“The Turn of the Screw is essentially an ambivalent text. Its narrative prompts divergent, even opposite readings, but does not reconcile them. What happens remains irrevocably uncertain” The former recorded statement will be debated to establish its validity, in addition to doing so it shall be illustrated my means of closely analysis the text as well as referring to a key passage within the novella.
In order to debate the statement provided it is firstly important to determine whether or not The Turn of the Screw is in fact an ambivalent text. This will be established by means of critically analysing the novella nonetheless, it is possible to agree with the statement provided after reading The Turn of the Screw. The term ambivalent- having mixed feelings about someone or something- can be considered an appropriate term to describe the novella as it helps the reader come to terms with the text. A brief outline of the story tells us of a tale in which a young woman is hired as a governess to take care of a gentleman’s seemingly innocent nephew and niece. As the Tale progresses we learn that the governess begins seeing ghosts one of which being he predecessor Miss Jessel.
In an attempt to make sense of the ambivalence within The Turn of the Screw it is vital to first illustrate such ambivalence within the text itself. The first example being whether or not the governess actually sees ghosts and if not are they are a mere figment of her imagination. Important to note here is the fact that the governess serves as both narrator and protagonist. This raises uncertainty as the ghosts are only visible to her throughout the text, therefore leaving us as readers with mixed feelings as to the credibility of the governess as a...
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...ames wrote the novella one will never know.
In summation it is possible to state that the ambivalence of The Turn of the Screw is never reconciled, instead it leaves the readers imagination take hold. It is not possible to decipher the text, nevertheless one is able to understand and enjoy it. In addition Henry James has made the above arguments - presence of the ghosts, their moral depravity and their design on the children, a mere function of hearsay leaving the reader to think what they will.
Works Cited
• James, Henry. The Turn of The Screw. Penguin Classics. Penguin Publishers, 1994
• http://www.shmoop.com/turn-of-the-screw/governess.html
• http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/screw/quotes.html
• http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/screw/summary.html
• http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides4/TurnScrew.html
• http://www.henryjames.org.uk/tots/synop.htm
The classic ghost story, the Turn of the Screw, is filled with loose-ends and ambiguity. Are the ghosts real or imagined? Is the Governess a heroine or anti-heroine? Are the children really as innocent as they seem? In the novel, Henry James rarely provides an in-depth character that the reader actually gets to know. From the young romantic governess, to the intelligent ten year old, James keeps his characters morally ambiguous in order to further the “Unsolved mystery” style.
In conclusion, it is not the ghosts, as the governess suspected, that are corrupting the children, but the governess herself, through her continually worsening hysteria that is corrupting the children. Both Peter Quint and Miss Jessel are not real ghosts that have the peculiar habit of appearing before the governess and the governess alone but they are merely the signs of the fragmenting mental state of the governess.
The Screwtape Letters are a fictional series of letters compiled into a book and written by the highly acclaimed apologist and author, C.S. Lewis. The Letters discuss topics such as salvation, the Christian lifestyle, depression, love, and many other subjects that are pivotal to the way we live, think, and interact with others and the world around us. Nearly the entire book’s perspective is given to us by Screwtape, a senior demon who corresponds with his nephew, Wormwood, to mentor him on the damning of his charge. Wormwood’s task is to tempt a man living in 1960’s
All in all, the Screwtape Letters is a noteworthy book that can give Christian an insight to temptation, and may allow them to find their own weakness in temptation and how they can heal themselves and ovoid temptations, or how to stray from them and to God. This book helped me to explore my inner faith and personally helped me to understand my position in how I can ovoid the devil’s tricks and how to grow closer to God. Although C.S. Lewis intended this book to mostly fictional, it still helps one realize their faults or how they are being tricked into growing away from their faith in ways one could explain and understand.
Ever since the new governess shows up to the household, Bly, in The Turn of the Screw, the story of the residents’ lives change forever. Things go from peaceful, beautiful, and orderly to chaotic, ugly, and messy. Every step the governess makes seems to worsen things, but why? Is it the children making things go awry? Or could it be the ghosts messing with the balance of the peace? Or maybe, is it the one person who you would expect to trust the most who is doing the most damage. The protector is the destroyer. The savior is the killer. In The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, the governess is insane because all her actions from sleeping and sensing demons, to assuming far-fetched notions and being the hero in every situation demonstrates
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...
The existence of the ghosts in The Turn of the Screw has always been in debate. Instead of directly discussing whether the ghosts are real or not, this essay will focus on the reliability of the governess, the narrator of the story. After making a close examination of her state of mind while she is at Bly, readers of The Turn of the Screw will have many more clues to ponder again and to decide to what extent the governess can be believed. While critics like Heilman argue that there are problems with the interpretation that the governess was psychopathic, textual evidence incorporated with scientific research show that the governess did go through a period of psychical disorder that caused her insomnia, out of which she created hallucinations.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James has been the cause of many debates about whether or not the ghosts are real, or if this is a case of a woman with psychological disturbances causing her to fabricate the ghosts. The story is told in the first person narrative by the governess and is told only through her thoughts and perceptions, which makes it difficult to be certain that anything she says or sees is reliable. It starts out to be a simple ghost story, but as the story unfolds it becomes obvious that the governess has jumps to conclusions and makes wild assumptions without proof and that the supposed ghosts are products of her mental instability which was brought on by her love of her employer
In conclusion the Governess seems to be a normal and hopeful young lady at the beginning. She slowly starts to go mad as she starts to envision ghosts and starts to think the children also see them. The governess is the main Character of The Turn of The Screw. And she clearly is the character that adds a creepy tone to this novel with her insane obsessive questions and actions. This novel can definitely be viewed from other points, but the most straightforward conclusion is that the governess is a mad
In a criticism on Henry James’s story The Turn of the Screw, Strother Purdy suggests that large amounts of sexual passion may be assumed to exist underneath the surface of the narrative. Purdy says that under a Freudian interpretation of the story, the sexual element is easily recognized and is used as the whole source of the action. According to this theory, the governess wishes to impress her master because she is in love with him and, therefore, exceeeding her authority with the children. Although the governess only sees her master twice, Purdy refers back to what Douglas had said,” it was the beauty of her passion.” Since the master is not impressed by her initial and ordinary course of governessing, she must make up some life-threatening danger to the children so she can rescue them and win the masters love and affection. She figures the danger must be terrible because he told her he did not want to be bothered with matters dealing with the children. He basically tells her he cares nothing for the children. Purdy suggests the governess is unconscious in doing this because she is sexually repressed and cannot admit her sexual motives to herself
The most shocking and upsetting chapter of the novel is "Fatal Consequences" which by all accounts was a terrifying experience for the audience listening and reading. At that t... ... middle of paper ... ... Christmas Carol. " The Victorians believe in ghosts, Sikes imagination makes him more terrified and believes Nancyis a ghost.
One factor that a reader may have trouble with when reading the book is understanding whether the apparitions that the governess sees and indeed ghosts or just figments of her imagination. It is an ambiguous plot within the story and the choice of them being real or not will eventually come down to reader and their interpretation of the story. From the beginning of the novella it is easy for the reader to have faith in the governess. There is no reason why we should not believe and her convictions are certain. She does, whether the reader believes it or not. As we continue reading the novella, no more proof of these apparitions is given. The children and Mrs Grose do not see the apparitions of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. The governess becomes an unreliable narrator through her tale as we are not given the story from any other
...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 his 1948 essay, Robert Heilman explores the suggestion that The Turn of the Screw is a symbolic representation of the conflict between good and evil. Heilman interprets the apparitions of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel as evil forces. He explains that the ghosts only appear to the governess because evil lurks in subtlety before it strikes. It is the duty of the governess to "detect and ward off evil." She must protect the children from the awful ghosts. The governess describes Miles and Flora as beautiful little cherubs whose only fault is their gentleness (James, 18-19). Heilman views the children's beauty as a "symbol of the spiritual perfection of which man is capable." Heilman explains the ghosts' attempts to reach the children by explaining that evil forces will always try to conquer and possess the human soul. Heilman continues to draw from the descriptions of Miles and Flora to support his theories. He points out that the two children are described as having an "angelic beauty" and a "positive fragrance of purity" (James 9, 13). The governess describes them as if they are perfect and beautiful in every way. This repeated vision of beauty, radiance, and innocence parallels the image of Eden. The house at Bly also resembles this image, "I remember the lawn and the bright flowers..." (James 7). The governess makes mention of the "golden sky" and of Flora's "hair of gold," which Heilman believes connects Bly and Flora with these images of golden hues (James 7, 9).
In The turn of the Screw, the characters often communicated very indirectly with one another, hinting toward certain situations but never explaining them fully. At the beginning of this story, one of the first vague quotes, “he had been left, by the death of their parents in India, guardian to a small nephew and a small niece” depicts that Miles and Flora’s parents died in India (James 158). However, the details around their death are unknown and mysterious.