Dec 10, 2009

The Turn of the Screw | Introduction

Henry James's The Turn of the Screw has inspired a divided critical debate, the likes of which the literary world has rarely seen. When the short novel was first published in 1898, it was published in three different versions, as a serial in Collier's Weekly and in book form with another tale, in both American and English editions. James later revised the story and published it in 1908 in the twelfth volume of the New York Edition of The Novels and Tales of Henry James. It is the 1908 version that the author preferred and to which most modern critics refer. However, no matter what version readers encounter, they may find themselves falling into one of two camps supported by critics to this day. Either the story is an excellent example of the type of ghost story that was popular at the end of the nineteenth century or it is a psychoanalytic study of the hallucinations of a madwoman.

As a ghost story, then the tale details the classic struggle between good and evil and dealings with the supernatural. If one takes it as a psychoanalytic study, then the story emphasizes sexual repression and the sources of insanity. In either case, The Turn of the Screw has delighted readers for more than a century and continues to serve as one of the many examples of James's literary artistry, among such other notable works as The American, The Ambassadors, and The Portrait of a Lady.

The Turn of the Screw Summary

A Terrible Tale
The Turn of the Screw begins on Christmas Eve during the 1890s, in an old house, where a group of men and women friends are gathered around a fireside telling ghost stories. When the book starts, somebody has just finished telling a particularly gruesome tale involving a ghost and a child. Later in the evening, a man named Douglas comments on this tale, saying that he agrees that since the tale involves a child, it magnifies the horrific effect, which he refers to as "another turn of the screw." He proposes to top this tale with a ghost story involving two children, but when pressed to do so, he says that he must read the tale from the account of the person who has experienced it and that the account is in a book in his home in the city.

Over the next couple of days, while the group is waiting for the book to arrive, Douglas gives a short prologue to the tale. In this preview, he reveals that the story involves a young governess in the mid-1800s, who has been hired by a young man to take care of his niece and nephew. The one condition that the governess must adhere to is that she can never trouble the man about anything involving the children. Some of the other major characters are introduced, including Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper who is currently watching over the house and children; Miles, the ten-year-old nephew, who was sent away to school after the death of the previous governess; and Flora, the eight-year-old niece. When the group presses Douglas for more details, such as how the previous governess died, he is very guarded, preferring to let them make their own interpretations as he reads the account verbatim—which he does when the book arrives.

The Governess's First Days at the Estate
From this point on in the book, Douglas and the guests disappear, and the reader hears only the firsthand account of what the governess has written about her experiences at Bly, the country estate. When the governess arrives at Bly in the spring, she is a little nervous, since this is the first time that she has had so much responsibility. The governess wonders why Mrs. Grose seems to hide her eagerness to see the governess. The governess is delighted when she meets charming Flora. Her first night at Bly, the governess hears noises but does not think anything of them. When she goes to pick up Miles two days later, she is apprehensive, since she has received a note from his school saying that he is being sent home and can never return. When the governess presses Mrs. Grose as to whether Miles is a bad boy, the... » Complete The Turn of the Screw Summary