Uncertainty is an important element of the Gothic genre, how do the uncertainties of "The Turn of the Screw" leave much of the story open to the interpretation?

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Emily Taylor 11B Mr Tucker English Coursework

‘He’s – God help me if I know what he is!’

Uncertainty is an important element of the Gothic genre, how do the uncertainties of “The Turn of the Screw” leave much of the story open to the interpretation?

“The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James has the potential to be interpreted as either a psychological literary masterpiece, or as a ghost story dreamed up to entertain the masses of Victorian England. Whichever way it is interpreted, it is undoubtedly a true example of the gothic genre.

“The Turn of the Screw” started its life as a ghost story told to Henry James in 1895 by the Archbishop of Canterbury. James said the Archbishop told him a "small and gruesome spectral story" that he had been told years before concerning dead servants and children. The tale told to him was not specific in its details, so already an aspect of mystery and uncertainty was introduced to the story, of which he says in his journal where he describes “the mere vague, undetailed, faint sketch of it.” The air of uncertainty that hangs over the origins of the tale is augmented by the fact that the Archbishop’s source was the friend of a friend, who had no talent for story telling,

“being all he had been told (very badly and imperfectly) by a lady who had no art of relation, and no cleverness.”

In his journal, James confirms that “The Turn of the Screw” was meant to be a ghost story, and after its publication he wrote in a letter to H.G. Wells that it was initially written as a “pot boiler”. Although these two pieces of evidence support the theory that the novel is simply a ghost story, Henry James never specifies that the ghosts in “The Turn of the Screw” are real. In fact, he is known to have accentuated in “The New York Edition of the Novels and Tales of Henry James”, in which “The Turn of the Screw” was included, that Miss Jessel and Peter Quint are,

“elves, imps and demons as loosely constructed as those of the old witch trials”

The detail that even the author doesn’t have a firm belief that the ‘ghosts’ are in fact ghosts highlights the scepticism that surrounds the novel, and intensifies the uncertainty of “The Turn of the Screw”.

“The Turn of the Screw” is undoubtedly a novel of the gothic genre, and this contributes to the sense of ambiguity of the novel. Gothic novels are generally set in a castle or grand house that was invariably haunted, and the story is normally one of dementia, horror and death. These novels use aspects of doubt and suspense to increase the tension of the story, and as a result of this, many of the novels become uncertain and misleading. This is particularly true of “The Turn of the Screw”, as throughout the novel, we are led to believe that many different things are true, only to have them dashed away as misapprehensions created by the supernatural atmosphere of the story. The first example of this is at the Governess’ first sighting of Peter Quint,

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“What arrested me on the spot…was the sense that my imagination had, in a flash, turned real. He did stand there!”

The sense of dreams turning real, leaves much open to the imagination of the reader, and enhances the uncertainty of the novel. This is the Governess’ first brush with either of the ‘ghosts’ and as of yet she does not believe that the apparition is a vision of the undead. However, a further sighting of Quint prompts a discussion with Mrs Grose, which results in the first real hint that the novel is a ghost story,

“She seemed to ...

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