Is Henry James' The turn of the Screw a traditional ghost story?

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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...

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...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.

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