Real and the Imagined: Looking

¶ … Real and the Imagined:

Looking into James' the Turn of the Screw

Henry James' novel The Turn of the Screw is a ghost story but the kinds of ghosts we are dealing with is never completely explained. This is not an accident on James' part, he is merely leaving interpretation open to the reader, which is the best thing he could have done. Many authors do this as a mean of connecting with the reader and allowing them to form their own opinions. The reality of the ghosts remains debatable but what they represent is not. No one will argue they represent something sinister and evil at the manor. James succeeds with his novel at this point and where the readers' minds take them beyond this point is actually beyond James' control. We can ascertain that the governess was under a considerable amount of stress and we can also know that she believes she saw something. This is the meat of the story and it is what makes us want to read more of it. James knew what he was doing when he left the ghosts ambiguous. We know this to be true because discussions are still occurring about the ghosts and their meaning. They serve to represent several things because they have not been formally defined. They represent the delicate psyche of man from all perspectives. If they are real, they represent the supernatural world. If they are not real, the represent another side of man that is more difficult to describe. Either way, however, the ghosts symbolize evil.

Many critics believe the ghosts are only real in the governess' mind. Nathan Fagin asserts that the apparitions are the "personifications of evil" (Fagin 157) and this seems to be an accurate account. James was well aware of what he was doing and while many believe him to be ambiguous, that is certainly within his right as an author. In this case, ambiguity does not diminish the story; it makes it more compelling. The personification of evil is a more chilling thought than the idea of a "typical" ghost and this story proves it. Charles Hoffmann agrees, writing that Quint and Miss Jessel are not "stage' ghosts who clank chains and whirl across the stage in white sheets in order to frighten a character ad thrill an audience. They are agents who create an atmosphere of evil. It is their evil effect, not their appearance, that is important" (Hoffmann 219). The central light of the story is not the things themselves but on "their effect on the lives of the characters" (219). This effect is then transferred to the reader and the result is an intense reaction to what has happened to the characters. That the things may or not be real becomes almost secondary. Quint and Miss Jessel are "agents rather than the personification of evil," (Hoffmann) Hoffman maintains. As agents of evil, they "draw out, not originate, the propensity for evil that is potential in human nature" (221). Hoffmann goes on to say the governess is not evil but her "high sense of duty leads her . . . To seek the truth" (221). The truth, however, is debatable since it may be coming from a delusional mind. If the governess is delusional and suffering, the question of why must be answered.

It is worth noting that the governess was probably not always delusional. The governess is simply over her head when it comes to her responsibilities at the manor. This is not to say that that she is not up for the challenge but the challenge turns out to be too great for her. This stress of caring for the children in an isolated world manifests itself through the apparitions. In fact, it is safe to say that the pressure results in neurotic behavior. When she sees Quint's ghost, we read that she is "stricken with death" (James 15). She sees the ghost and recounts the vision with amazing detail. While this proof seems to be powerful and convincing, her second encounter with the ghost is less impressive. While she does see him, she remembers him from her earlier vision. She recalls that "he was the same" (20), meaning she may have simply pulled him from the recess of her memory rather than actually seen him. Her second encounter with Quint is more of a feeling, or a sense, than anything else. Here we see that she is beginning to lean on her perception of things rather than what could be construed as an actual event and this begins to mar her reliability. Evidence of neurotic behavior can also be seen in the governess' control of the children. There can be no doubt that she loves the children but the stress of protecting them and her love for them melds into one giant neurosis. We know that her ability as a teacher is average and she is not allowing them to grow or develop in any outstanding ways. She becomes more like an authoritarian figure after the first vision of Quint. Certainly, we can see that she is only reacting in a way that is best for the children but it does not take long for her to overreact as she becomes obsessed with the children their welfare and the apparitions. When she declares that it is her duty to "protect" (20) the children, we see the shift from governess to authoritarian occur. Here she is attempting to take control of the situation but her inability to do so in a positive way hurts her. She wants to do well and the pressure of doing so pushes her over the edge. She cannot handle the stress of what she thinks it will take to protect these children. After all, she is attempting to protect them from a ghost. She knows nothing of this ghost nor does she know how to deal with it.

We must also look at the setting of the novel when considering the governess and her present state of mind. The isolated manor provides the perfect backdrop for someone with a neurosis to delve into that neurosis deeper. The governess is basically alone in her world. She has literally no one in which she can confide except Mrs. Grose. To make matters even more stressful for her, if she did have more people to tell, she might only be dragged away in a straight jacket for admitting to seeing a dead man. To compound things, she cannot ask the children about such a thing because it would frighten them. Slowly, the governess begins to believe that the ghosts are evil and mean to commit evil. Because she has very few with whom to communicate about this matter, the ghosts weigh heavy on her mind. She has no one to tell her to calm down. She has no one to convince her that the ghosts are not real. She only has Mrs. Grose, who only verifies that the ghost was indeed a person. The circumstances leave the governess to believe that she and she alone, is the only one to control this situation. This is the pressure that leads to neurosis. This is further exemplified when she begins to believe that the children are somehow evil and are conspiring with the ghosts. If the children are aware of and conspiring with the ghosts, this mean they cannot be good and pure as she once believed. In fact, it could be that they are just as evil as the ghosts themselves. This line of thinking begins to wear on the governess' mind because suddenly, everything she believes in -- or everything she wants to believe in is suddenly threatened. Her course of logic is beginning to unravel because it is leading her into a corner. She does what she was hired to do and tries to remain in control but her mind will not allow her to do so. Because she feels compelled to control everything, the governess must realize that the things she cannot control is the ghosts. Interestingly, the children become more fond of the governess with time as she becomes more suspicious of them. Her doubt in Flora's testimony reveals this distrust. When Flora lies about seeing anything when her candle goes out is the beginning of the end of the story. All of this affects the governess to the point that she begins to lose sleep. Here we can see how she is losing control of even her sleep because of worry. Her inability to discuss her thoughts and fears with anyone exacerbates the situation, making it impossible for her to remain in control.

It is impossible to emphasize the governess' call to duty. Regardless of what she may think of the children, she does feel obligated to provide for them in the best way she knows how. John Lydenberg notes, "beneath the governess' displays of love and care lies her determination to not to merely protect and control but to fully possess" (Lydenberg 282) the children. She longs for their love and the ghosts pose a threat to this. Since she cannot control the ghosts or make them go away, she must protect the children from them. Lydenberg asserts the governess' complete possession of the children is contingent upon the continuation of the threat" (283). He believes the governess wants the ghosts to actually exist to keep the children close to her. It is also his belief that she wants to be the possessor of the children's souls, not anyone or anything else and she will do whatever it takes to make that happen. When Miles expresses a desire to return to school, she is taken aback. She knows Miles' uncle deserves to know the truth, as she knows it, but she cannot bring herself to tell him for fear of consternation. She thinks, "I could so little face the ugliness and the pain of it that I simply procrastinated and lived from hand to mouth" (56). This scene brings us to the inner conflict the governess experiences on a daily basis and it could be used to explain Lydenberg's theory. The governess feels compelled to do the right thing but her sense of duty seems to be tugging her in another direction or perhaps she wants to possess the children any way she can. She wants to do right by the children, so she should confront the master of the manor. However, doing so would concede a certain amount of weakness. If her senses weakness within her, he might find her incapable of performing her duties and dismiss her. This would separate her from the children, which is the absolute thing she wants. Separation would mean placing the children in greater danger and it would be the end of her possessing them. The children, however, do not want to live in her "hysterical" (Lydenberg 287). Lydenberg asserts they want to escape her, concluding they hate and fear her and this is something she cannot accept. All of this indicates the governess is slipping away from reality. The governess does admit to being infatuated with the children and this obsession manifests itself into a neurosis that becomes larger than the governess and her world. The ghosts, then, remain a mystery and an extremely well-played one. Leaving this aspect of the novel unexplained and up to the reader is the best thing he could have done. Evil becomes what each reader interprets it to be -- real or imagined. As many have notes, the ghosts symbolize a "more generalized evil that is part of man, of the governess as well as the children, an evil we must all continually fight" (289). Furthermore, the evil is not something "given; it is developing and malleable" (289). This is an interesting point-of-view but it works in relation to this story and the idea that James was fully aware of what he was doing when he decided to leave the interpretation of the ghosts up to the reader.