The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is a ghost novel written in a purposefully ambiguous way that opens the novel up to an open-ended approach to criticism and interpretation. One of the more common ways that critics use to critique and analyze this novel is the psycho-analytic approach that was coined by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Because of the murky manner in which Henry James wrote this ghost story, the psycho-analytic approach seems to fit in many circumstances in the novel. James seems to hint at many themes which were impossible to explicitly state in Victorian England, and most of the "corruption" that the governess grows nearly insane over seems to be of an almost exclusively sexual nature. The governess is shown to be a possibly unreliable narrator, due to her frequent shifts of opinion about the young Miles and Flora. On one hand, they appear to be innocent little cherubs to her, while in the next chapter they appear to be conniving, deceitful little imps that live only to become corrupted and debased by the nefarious ghosts of Quint and Miss Jessel. In a psychoanalytic reading, sexual symbols and motifs are sprinkled throughout the novel, and can easily be discerned if that is the a
First of all, the governess first comes into visual contact with the apparition of Peter Quint at a tall tower; a piece of imagery that Freudian psychoanalysts commonly designate as a phallic symbol. He shows some of the symptoms of a molested boy, as he "looked in vague pain" and "evidently tried to remember" what exactly he did to warrant this sudden and mysterious expulsion. Granted, there are many ways in order to read this book, such as from a Marxist perspective or taking the view that the governess is insane, but the reproductive references in this book cannot easily be ignored. Thusly, while it is possible to critique this novel from a variety of different perspectives, none is as convincing as the psychoanalytic approach. This in itself is not strange, but at the very end of the novel, Miles says that he was expelled from his boarding school for "saying things" and leaves it at that. pproach that one wishes to take with this novel. Freudian symbols can be seen throughout the novel in two key places: the place where the governess allegedly sees the ghost of Peter Quint, and the location where she spots the alleged ghost of Miss Jessel. Significantly, then, the governess first comes to see the spirit of the jezebel-esque Miss Jessel at a prominent symbol of the womb and the female reproductive capability. Literal ambiguity and odd behavior from the young boy Miles and the illiterate Mrs. She later on goes to describe this lake first as a "sheet of water less remarkable than my untravelled eyes supposed it", but later in the same sentence states that it had "impressed [her] both with its extent and its agitation. Grose can be read as a subtle indication of homosexuality and pedophilia. Psychoanalytically, the governess, who is alluded to as being sexually inexperienced and sexually repressed, has attached the image of raw, animalistic sexuality with the phallic tower and the ghost of Peter Quint, which explains why she is fervent in her efforts to keep this ghost away from the young and impressionable Miles. Grose, early in the novel, implies that Peter Quint, who acted as master of the house at times, and the young Miles may have engaged in some man-boy intimate contact, and thus the strange behavior of Miles can be read in this manner.
Common topics in this essay:
Peter Quint,
Douglas Grose,
Miss Jessel,
Assuming Freudian,
Henry James,
Azof Oddly,
Victorian England,
Miles Flora,
Quint Miles,
Sigmund Freud,
peter quint,
miss jessel,
boarding school,
ghost peter,
ghost peter quint,
miss jessel governess,
spots alleged,
sexually repressed,
phallic tower,
governess comes,
jessel governess,
psycho-analytic approach,
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Acceptance Essays
