The Governess's Insanity In Turn Of The Screw By Henry James

The novella Turn of the Screw was written by Henry James and originally published in 1898. The story is a ghost tale, involving a Governess and two children. There is much debate as whether the Governess in this story is sane or insane. According to Oxford Dictionaries, insanity is a “state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, and social interaction” (Oxford Dictionaries). The Governess can be considered insane since she has disturbed perceptions, exhibits abnormal behavior, and has unnatural social interactions. The Governess is insane since her perception is impaired. Throughout the novel, the Governess claims that there are ghosts haunting her and the children. For example, while the Governess and Mrs. Grose are by the lake,

One behavioral issue that highlights the Governess’s insanity is her constant obsession with the children. For example, while watching over Miles, she thinks to herself, “what, under my endless obsession, I had been impelled to listen for was some betrayal of his not being at rest” (James 61). This quote exemplifies the Governess’s abnormal paranoia as she stays up and listens to Miles because she crazily suspects him of working with the ghosts and being possessed by them. This idea manifests in her head because she believes that since the children were close to Peter Quint and Miss Jessel before, the ghosts must be back for the children. The Governess just assumes this of the children, despite evidence of the contrary as they are described as pure and beautiful children in the beginning of the story and always deny the presence of the ghosts. Furthermore, the Governess’s insanity and obsession with the children manifests itself into more physical occurrences. For example, she physically handles Flora when she “[grips the] little girl with a spasm” (James 41). The Governess cannot control her behavior and grabs Flora because she believes that Flora is lying about her knowledge about the ghosts. The Governess’s delusions cause her to be physical with Flora, even though she is supposed to be her caretaker. This physical action

However, even though Miles yells this out, he cannot actually see any ghosts. This is supported by the fact that Miles asks, “Where?” in this same scene (James 86). Miles looks around but cannot see any evidence of a ghost. He only yells out Peter Quint’s name as a guess in response to the Governess’s questioning, since he knows the Governess has been seeing the ghosts. Also, grammatically, Miles is calling the Governess the devil and not Peter Quint. Miles calls the Governess the devil since he believes that she is corrupted by her insanity and that she is the real threat to him and everyone else in the story, not some imaginary ghosts. This sudden final outburst pushes Miles over the edge and allows him to express his true beliefs. Others may argue that the Governess’s obsession with the children is her just being a good and protective caretaker. While it is true that the Governess may be driven to protect the children, she is still insane as she takes her protectiveness too far. For example, she believes, “London will set [Flora] up,” as she decides to send Flora away (James 79). She separates the children due to her crazy idea that they are communicating with the ghosts. This can be seen as an unnecessary and excessive measure that the Governess takes, since there is no need for the