The Turn of the Screw

A detailed Summary of The Turn of the Screw

Imagine yourself at a young and impressionable age. The new and primary caretaker in your life begins to rant and rave about ghosts of people that have since deceased. These "spirits" she speaks of used to perform the same task of tending to your needs in your earlier years. If you were suddenly confronted with the accusation that you were somehow involved with these ghosts would you be afraid? This is what the children from Henry James's The Turn of the Screw are dealing with. Throughout the book, the governess is the only character that claims to see these ghosts even though she tries to expose them to the other characters, including the children towards the end of the book. The reader ultimately questions the governess's sanity and thereby questions the ghosts' existence.

The reader first notices that the governess is not used to having such a large responsibility and that she still daydreams and maybe she confuses reality with the imaginary. When first settling in, the governess would go for afternoon walks, during which, she would often think of her dashing employer. "One of the thoughts that, as I don't in the least shrink now from nothing, used to be with me in these wanderings was that it would be as charm

The governess has been having many sleepless nights because of these visits from the undead. She has taken to reading to keep her mind occupied. "I remember that the book I had in my hand was Fielding's Amelia; also that I was wholly awake." "I recall further both a conviction that it was horribly late and a particular objection to looking at my watch."(James, 39) This total lack of sleep cannot be helping the governess especially when she still has to perform her duties for the children. For no reason at all she left her room and headed towards the lobby, and near the tall window on the staircase she had another encounter with Peter Quint. "The apparition had reached the landing halfway up and was therefore on the spot nearest the window, where at sight of me, it stopped short and fixed me exactly as it had fixed me from the tower and the garden."(James, 39-40) One would think that this deprivation of sleep would play tricks on her mind. The book states she had been reading late, even into the early morning. She was looking at the large window at dusk when the light does strange things; she is again sensing danger when there is none. If in fact, the spirit was real and it was evil one would think that it would do a little more than stare at her.

The governess, believing that the figure in the tower was an intruder, became more aware to the reality that the children could be in some sort of danger. During her preparations for their walk to church, the governess went into the dining room to retrieve her gloves and discovered the same intruder, from her walk earlier, peering in at her through the window. This encounter took place the same way as the first one, a hard stare, but then his gaze went from her to other things in the room as if he were looking for something particular. "On the spot there came to me the added shock of certitude that it was not for me he had come there." "He had come for someone else."(James, 20) Once this notion dawned on her, she felt "a sudden vibration of duty and courage."(James, 20) Here it seems that the governess is jumping to conclusions and ultimately assuming that this person has come for the children. The book so far has described the children as being extremely well behaved and capable of caring for themselves. It seems that the governe

Some common words found in the essay are:
James's Screw, Peter Quint, Miss Jessel, Peter Quint-you, Fielding's Amelia, , peter quint, miss jessel, danger none, active imagination, peering window,

Approximate Word count = 1557
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English