The Governess In The Turn Of The Screw Essay

The Turn of the Screw is a ghost story that is mostly narrated by a young woman who is starting off her career as a governess. The governess gets a job where she takes care of siblings Miles and Flora. While she is watching the children she come across ghosts and convinces herself that they are after the children. As the story progresses and the governess begins losing control of the children as she starts to go slightly mad from the ghosts that only she can see. At the climax of the story Flore leaves the house with the house keeper Mrs. Grose after she suffer a brake down from the governess pushing her to reveal that she sees the ghosts. After Flore leave Miles is left with the governess and at the end of the story when they are both face with the ghosts’ miles suddenly dies without answering the question if the children really did see the ghosts.

James opens the novella with a framing device where there are ghost stories being told around a fire on Christmas Eve and one of the members of the party, Douglas speaks about tale who was narrated by a governess, who was his sisters governess and dead for more than 20 years. As he is telling this tale the other members wonder if the governess was in love to which he replies that she was and only to a man she has seen twice and who tells her to not trouble her as she was to handle all the responsibility herself.

The governess is the center of the story because she causes all the conflicts in the story. As the story first unfolds, Flora is a bright, well-adjusted girl who is in the top of her class. In the end, she wants nothing more than to escape the confines of the estate and be away from the governess’ rants. At the beginning, Miles is shy but mostly normal ten-year-old. As the story advances, he lives in fear of the governess and thinks that the house has become a madhouse. Not even a

In the novel, The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, the start of the book describes Flora as an angelic, beautiful little girl. She acts sweet-natured and absolutely loves the governess. But then she acts rather strange, working with her brother to have the governess notice that he is outside in the middle of the night. Then Flora disappears from the governess’s sight, which is odd for this angelic child to do. Eventually, when the governess finds Flora, she stares at the governess with the ugliest face while hugging Ms. Grose. Flora then tells Ms. Grose that she thinks the governess is cruel, mad, and that she wants to escape from her. This is especially bizarre considering Flora used to love the governess deeply. Moreover, Flora seems like

A simple fact of literature is that a story simply cannot be told without the presence of a nar-rator. This textual voice literally narrates the story and therefore wields the power to influ-ence it in many ways. Sometimes, it is not what the narrator reveals that is important, but what is left out. Writers can use the different aspects of narration to make their point more efficiently and it is therefore an obvious focus point when it comes to interpreting a text. Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw has for several reasons been in literary critics’ spotlight and this essay focuses on the changes in narrative voice taking place in the introduction along with the first three chapters of the story with some final comments on their relation to

The guests at the gathering in the prologue desire to hear a ghost story, and Douglas desires to tell them one. We, as readers, desire to hear this story also, and later to understand the presence of the ghosts within it – or whether they even exist. The Governess desires to please the Uncle, but most of all, she desires him. And it is perhaps this desire that is most long-lasting and pertinent throughout the text; its relationship with time being inextricably intertwined and influential upon one another. Henry James, purposely or not, sets up a strong link between measured time and human desire in The Turn of the Screw running throughout the novel, baring relevance to the Governess’ world, the frame narrator’s world, and our world.

The story of an hour by Kate Chopin begins with the sister and friend of Mrs. Mallard bringing the harsh news that her husband had been “killed” (Kate Chopin 9) in an accident. At first, Mrs. Mallard does not take the news of her husband’s death well and “went away to her room” (Kate Chopin 14) to be in solitude. She grieves for a while and expresses actions that would have her appear as an inanimate object. After taking notice to all the new life and freedom outside of her window she decides to start a new, free life for herself. With her new found joy she opens the door to her sister who has been perched up against the keyhole, and drags her sister down the stairs to express her joy. At the bottom of the stairs, her joy was brought to a halt when her presumably dead husband walked through the door. After the doctor examines Mrs. Mallard, she is pronounced dead.

In The Turn of the Screw, Henry James utilizes many aspects of the “point of view” technique, yet his most palpable use comes in the form of the first person narrator. The use of the first person narrator with the governess enables James to present the reader with many opportunities to question the validity of her account, while at the same time adding to the complexity of the story. Due to James’ clever use of the first person narrator, there is not necessarily a right or wrong way to observe the governess’s accounts, and more importantly, there is evidence throughout the text that could substantiate both interpretations of the story. Perhaps the most important part of this technique comes in the form of where James’ compels the reader to

    The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, is an odd story about a young woman who, leaving her small country home for the first time, takes a job as a governess in a wealthy household.  Shortly after her arrival, she begins to suffer from insomnia and fancies that she sees ghosts roaming about the grounds.  James is a master story-teller and, at times, the complexities of the story make it difficult to follow.  The Turn of the Screw is a story within a story, the tale of the governess being read aloud as a ghost story among friends.  Harold C. Goddard wrote a fascinating piece of criticism entitled "A Pre Freudian Reading of The Turn of the Screw."  When applied to the book, his

Henry James’ most controversial novella The Turn of the Screw was first published in 1898. The first person narration is well-known for its thrills, suspense, and the long-lasting uncertainties it leaves in the mind of readers. Its inexplicable screws and turns have generated arguments among critics, centuries after its publication, and the story has been analyzed from diverse perspectives – from psychological analysis to literary allusion. The most fascinating part is how James deliberately create so much ambiguity around the story and never clearly come out to readers about what he intends them to believe. Hence, the big question of whether the governess is just a

"The Turn of the of Screw" was written in 1898 by Henry James. I found from my summarized readings, the theories that would deepen my understanding of this short novel. They are the Psychoanalytic and Feminist criticism theories. "The plot centers around a young governess hired to watch over the niece and nephew of an absent, wealthy businessman at his country estate in Essex. She falls in love with the children: a ten-year old boy named Miles, and an eight-year old girl named Flora."(Parkinson 1991)

Throughout the Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, we are introduced to four main characters; the Governess, Mrs. Grose, Miles, and Flora. Other minor characters in the book are Miss Jessel, Peter Quint, and the children’s Uncle. I think Henry James portrays each of these characters in a certain mysterious and ambiguous way, and this is what helps catch the reader’s attention. Some people believe that Henry James wants the reader to infer that the entire story was just a hallucination that the Governess had. While others say that the Governess was completely sane and that the events throughout the story should have and could have driven her to insanity. There are many different interpretations of this novel, and I think that’s exactly how Henry James wanted it to be. Each audience has a different perspective on the story and how they think it should play out. “In The Turn of the Screw, it is presented with a twist, for between all the vague pronouns of the novel and the uncertainty caused by the fact that the other characters in the text do not witness the ghosts that the governess seems to observe, there is the fact that the reader is forced to interpret well beyond what the text explicitly states. (Elizabeth Dill)” This article, “James Gothic in The Turn of the Screw” goes to explain how the way that Henry James presents the characters and leaves the reader with uncertainty and with little clarity. This is also supported by how he gives vague descriptions of the characters

You don't tend to see this type of story anymore and the popularity that they enjoyed decades ago seems to be waning. Setting is a key feature for Gothic Stories and The Turn of The Screw keeps in line with tradition, with the story being set in an 'old family house in Essex'. As well as the setting being key to a gothic story, the choice and use of characters is equally as important, from the protagonist and central character through to the peripheral characters. The appearance of apparitions is a key characteristic of the gothic genre and the ambiguous and paranoid nature of the Governess, the protagonist, serves to create atmosphere and build tension. Henry James uses emotive language and the use of figurative language helps to provoke the reader into the story and encourages cinematic images, which allow the reader to feel more involved with the story, having a strong effect.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James both involve the very prominent role of a governess. The Turn of the Screw is solely about the role of a governess and the reader never has the opportunity to develop a connection with her. Jane Eyre, however, entices the reader to develop with her and her role goes beyond taking care of Adele. Henry James and Charlotte Bronte both use the role of a governess to develop their stories in two different ways.

In the strictest sense, the Governess—the principal character in Turn of the Screw—comes into being when the young woman accepts her position of employment at Bly Mansion. The “youngest of several daughters of a poor country parson” (4) agrees to take care of Miles and Flora, the orphaned “nephew…and niece” (4) of a “gentleman” referred to only as “the master” by his subordinates. As a requirement of her acceptance, the young woman acquiesces to a “prohibitive” (6) condition set forth by the Master: