Governess’s Sanity In the novel The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, the governess is a fluid character who can be interpreted many ways. She is forced to deal with an odd situation when the ghosts of past workers appear around Bly. The manner in which she confronts issues in the story creates a deliberately ambiguous character that can be seen as sane or insane. The governess is sane as her motivation is rational, the ghosts are real, and the other characters are unreliable. The governess’s rational actions to protect Miles and Flora illustrate her soundness of mind. After seeing the apparitions and realizing they were the ghosts of past workers at Bly House, the governess’s first thought is concern for the children. She places their …show more content…
The governess feels that Peter Quint had returned to Bly to see Miles after learning about the close relationship held between the two. Mrs. Grose explains that “Quint was much too free” with Miles while employed at Bly. This close relationship makes Miles an unreliable character. The intimate relationship Mile held with Peter Quint gives Miles incentive to protect Peter Quint by denying his existence. At the end of the story Miles admits to seeing Quint with the statement; “Peter Quint -- you devil” (James 86). In this exclamation Miles is identifying the ghost of Peter Quint in the room, as well as referring to the governess as the devil. After finally admitting to Quint’s presence, Miles refers to the governess as the devil due to his anger at her for impeding on his close relationship. He would want to keep Peter Quint exclusively to him, making him an unreliable character as he has reason to denounce the apparitions. Alternate characters in the story are not believable, furthering the notion that the governess is …show more content…
It could be argued that she is insane as her relationship with the children turns to borderline obsession as the story progresses. The governess becomes extremely attached and protective of the children almost immediately; however, she was forced to do this. Her employer requested that the governess “never trouble him…[and] to meet all questions herself” (James 6). The Uncle placed blind faith in the governess without her ever meeting the children, forcing her to create a strong relationship with the children immediately. She is forced into a situation where she is to serve as Miles and Flora’s sole caretaker as soon as she arrived at Bly. Under these conditions her relationship with the children is justified. It can also be argued that the governess’s reluctance to contact anyone about the issues at Bly are reason for insanity. The governess denounces Mrs. Grose’s idea to contact the Uncle by threatening to quit if Mrs. Grose does. This is not insanity as the governess was given specific instructions not to contact the Uncle, and also because the ghosts had not presented any danger. The ghosts had only “appeared and stood there” throughout the novel (James 30). There was no action taken by the apparitions that would suggest they had any intention of harming the children. The lack of danger the situation rationalizes why the governess did not contact anyone about the apparitions at
According to Mrs. Grose, one of the maids who worked at Bly, the Governess described the ghosts as being Miss Jessel and Peter Quint. Miss Jessel was the former Governess and Peter Quint was a part of the help at Bly. Mrs. Grose also saw the Governess slip quickly away into insanity caused by the ghosts, and Mrs. Grose and the children wanted to escape from the Governess by leaving Bly household. There are several indicators that the children and Mrs. Grose wanted to escape from the Governess as a result of her mental instability and possibly even the ghosts. Miles says “Then when am I going back(to school)?”
When the governess attempts point out Peter Quint in the room, the author mentions how she “grasp[s]” him and “[holds]” him with passion (James 87). This may suggest that the governess is too rough when it comes to protecting Miles, and that she actually killed him. Her physical actions during this scene border violence - grasping and holding the boy and even shaking him. The governess is experiencing an emotional breakdown and holds Miles so tightly for so long that she suffocates him and kills him. Ultimately, the governess’ insanity drove Miles to his death at a young
She claimed ‘He was looking for little Miles’ which is not clear why she connected her fantasy with Miles and said ‘I know, I know, I know’38. In addition, she said ‘I am absolutely certain that I should see again what I had already seen. ’39 and continue listening her twisted thought ‘but within me said…’ this revealed her irregular mind by making herself believe that little Miles know the death of Mr. Quint. The Governess’s obsession was to find something which may not exist on the ground.
The author illustrates how a ghost story reflects a particular culture by examining the tragic love story of Annabel Ravenel, which he felt was “archetypal of the ghost stories of the old South...a universal fairytale inflected with the genteel manners and diseased miasmas of South Carolina.” The romantic elements of the story were expected from the genre: the strict father who disapproved of his daughter’s lover, and his efforts to keep them apart is a familiar storyline. Dickey speculates that the other aspects of Ravenel’s ghost story, “the elements of a gothic romance,” were influenced by South Carolinian culture. Her death due to yellow fever, and the old-fashioned nuances of their relationship are state relics preserved in the amber of a tragic ghost story. The author presents an underlying paradox to these stories: “To
In this novella, “The Turn of the Screw,” there are many questions determining if the apparitions, Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, are real or just hallucinations. This novella does not go into detail about whether they are real or not. In my opinion they are just hallucinations. In this novella, it is known that the governess is in love with Mile’s and Flora’s uncle. Her love for the master became noticeable when she sees Peter Quint for the first time.
The governess wants to help the people of Bly, but unfortunately has some sort of mental illness or problem. She isn’t completely sane. In Henry James’s Turn of the Screw, the governess watches over the children, and when things don’t go her way, she conjures in her imagination two ghosts that haunt them. These ghosts are unseen by the others, Ms. Grose and the children, Miles and Flora, but are seen vividly by the governess. Though the governess believes the ghosts to be the conflict of the story, there truly is no harm coming to the kids, except in fact the governess herself.
Written in 1898 by Henry James, The Turn of the Screw has long been a topic of debate within the literary world in regards to psychology, feminism, Marxism, and psychoanalysis (“Turn of the Screw”). The gothic fiction novel tells a story of a governess who is hired to take care of two children in a town named Bly. During her stay, she dreams of her anonymous employer, believes to see ghosts of her predecessors, and sinks into an indistinguishable world of delirium and the undead, all while struggling to keep face in front of an eight and ten-year-old, who she also believes are corrupted. Ultimately, the novel sparks controversy over topics such as sexual repression, hysteria, ghosts, unconscious thought, sexual abuse, and more. But within the
The Governess’ first encounter with the ‘ghost’ of Peter Quint happens whilst she is thinking about the uncle of the children, who she is highly infatuated with - she says she wishes to see someone who “would appear there at the turn of a path and would stand before me and smile and approve” (James 39). Not only is she seeking approval, but some believe the entire fabrication of the ghosts is a sort of challenge for herself, something for the uncle to reward her for; this is why she does not see the uncle there to congratulate her, but her subconscious creating something even more strange. “...[S]omething that is greater than merely following the master's orders and something that will perhaps yield a greater reward, once the master sees how she has been victorious. ” says Poquette. The Governess may even be more prone to such hallucinations due to family lines, as we find out in a brief sentence that her father had an “eccentric nature” (James 86), suggesting she could have a history of mental illness in the
The novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is a spooky masterpiece that uses repetition throughout the story. Beauty is an example of a word that is continually used, so it is memorable to the story. Whether James is referring to the children, the governess, the master, or their property, beauty is an adjective that is frequently used, so this suggests that looks are important throughout this story. The governess is a young women who radiates with beauty and is infatuated with the master because of his handsomeness (most likely the reason she took the job).
In the story, the governess, who is hired to care for two young children, exhibits signs of mental illness as she tends to the estate, the servants, and her own sexual frustration. During the story she claims to see Peter Quint and Miss Jessel who had close ties with Flora and Miles. The governess shows great compassion and protection over the niece and nephew as well displays great loneliness and in return she may be fantasizing these characters so the governess can fill the need of protecting the two children and being able to put her focus on something to keep occupied. Doctors claim there are many illness in which cause hallucinogens and can obtain the difficulty of being able to differ real from imaginary. The governess displays symptoms
Aunt Georgiana very unpredictable outgoing has a strong love for music. Until one day she met the love of her life a “shiftless boy of twenty-one,”(251). Being the cat she is, she decides to be adventurous and ignore her family's dislike of the gentleman and leave everything behind to follow his dreams; little did she know this was her biggest mistake. After many years have gone by she finds herself finally leaving the farm on route to visit her nephew. During her visit Clark her nephew, realizes that his aunt appears to be in a “semi-somnambulant state,”(Cather 252).
One interpretation is that when Miles looks to where the governess is looking, he says “Is it he?” followed by “Peter Quint - you devil! Where?” suggesting that he is admitting Quint’s ghost’s existence (122-123). Soon after this, the governess points to Quint only to realize that Miles’ “little heart, dispossessed, had stopped” (123). From the perspective that this novella is a story of the governess going insane, it is hard to accept their interpretation of this scene as one purely constructed by the governess’ imagination. It is also hard to believe that she had the ability to kill Miles, given how fond she was of the children and how hard she was trying to protect them.
The novel, Turn of the Screw, by Henry James takes place in England and is told from the point of view of the Governess, whose sanity is questionable. The Governess is insane because throughout the novel, she is the only one who sees the ghosts, she is in love with the master, and she allows her desire to protect the children to drive her to insanity. First, the Governess is insane because she is the only character in the novel to ever have seen the ghosts. Early in the novel, the Governess claims she sees the ghost of Peter Quint, and immediately tells Mrs. Grose.
The governess’s sanity in Henry James’s Turn of the Screw is often disputed over in literature. Because the governess sees ghosts in the novel, she is often argued as insane. The definition of sanity proves otherwise, stating that it is the “state of being sound of mind or having appropriate judgment skills” (Psychology Dictionary). The governess is sane because she behaves rationally, protects the children above all costs, and is not the only character witnessing a supernatural presence.
She could be lying or maybe just going along with whatever the governess says, and is therefore an unreliable source of reassurance for the governess. Some people also believe that because Miles cries out Peter Quint’s name at the end of the story, it shows that he is able to see the ghost of Quint. However, as Miles shouts “Peter Quint - you devil!” there is uncertainty as to what he meant (James 86). Because the dash is there, it is ambiguous whether or not Miles was talking to Quint or about Quint.