How far does The Turn of the Screw conform to the conventions of the Victorian ghost story genre? What alternative interpretations does it lend itself to?

‘The Turn of the Screw’ was written by Henry James in the nineteenth century, when the belief that living people were in contact with the dead was prevalent. In the Victorian era the advance of science was undermining religious beliefs, because evolutionists were saying that the world had not been created in 4004BC, as the bible suggests. Therefore, the possibility of contacting the spirits restored some faith in the non-material world. The era it was written in does suggest that ‘The Turn of the Screw’ is merely a classic ghost story, but Henry James has integrated sufficient evidence to make the reader believe otherwise. The author has cleverly entwined a wide range of possible interpretations into one storyline to make any reader unsure of the real reason that the Governess is seeing ghosts. The only thing the reader can be sure of is this; Henry James wanted the nation to be debating their thoughts and opinions of the novel for centuries after it was written. His wish has certainly been achieved.

By opening his novel with a prologue, Henry James has built tension because the reader is informed of the sinister settings in which the story ‘The Turn of the Screw’ is revealed, leading them to believe that an ordinary ghost story is about to be shared. These settings fit in perfectly with Victorian ghost story conventions, because ‘The Turn of the Screw’ is told ‘round the fire’ on ‘Christmas Eve in an old house’, which is exactly where ghost stories were traditionally told. Furthermore, an air of mystery is created when the reader is told that the story is written in ‘old, faded ink’ and that the author has been ‘dead these twenty years’ because it implies that the author did not want anyone to know her story. When the reader then discovers that the manuscript is kept in a ‘locked drawer’ and has ‘not been out for years’ due to the ‘dreadful-dreadfulness!’ of the tale, the mysterious atmosphere is strengthened. It is at this point in the novel that Henry James ensures that the reader will finish reading the book, because they will want to know what the Governess is hiding and why. One of the obvious reasons for this, to the reader, is that the Governess did not want anyone to hear her story due to it’s hard-hitting content. This reason is made apparent to the reader from the metaphor ‘Turn of the Screw’, which gives the impression that the story will have a deep emotional impact on them like a screw being forced into a wall. Adding a ‘particular touch’ to the story are the two children, who give the ‘effect of two turns’. This shows the reader that the story will have a deeper impact on them than they originally thought, because the depth of the screw is dictated by the amount of turns forced upon it and also represents the impression made on the reader. Consequently, if the screw is turned twice then the story will have twice the impact. Douglas’ ‘wincing grimace’ at the thought of the story supports the reader’s assumption that ‘The Turn of the Screw’ is a horrific ghost story, but nothing more psychological than that. However, alternative interpretations suggest that the prologue is used as a weapon by Henry James to lull the reader into a false sense of security. ‘The Turn of the Screw’ certainly begins with the impression that it is a novel depicting the frightening occurrences at a large Manor house, but it later develops into a psychological tale that is open widely to different interpretations. One of these interpretations is that the Governess is suffering from hysteria caused by sexual repression. By including a prologue Henry James seems to have stressed the point that the story is now third hand, and is therefore being told by an unreliable narrator. Henry James used an unreliable narrator to highlight the ambiguity of interpretation, a technique that he revolutionised. If the Governess was suffering from hysteria then she would not have realised that she was imagining the ghosts and as a result would have written down that they were real. In addition, the man reading the manuscript appears to be in love with the Governess, so he may have censored some aspects of the tale that suggest that she is mentally unstable. Nevertheless, even the Governess admits that when she ‘flung’ herself about in her room she always ‘broke down in the monstrous utterance of names’. The word ‘monstrous’ symbolises her domineering and manipulative approach to her pupils, Miles and Flora, and could show the reader how she became so obsessed by her control over the children and the household that she lost control of herself. Her obsession is made even more apparent when the Governess describes how she feels she is ‘at the helm’ of the ship. The metaphor used of being captain of the ship shows that she is responsible for everyone at Bly and that she is the force behind the events that are about to occur. Another metaphor used to indicate the Governess’ authority is one that compares the Governess to the director of a play. When the Governess informs the reader that the ‘curtain rose on the last act of my dreadful drama’ it seems to the reader that for reasons unknown to them the Governess wants the dreadful occurrences to happen. This concept is given to them by the word ‘my’, because if she is the director of her ‘dreadful drama’ then she must be the force directing the terrible incidents and as a result wants them to happen. One of the reasons the Governess wants the ghosts to appear is due to her obsession with Miles’ and Flora’s beauty and charm. She wants to do everything in her power to suffocate them of the evilness that could lead to their corruption and as a result creates a threatening apparition in her mind to give her a reason to protect them.