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elanalewis 's review for:
The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
What a strange little story! The Turn of the Screw is a novella written by Henry James. It is supposed to be a scary ghost story and maybe it would have been back in the day, but modern horror has evolved to the point it is more difficult to appreciate the nuances of implied fear. This is what James relies on in this book.
The story starts with a narrator retelling a story about a governess through a letter. And then the narrative changes to the governess herself who became employed by a man for whom she had become smitten. She agrees to care for two young children with the explicit instructions not to bother their uncle who was their guardian. She was determined to do so. She meets the two children; 7 year old Flora and 10 year old Miles. The children are described as angelic by the other house help, but the governess is first met with a letter explaining that Miles has been expelled from boarding school with no chance to return.
The story evolves with the governess establishing a positive relationship with the two children. We get glimpses of these bright, cooperative children. Soon the governess starts seeing odd sights, visions of the previous governess and a man named Quint, blasts from the children's past.
In enters an implied devilishness of the children and the children's relationship with the "ghosts." The governess begins to suspect the ghosts are in cahoots with the children. The more the governess suspects the ghosts are trying to get the children in their power, the more determined she is to protect them.
The language between the governess and the children grows odd, and there were subtle changes to the interactions where I began to feel like the governess and the children did not trust each other. I understand a Freudian analysis review has been done on the story which interjects a sexual component which makes the language even more creepy.
After a while, things blur. The story is being written through the eyes of the governess, and she is confused about what is going on with the ghosts. My confusion grew right along with hers and I was frustrated that I didn't have more perspective than through her limited eyes. While I got the feeling the governess felt she was fighting a battle of good versus evil, somewhere in the last few chapters of the story I started to feel deviousness on her part and began to suspect the ghosts were a figment of her imagination, or that she was the actual ghost.
Some scholarly reviews on this book have concluded the ghosts were a product of the governess' mind. In 1934, Edmund Wilson wrote an essay that has become one of the most influential works on Henry James's avague style in this story. This Freudian theory of Wilson's argues that the governess's sexual repression leads her to neurotically imagine and interpret ghosts.
We never find out. The ending leaves an ambiguity that leaves the reader to make their own interpretation. It is a skill on the part of James that he is able to create the flow of a story in such a manner as to present either explanation as being plausible.
It has been a while since I have read period classic like this. It took a bit to adjust to the language and I was jarred when it changed narrators midstream towards the beginning.
The story starts with a narrator retelling a story about a governess through a letter. And then the narrative changes to the governess herself who became employed by a man for whom she had become smitten. She agrees to care for two young children with the explicit instructions not to bother their uncle who was their guardian. She was determined to do so. She meets the two children; 7 year old Flora and 10 year old Miles. The children are described as angelic by the other house help, but the governess is first met with a letter explaining that Miles has been expelled from boarding school with no chance to return.
The story evolves with the governess establishing a positive relationship with the two children. We get glimpses of these bright, cooperative children. Soon the governess starts seeing odd sights, visions of the previous governess and a man named Quint, blasts from the children's past.
In enters an implied devilishness of the children and the children's relationship with the "ghosts." The governess begins to suspect the ghosts are in cahoots with the children. The more the governess suspects the ghosts are trying to get the children in their power, the more determined she is to protect them.
The language between the governess and the children grows odd, and there were subtle changes to the interactions where I began to feel like the governess and the children did not trust each other. I understand a Freudian analysis review has been done on the story which interjects a sexual component which makes the language even more creepy.
After a while, things blur. The story is being written through the eyes of the governess, and she is confused about what is going on with the ghosts. My confusion grew right along with hers and I was frustrated that I didn't have more perspective than through her limited eyes. While I got the feeling the governess felt she was fighting a battle of good versus evil, somewhere in the last few chapters of the story I started to feel deviousness on her part and began to suspect the ghosts were a figment of her imagination, or that she was the actual ghost.
Some scholarly reviews on this book have concluded the ghosts were a product of the governess' mind. In 1934, Edmund Wilson wrote an essay that has become one of the most influential works on Henry James's avague style in this story. This Freudian theory of Wilson's argues that the governess's sexual repression leads her to neurotically imagine and interpret ghosts.
We never find out. The ending leaves an ambiguity that leaves the reader to make their own interpretation. It is a skill on the part of James that he is able to create the flow of a story in such a manner as to present either explanation as being plausible.
It has been a while since I have read period classic like this. It took a bit to adjust to the language and I was jarred when it changed narrators midstream towards the beginning.