Henry James The Turn of the Screw Flashcards
Who wrote The Turn of the Screw
Henry James
time period and historical context: The Turn of the Screw
written 1898 end of the Victorian era, James was at a low point in his life after the failure of his play, wrote a story adhering to gothic horror to regain an audience and make some money because popular, Freud written about imagination as a representation of repressed self
plot summary: The Turn of the Screw
Told as a ghost story read from the book of a man named Douglas’ sister’s former governess. The governess is hired by a handsome man to be the governess of his niece and nephew and is told not to contact him. Upon arriving at the house, she meets Flora and Miles (who has just been kicked out of school for unknown reasons) who she finds to be extremely delightful and alluring. She sees a man in the window on a walk and later a woman and begins to believe the children are being haunted by Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, former, now deceased employees. She attempts to, with the help of ms. Grose, confirm her suspicion that the children and being corrupted and protect them, but her attempts fail repeatedly. She eventually scares Flora by outright accusing her of colluding with Miss Jessel. She confronts Miles and he dies in her arms while she attempts to protect him from Peter Quint.
key characters: The Turn of the Screw
Douglas owner of the manuscript of the story
The governess
The uncle
Ms. Grose the housekeeper and head maid
Peter Quint, deceased troublemaker valet (ghost?), potentially involved with Miss Jessel
Miss Jessel previous governess who mysteriously died after leaving
notable formal or stylistic elements: The Turn of the Screw
complicated sentence structure, seems to repeat same scenes over again
important themes and recurring motifs: The Turn of the Screw
gothic elements, seeing ghosts, infatuation with members of the family, psychologic realism, realism
other hints ID The Turn of the Screw
long, complicated sentences, lots of descriptive language, seems like the same scene over and over again
