The Turn of The Screw Flashcards
Key themes of Turn of the Screw
The Supernatural
gender
good v evil
children
What is the major issue of controversy surrounding the novella
the reality of the ghosts and the sanctity of the governess
How did James describe the story in his preface
a ‘Fairy tale pure and simple” - could be evidence for existence of the ghosts
What has it become increasingly common place to associate James oblique and complex later style with
His emotional and repressed homoerotic/homosexual life
What is the effect of James Use of narrative framing
establishes an illusion of reality
What did Edmund Willson argue about TTOTS in 1934 and why was it dismissed
should be read as a ‘ neurotic case of sex repression’ in which the ‘ghosts are not real ghosts but the hallucinations of the governess’.
dissmissed as not enough standing ground for argument
Some gothic features of TTOTS
Isolated setting ghosts uncanny unexplained elements secrets single narrator
Non gothic features of TTOTS
Only partial framing device
Narrative by increasingly neurotic narrator
She is the only one to see ghosts
Unrequited romance – repression of feelings
Imagery of plays/acting – is it real?
How are the children described
hyperbolically referred to by
the governess as innocent
Flora is labelled as “the most beautiful
child I had ever seen”
Miles is marked with having a “positive fragrance
of purity
governess compares them to “Raphael’s holy infants
How is the governess described by Douglas in the prologue
“awfully clever and nice”
“most agreeable” and “charming woman”.
What is important to remember when interpreting TTOTS
was not published for an audience of 21st century literary critics who have many different theories to deploy and are well versed in the like of feminism,deconstruction and psychoanalytic methods.
When was TTOTS published
in 1898 in a general magazine as a ghost story and a form of entertainment.
What is one interesting implication raised in terms of gender
he question of how much a woman can truly control a man – or even a male child
What was very popular at the time TTOTS was written
ghosts and the supernatural
stories of supposedly real sightings
abounded.
what did The American poet and critic Allen Tate say of James in 1942
James knew substantially all that Freud knew before Freud came on the scene.”
