The Turn of the Screw

A detailed Summary of The Turn of the Screw

The Symbolic Color of Black in The Turn of the Screw

In The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, black clothing worn by the ghosts of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel foreshadows evil and darkness throughout the novel. Throughout the novel, James creates a character that is "in the dark." The phrase "in the dark" means to be without knowledge. The character "in the dark," Mrs. Grose, is the only character throughout the novel that cannot see the evil ghosts; Mrs. Grose's inability to see the ghosts plays a major role in the novel. Black clothes that are worn, in American culture, symbolize death. Two of the six main characters are ghosts; they are always dressed in black.

Mrs. Grose is the housekeeper at Bly, the haunted mansion where the novel is set. Mrs. Grose is a very illiterate woman; she in unable to read and write. Because she is lacking this knowledge, Mrs. Grose cannot see the ghosts; her mind is not able to take her to that higher level of imagination. To develop an imagination, one must read and paint pictures in their mind of descriptions in the reading. Mrs. Grose becomes familiar with the term "ghosts" because it is so often used by the two children and the governess. Although she is familiar with the term

In American culture, the color black symbolizes death and mourning. James describes Miss Jessel's and Peter Quint's clothing throughout the novel. In every appearance in James's novel, the two ghosts are wearing solid black clothing. Their black attire seems to make an evil appearance. In the following line, James gives a description of clothes worn by Miss Jessel when confronted by the governess: "Dark as midnight in her black dress, her haggard beauty and her unutterable woe, she had looked at me long enough..." (58). This line clearly shows that James's use of color in the black dress gave the governess an evil and dark feeling when she saw Miss Jessel.

Henry James consistently uses a symbolic color, black, throughout one of his famous works, The Turn of the Screw. The ghosts are unable to be seen by Mrs. Grose because she is without knowledge and imagination. The clothes worn by Peter Quint and Miss Jessel are also symbolic because they let the reader know that the characters are dark and evil.

More criticism that I researched also supported my thesis. Some of the criticism I read and researched agreed that black clothing symbolizes death. Ned Lukacher explains his interpretation of the symbolism of the black dress worn by Miss Jessel in his criticism essay on James's The Turn of the Screw. The following lines show his interpretat

Some common words found in the essay are:
Miss Jessel, James's Screw, Miles Flora, Henry James, Peter Quint's, Critical Interpretations, Ned Lukacher, miss jessel, black dress, black clothing, throughout novel, color black, children governess, Quint Miss, peter quint miss, quint miss, clothes worn, grose's inability, peter quint, quint miss jessel, Peter Quint, black dress haggard, dress haggard beauty, familiar term ghosts,

Approximate Word count = 915
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels