“The Author of Our Woe: Virtue Recorded in The Turn of the Screw”
by Linda S. Kaufmann
Summarized by Simone Oliver
Linda S. Kauffman questions the governess’s reliability as a narrator. This affects every aspect of the story, because the governess functions as the sole narrator, outside of the prologue. The governess’s issues with reliability stem from her irrational desire for her life to reflect a ‘fairy-tale’ (179), a common enough outlook for a woman in her position. The majority of her essay focuses on the governess’s relationship with the children’s uncle, as evidence of her failure to understand reality. The final part of Kaufman’s essay focuses on parallels between Jane Eyre and The Turn of the Screw.
Kauffman begins by questioning the governess’s audience in order to support the notion that the governess’s sexual repression gives birth to the visions. Who exactly could the governess’s narrative be addressed to? Douglas is an impossibility because it was written prior to their meeting. Therefore, Kauffman believes that she is writing to the children’s uncle. Kauffman’s entire claim is based on of the unrequited love of the governess directed towards the absent uncle. This supports the idea that the governess’s repressed sexuality, like that of so many other gothic heroines, is causing her to envision the ‘visitors’.
Kaufman begins by summarizing traditional arguments for both “her neurotic imagination and sexual repression.” (pg 177) The majority of these arguments take into account the idea that Henry James wrote the narrative for an audience that did not believe in ghosts, and therefore casts doubt on the governess’s role as a reliable narrator. Kauffman believes that this issue is secondary to the role of the governess’s imagination in the story.
She reexamines the governess’s relationship with her “absent beloved” (pg 177), the uncle. The governess’s overly romantic view of him is greatly affected by her reliance on fiction as a source of knowledge. Her attempt at communication after being told not to mirrors her sexual repression. Her use of fiction as an alternative for reality is evident in other items as well. She frequently describes her settings as “story-book” or “fairy-tale” like (179). The governess attempts to ‘”fix”’ her circumstances into those of a story, outside of the practicalities of reality and firmly based in the idealism of her society. Instead, the governess involves herself in “yearning” for the “happy ending” contained within the situation she believes she faces. (pg 183)
Finally, Kauffman explores the use of writing as a form of communication in the novel. Although the characters of the drama finally give voice to the reality of evil, they never give voice to love. The governess’s emotion stems from novels instead of any of the affection based in reality. Instead of changing her ideal to fit reality, she attempts to change reality to fit her ideal, “fixing” things so that she can have her story-book world. (pg 189) Her ridiculous affair with the master, her attempts to educate the children, and the storyline in its entirety all “consist wholly of reciting, imitating, copying, and repetition,” and this is reflected in all of the criticism of the work (pg 186).
Works Cited
Kauffman, Linda. "The Author of Our Woe: Virtue Recorded in The Turn of the Screw" Nineteenth-Century Fiction Vol. 36. No. 2. (1981): 176-192. 5/1/13 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3044876>.
Kauffman begins by questioning the governess’s audience in order to support the notion that the governess’s sexual repression gives birth to the visions. Who exactly could the governess’s narrative be addressed to? Douglas is an impossibility because it was written prior to their meeting. Therefore, Kauffman believes that she is writing to the children’s uncle. Kauffman’s entire claim is based on of the unrequited love of the governess directed towards the absent uncle. This supports the idea that the governess’s repressed sexuality, like that of so many other gothic heroines, is causing her to envision the ‘visitors’.
Kaufman begins by summarizing traditional arguments for both “her neurotic imagination and sexual repression.” (pg 177) The majority of these arguments take into account the idea that Henry James wrote the narrative for an audience that did not believe in ghosts, and therefore casts doubt on the governess’s role as a reliable narrator. Kauffman believes that this issue is secondary to the role of the governess’s imagination in the story.
She reexamines the governess’s relationship with her “absent beloved” (pg 177), the uncle. The governess’s overly romantic view of him is greatly affected by her reliance on fiction as a source of knowledge. Her attempt at communication after being told not to mirrors her sexual repression. Her use of fiction as an alternative for reality is evident in other items as well. She frequently describes her settings as “story-book” or “fairy-tale” like (179). The governess attempts to ‘”fix”’ her circumstances into those of a story, outside of the practicalities of reality and firmly based in the idealism of her society. Instead, the governess involves herself in “yearning” for the “happy ending” contained within the situation she believes she faces. (pg 183)
Finally, Kauffman explores the use of writing as a form of communication in the novel. Although the characters of the drama finally give voice to the reality of evil, they never give voice to love. The governess’s emotion stems from novels instead of any of the affection based in reality. Instead of changing her ideal to fit reality, she attempts to change reality to fit her ideal, “fixing” things so that she can have her story-book world. (pg 189) Her ridiculous affair with the master, her attempts to educate the children, and the storyline in its entirety all “consist wholly of reciting, imitating, copying, and repetition,” and this is reflected in all of the criticism of the work (pg 186).
Works Cited
Kauffman, Linda. "The Author of Our Woe: Virtue Recorded in The Turn of the Screw" Nineteenth-Century Fiction Vol. 36. No. 2. (1981): 176-192. 5/1/13 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3044876>.
