No One Reason Why The Governess Is Insane

One reason why the governess is insane is because of the fact that she is the only character to see a ghost. As we all know, it starts with her encountering the ghost of Peter Quint at the tower. She meets this ghost and that of Miss Jessel’s. There are many times in the story where the Governess sees these ghosts, but through all this time no one else sees one. Because of this, some may question her perception and vision in regards to actually seeing these ghosts. In fact, it is heavily supported in the novel that no one else sees anything. The governess points fingers multiple times throughout the story, believing that there were people involved in the presence or communication with these ghosts. She suspects everyone at one point, including

As said before, she was unable to separate reality from fantasy. In this case, she takes the next step and quickly goes through emotional breakdown. With her emotion deterioration her character follows a similar downfall as well. For example, it is at the beginning of the story where she shows signs of being proud of her job and a willingness to be caring and nurturing towards the kids. Over time, however, newfound emotion and the sighting of ghosts leads to an obsession. She then becomes much more involved in deep thought, thinking about these ghost sightings and questioning their presence. She grows in fear of these ghosts. However, despite this nerve and emotion, she takes a stand when necessary and sometimes verbally expresses her thoughts. An example of this is at the stairway when she encounters the ghost of Miss Jessel. She grows furious and yells, “You terrible, miserable, woman!” This remark was a build up of all the emotion she had built up over the story and it was at this moment it all overcame her. She was fed up over the fact that these ghosts were coming too frequently to her and that no one else ever really saw them. Her unstable emotion really did question her sanity at certain points throughout the

He goes on to point out each of the ghost sightings and their effects on the plot. One thing he addresses is how the story is biased in the eyes of the governess and what she sees. Because of this, he looks at the story with uncertainty as it all comes together. He sees the fear and emotional shift in the governess and uses this to blame for the change of course in the story. He specifically says “The governess's ‘seeing’—moral and mental-physical—is what we are made... to ponder, to question… it is an imagination incapable of perceiving ambiguity, only capable of admitting one view and excluding the other.” As a whole, he points out how obsession drives the story from the selfless woman we know from the beginning of the book to the dangerous one we see at the end of the story. This is somewhat shadowed as the governess tries to defend her actions, but it is obvious how she becomes fed up with emotion and fear. It is this fear that changes everything and causes everything to fall apart. However, it is evident that it is all a part of the governess’s head, and through this she is driven by a sense of