"Another Turn on James's 'The Turn of the Screw'"
by Glenn A. Reed
Summarized by Jemima Varughese
In “Another Turn on James’s ‘The Turn of the Screw’”, Glenn A. Reed explores the idea of the governess’s sanity in Henry James’s ‘The Turn of the Screw.’ Reed presents different critics’ arguments in favor of the governess’s insanity, and then attempts to refute them.
Reed states how most critics argue that the governess herself, and not the actual children, talks about the ghosts. They say that the governess’s accusations are all the reader has to go on. Some critics argue that James did not once give a direct answer in the novella as to which theory is true. To dispute these claims, Reed particularly draws attention to the preface where is states, “The servants, wicked and depraved, corrupt and deprave the children; the children are bad, full of evil, to a sinister degree” (Reed 416). This sentence is identified as the central idea of his novella. Reed brings to light how James does not even mention the governess’s name in this main idea, and how parts of the preface specifically address James’s intentions for the governess to merely narrate the story and reveal the horrors which the children face.
Reed emphasizes that James keeps the governess as trivial as possible by giving her no name, barely describing her appearance, and having her tell the story long after it actually happened. He points out that the time difference between the telling of the story and the actual happenings helps to remove the possibility that the events were told as a product of mental hysteria. The governess tells the story from the grave, which gives her time to evaluate her evidence and confirm that her story of what happened is actually true and not just the result of complications in her brain when she was alive. Reed also argues that throughout the novella, James embeds clues aimed at convincing the reader of the governess’s role as a trustworthy witness. In the story, all of the governess’s accusations are confirmed by Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper, and at the end of the story, Miles, one of the children, actually mentions the ghost’s name, confirming the presence of the demon in the boy’s life.
Reed points out that one of James’s most frequently utilized methods in his writing is using a character absent from the action to reveal the plot, which is exactly what he did in ‘The Turn of the Screw.’ He mentions that Henry James classified the story as a fairy tale, which is “pure and simple.” A fairy tale is straightforward, and there are no hidden meanings behind the actual text which the author does not directly address. Reed explains how ‘The Turn of the Screw’ was formulated to be as direct as a fairytale, with no hidden meanings and underlying plot twisters. This makes the possibility of the governess’s insanity invalid by showing that the over-analyzing performed by critics is unnecessary. Through this very detailed and scrutinizing essay, Glenn A. Reed challenges claims that the ghosts in ‘The Turn of the Screw’ are merely the hallucinations of the governess by showing that there is little basis for such a theory.
Works Cited
Reed, Glenn A. "Another Turn On James ‘The Turn Of The Screw.’" American Literature
20.4 (1949): 413. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.
Reed states how most critics argue that the governess herself, and not the actual children, talks about the ghosts. They say that the governess’s accusations are all the reader has to go on. Some critics argue that James did not once give a direct answer in the novella as to which theory is true. To dispute these claims, Reed particularly draws attention to the preface where is states, “The servants, wicked and depraved, corrupt and deprave the children; the children are bad, full of evil, to a sinister degree” (Reed 416). This sentence is identified as the central idea of his novella. Reed brings to light how James does not even mention the governess’s name in this main idea, and how parts of the preface specifically address James’s intentions for the governess to merely narrate the story and reveal the horrors which the children face.
Reed emphasizes that James keeps the governess as trivial as possible by giving her no name, barely describing her appearance, and having her tell the story long after it actually happened. He points out that the time difference between the telling of the story and the actual happenings helps to remove the possibility that the events were told as a product of mental hysteria. The governess tells the story from the grave, which gives her time to evaluate her evidence and confirm that her story of what happened is actually true and not just the result of complications in her brain when she was alive. Reed also argues that throughout the novella, James embeds clues aimed at convincing the reader of the governess’s role as a trustworthy witness. In the story, all of the governess’s accusations are confirmed by Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper, and at the end of the story, Miles, one of the children, actually mentions the ghost’s name, confirming the presence of the demon in the boy’s life.
Reed points out that one of James’s most frequently utilized methods in his writing is using a character absent from the action to reveal the plot, which is exactly what he did in ‘The Turn of the Screw.’ He mentions that Henry James classified the story as a fairy tale, which is “pure and simple.” A fairy tale is straightforward, and there are no hidden meanings behind the actual text which the author does not directly address. Reed explains how ‘The Turn of the Screw’ was formulated to be as direct as a fairytale, with no hidden meanings and underlying plot twisters. This makes the possibility of the governess’s insanity invalid by showing that the over-analyzing performed by critics is unnecessary. Through this very detailed and scrutinizing essay, Glenn A. Reed challenges claims that the ghosts in ‘The Turn of the Screw’ are merely the hallucinations of the governess by showing that there is little basis for such a theory.
Works Cited
Reed, Glenn A. "Another Turn On James ‘The Turn Of The Screw.’" American Literature
20.4 (1949): 413. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.
