did he die of another cause?
This story twists the truth to the extent that the true answer to what
is going on is never actually revealed. All traditional aspects of
this story are contorted, making it seem far more untraditional, the
storyline is designed to make the reader think and ask themselves
questions to which there is no clear answers.
When the governess first arrives at the small town of Bly to begin her assignment over the niece and nephew of her employer, she describes her self as having gone through many ups and downs in terms of her emotional and possibly mental state. She says, "I remember the whole thing as a succession of flights and drops a little see saw of write throbs and the wrong" (page 121). It appears evident even from the beginning of the story that the governess is not in an 'even keeled' state of mind, neither stable nor calm enough to hand the task set before her in any means.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James continues to stir up an immense amount of controversy for such a short novel. Making a definite, educated decision on the actual truth considering the countless inquiries that develop while reading this story proves more difficult than winning a presidential election. That being understood, taking one particular side on any argument from a close reading of the story seems impossible, because the counter argument appears just as conceivable. Any side of the controversy remains equally disputable considerably supported by textual evidence from the novel. One issue which, like the rest, can be answered in more than one ways is why Mrs. Grose believes the Governess when she tells her about her ghost encounters. Usually one would second-guess such outlandish stories as the ones that the governess shares throughout the story, yet Mrs. Grose is very quick to believe our borderline-insane narrator. One of the explanations for such behavior could be the underlying fact that Mrs. Grose and the governess have a similar socio-economic background, therefore making them somewhat equals even if the governess does not always seem to think that way. This fact makes them susceptible to trusting and believing each other, and to believing that the ghosts are there, for the people that the ghosts are presenting used to be servants and therefore from a similar socio-economic background. To add on to that, Bruce Robbins proposes in his Marxist criticism of The Turn of the Screw that the idea of a ghost is synonymous to that of a servant, subconsciously making the two lower-class workers of Bly more vulnerable to believe that the ghosts were real; in other words, servants we...
In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the ghost of Hamlet’s father is intended to be seen as a real ghost. Around 1600, when the play Hamlet was written, many people believed in mystical creatures like witches, monsters, and most importantly: ghosts. With so many people believing in these characters, it makes sense that Shakespeare portrays the ghost of Hamlet’s father as a real figure. Many examples support this, such as when the guards in Act I scene i see the ghost, which proves it’s not just in Hamlet’s imagination. But some people can not see the ghost, such as Hamlet’s mother in Act III scene iiiii. Hamlet sees the ghost but she can not. This could be used as evidence to say the ghost is not real though. Shakespeare shows us though this information, the high complications oh having ghosts in a story.
In the famous novel, The Turn of the Screw, Henry James tells a story of a governess who
... engages in a struggle with sexual identity. Both the governess and Miles find themselves lost in a gray area of their own sexuality. Although for Miles it relates to his relationship with Quint and how that translates into his own sexuality, the governess creates her own hardship through her desire for a sexual identity. While she is eventually attracted to every male that she meets, she still does not accomplish her various goals, from privilege to love. The wealthy uncle indeed presents an opportunity to achieve a higher status, but even in this case, she translates her dream into sexual desire. It is this desire which manifests itself in the ghosts of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. These two individuals manage to represent everything about the governess that she fears. Quint presses her desire for the wealthy uncle while Jessel questions her adoration for Miles.
The next unclear situation is when the Governess learns of Miles’ expulsion. This is one of the main mysteries within this story. The question, “What does it mean? The child’s dismissed his school,” is the only question that the reader has throughout the conversation between the Governess and Mrs. Grose (165). Even though their conversation does inform the reader that the school has “absolutely decline[d]” Miles, it doesn’t clarify what exactly he has done to be expelled (165). The Governess comments, “That he’s an injury to the others” and “to corrupt” are her own opinions as to why Miles was expelled (165, 166). Nevertheless, her comment does not help the reader in any way because the remark in and of itself is unclear. Her first comment suggests that Miles might be causing physical harm to other students but her second ...
Hidden subjects, the corruption of innocence, gender, and the destructiveness of heroism, can all be argued to be the main theme of The Turn of The Screw but only one can really bring the truest theme out of the story by Henry James. Many argue that there is no theme, or more than one but I believe that Forbidden subjects is truly the source that really captures what the story is all about. We can easily come to this conclusion by looking at the items in the story and piecing them together. For example, the young male child named Miles suddenly gets kicked out of school, but the reason for the expulsion is never uncovered. As the story continues, there are more questions and mysteries that never become revealed, which I believe is the entire purpose as to why James wrote this; to simply leave us puzzled as a crossword. Yes, the other themes are well organized and presentable, but they are not the underlying theme that James is trying to convey. James skillfully incites the reader’s anxieties by arousing the psychological mechanisms of the horror of the unknown. Without the forbidden objects in the story, it would just be another ghost tale with no mystery. That is why I firmly believe that hidden objects and solving mysteries are the main and most important theme to Henry James’s “The Turn of The Screw”.
Elements of the supernatural have long enhanced the folklore of many cultures. Stories of ghosts, magic, and so-called aliens are transferred from generation to generation, sparking our imagination and uncovering our deepest fears. While some stories are clearly fabulous, others are believed by those who tell them. The story I wish to report is of the latter kind: an experience that generated real fear in the teller. Although the story is completely original, it contains ideas reflected in much other folklore, including similar tales from similar locations. And like all folklore, the effectiveness of the story depends upon the performance of the teller and those to follow.
This particular ghost story was told to me by one of the members of my gymnastics troupe. We had become friends over the course of the season, and she was telling me this story in an informal setting in my dorm room on a Friday night. She is twenty years old and grew up in a very conservative Catholic family in New Jersey. Later on, as I attempted to find more people who would have heard a similar story, I ran into another friend who had heard a variation of the same plot. This was a Jewish Caucasian male, nineteen years old, who grew up in North Carolina. He told me this story as we were eating lunch at a sandwich place in College Park:
...t want to be the only one who does. It is another feeble attempt to prove her sanity to herself and to others. However, because she “is so easily carried away”, she soon believes that the children do in fact see the ghosts by reading into their every remark and behavior. By piecing all of this together, the governess proves to herself that she is not insane. The governess in The Turn of the Screw, is a highly unreliable narrator. From the beginning of the story, her energetic imagination is displayed to the reader. With this knowledge alone, it would not be irrational to conclude that she had imagined the appearances of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. However, these facts in addition to her unsubstantiated inferences allow the reader to intelligently label the governess as an unreliable narrator. Works Cited Poupard, Dennis. “Henry James.” Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism: Volume 24. Ed. Paula Kepos. Detroit: Gale research.; 1990. 313-315.
In Act I Scene I, there was a lot of uncertainty pertaining to the ghost and why he is showing up. Bernardo and Marcellus, watchmen, are uncertain of what the mysterious “thing” is that’s appeared for the last two nights. They bring Horatio to watch with them, but Horatio thinks that the guards are imagining it. There is a mixture between preparation and surprise when the ghost appears. The reader knows that there is something unexplained wandering in the night by listening to the watchmen. However, one can sense the surprise when the ghost shows up as they all agree that it looks like the recently decease King of Denmark. The reader learns that Denmark is preparing for war with Norway. Therefore, Horatio believes that the ghost could signify that Denmark is going to lose the battle with Norway (1.1.158-162). He believes the ghost’s presence could be a bad omen. The speeches introduce a note of hope as Marcellus explains that the ghost left as the cock crowed and when the cock crows, spirits do not stir. Horatio and Marcellus believe that the spirit will speak to Hamlet if it is his father so they decide to get Hamlet to try to speak to the ghost to see what it is trying to tell them (1.2.163-170). In Act I, Scene II, Hamlet is thinking about committing suicide but is uncertain if there is a heaven or hell. He believes that killing himself would be a disgrace to religion, but if there is no God then suicide would allow him to be in peace without worry (1.2.129-159). In Act I, scene IV uncertainty comes up again when Hamlet decides that speaking with the ghost cannot harm him because he does not care if he is alive (1.4.64-68).
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.
and West wing and it is likely the ' The Red Room' is situated in a
Ghosts are not around when everything is going well. They are an extrusion of the supernatural world into the natural. In both Hamlet and Macbeth, their respective states are in trouble. Something has been disrupted and the supernatural comes in and affects the course of action the characters take. Hamlet feels guilty at not having saved his father from death and Macbeth feels guilt for his ambition and murdering his friends. Their guilt presents itself as ghosts. These phantasms disrupt the idea of a state and who the members owe allegiance to. If there is something more attractive offered by the supernatural world, why not take hold of it?
Ghost Stories Ghost stories revolve around lots of Spooky tales that work on displacing the reader's fear. Some of the main techniques which make them successful involve: Fear, Drama, Danger and Suspense. However, the main idea is that they create tension too. Such stories which use tension to dramatic affect are "The Red Room" by H.G. Wells and "Farthing House" by Susan Hill; both are written in first person narrative to allow the reader to get scared along with the main character. Both stories also build tension through their Style, Setting, Structure and Language.