Pathology in The Turn of the Screw
Dealing with Henry James' Famed Ghost Story
Though Henry James' The Turn of the Screw is often read as a straight ghost story, by giving it a second look, readers may be able to find a different explanation for the
Psychological pathologies are much-displayed in modern literature, from the alcoholism written about in Smashed: Diary of a Drunken Girlhood to the tendencies toward self-harm shown in Sharp Objects. Such concepts, though, have basis in novels considered classical, as well.
Applying a Critical eye to The Turn of the Screw
The narrator in The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, provokes thoughtful analysis. Her steadfast insistence that the trespassers she continually spies are ghosts is concerning. Moreover, the fact that she, a governess, so frightens the children she is meant to protect and teach is downright damning. While it is true that her job begins under a sense of intrigue and suspense— the man who hires her says he never wants to be contacted by her for any reason— the narrator takes such mystery and compounds it with her own paranoia.
Upon hearing just a little about the history of the family’s previous governess and her strange demise, the narrator alights on an elaborate explanation for her vision: the spirits of two past employees, Miss Jessel and Peter Quint, are after the children. After convincing Mrs. Grose, the impressionable housekeeper, that the children’s immortal souls are in danger, the narrator employs her help in keeping constant, vigilant watch over Flora and Miles.
The narrator— who is notably the only one to ever see the ghosts— repeatedly comments on the perfection of the children and their attitudes and their actions. Such angelic perfection only adds to her suspicions that something must be wrong within the household.
Personal Paranoia and Terror
Any mention of either Miss Jessel or Peter Quint causes terror in the children, as can be expected— both of the employees’ deaths occurred under mysterious circumstances, and their presence before their deaths does not seem to have been particularly pleasant. The fact that the narrator presses the issue by asking the children about the ghosts and their employment history, despite seeing the horror she causes, is another mark of concern.
The most negative piece of evidence against the narrator occurs at the climax of the story, when the narrator confronts Miles about Peter Quint, and then tells the boy that the duplicitous man is in the room with them, though the boy cannot see him. The book ends with Miles’ death, presumably from the terror that such a confrontation caused him.
The narrator’s depiction of the manifested spirits, though accurately described in terms of physical detail, does not have to be explained by ghostly means. There is every indication that the narrator simply heard a description of the previous governess and incorporated it into her anxiety and intense paranoia.
Terror in the Context of a Ghost Story
Though horror and the grotesque are common themes in gothic writing, there is more that underlies the issue of terror in this book. James’ ghost stories are not typical thrillers, mostly because they have more bearing with reality, meaning that there are many phenomena within his works that do not need to be explained supernaturally.
The sight of ghosts is one such thing that need not be explained externally. No one but the narrator ever sees either of the ghosts. She induces terror by talking about them, yet continues to do so, to the detriment of her wards. She is too quick to assume the visions she sees are ghosts and that they mean to do harm to her charges.
While a clinical diagnosis necessitates more analysis than this essay can offer, readers of this Henry James book should be open to the idea that ghosts are not the only cause of unrest within it.
