Ghosts in Edith Wharton and Henry James short stories

Ghost Stories

Oh there is one, of course, but you'll never know it," Alida Stair enigmatically warns the Boynes before they purchase their English country home in Edith Wharton's short story "Afterward." Referring to ghosts, Stair's statement echoes the strange occurrences of sceptres throughout the short stories of Edith Wharton: author of "Afterward" and "The Lady Maid's Bell," as well the short stories of Henry James, who wrote "The Turn of the Screw" and "The Jolly Corner." Ghosts prove to be elusive in all four short stories: some characters can see them while others cannot. The ghosts seem to make their appearance known to only a select few. Thus, ghosts serve specific purposes in Wharton's and James' stories, and they do not appear solely to frighten people. Though the ghosts in each of these stories presage death, the apparitions are not evil in themselves. Rather, they warn the protagonists of impending doom. Ghosts also help to bring secrets out into the open, and encourage epiphanies. Setting and characterization remain remarkably similar throughout the two James and two Wharton tales. In "Afterward," "The Lady Maid's Bell," "The Turn of the Screw," and "The Jolly Corner," ghosts are integral characters and serve as psychological and plot catalysts.

However, ghosts serve distinct purposes in each of these four stories. James' "The Jolly Corner" is the only story of the four in which the protagonist is haunted by his own ghost and for whom the ghost delivers a poignantly personal message. In all the other three stories, the ghosts' presence concerns characters other than the protagonist. For example, in James' "The Turn of the Screw," the ghosts of Miss Jessel and Peter Quint alarm the current governess of her charges' coming-of-age. The ghosts' presence pertains directly to the children's lives and not that of the new governess, even though the narrator becomes profoundly affected and frightened. Similarly, in "The Lady Maid's Bell," Emma Saxon's ghost frightens Hartley but warns her not of her own doom but that of Mrs. Brympton. In "Afterward," Robert Elwell's ghost presages Boyne's death and Mary only realized the ghost's function until well after her husband's disappearance. In "The Turn of the Screw" and in "The Lady Maid's Bell," the ghosts are of dead maids and other servants; their social position enables them to possess unique insight into the characters they haunt. However, in "The Jolly Corner," the ghost is nothing but Spencer Brydon's alter-ego and appears for far different reasons than the ghosts in the other three tales. In "Afterward," Elwell's ghost arrives to settle a score and unlike the ghosts in the other three stories, he seems to have at least in part a motive for revenge for Boyne's business dealings.

All four stories share settings in common that complement the appearance of ghosts. For instance, all four tales take place within an old house and except for the Jolly Corner quarters, the homes are in remote rural settings. All four homes are large and stately, if not run-down. By possessing estate names, the homes in all three tales bespeak wealth. Therefore one of the common characteristics of the apparitions is their relationship with the well-to-do elements of society.

One of the primary functions of ghosts in James' and Wharton's short stories is as human conscience: to bring the unconscious into conscious awareness and to evoke guilt, shame, or fear. For the governess in "The Turn of the Screw," the ghosts symbolize sexual awakening and social deviance. From the time she arrives at Bly, the governess learns of Miles' misbehavior at school, mischievous behavior that Mrs. Grose attributes to normal adolescence. However, the narrator views the ghosts with increasing suspicion, believing them to herald the social and sexual corruption of Miles' youth. Similarly, Miss Jessel is depicted as having been promiscuous and the governess views her apparition partly as a symbol of unconscious sexual desires. Spencer Brydon's ghost serves a more direct psychological purpose in James' "The Jolly Corner," as the protagonist's own conscience symbolizing the life he never lived and the choices he never took. In both cases, the ghosts bring to light unconscious desires.

In Wharton's "The Lady Maid's Bell," Emma Saxon's ghost serves a similar function as the ghosts in "The Turn of the Screw." Saxon, like Miss Jessel and Peter Quint, signals sexual corruption. In "The Lady Maid's Bell," Saxon's ghost seems to be aware of Mrs. Brympton's relationship with Mr. Ranford. Moreover, the narrator suspects that Saxon was among one of Mr. Brympton's sexual prey. The ghost of Robert Elwell in "Afterward" delivers not a sexual message but a moral one. However, Elwell's ghost does bring to light that which had remained secret and hidden just as Saxon's ghost did in "The Lady Maid's Bell." In all four stories, the ghosts seduce the protagonist into becoming conscious of secrets or hidden desires.