The governess also wrote this as a retrospective account of events. She comments on her ‘‘dreadful liability’’ and how her story is “true enough’’. The manuscript was written by the governess after events had occurred. She also says that “I scarce know how to put my story into words”. This is another example of how parts of the actual series of events are missed showing how we can’t rely on this narrative to give us the true and exact series of events.
Not only could parts have been forgotten, but parts could also have been added. There are examples where you can tell the governess has added parts to her narrative. She will often come up with massive long speeches that give the impression that she is in control: “No, never - from the hour you came back….You seemed so perfectly to accept the present.” She also includes signposts in her narrative e.g the separation of the governess and Miles from Mrs Grose and Flora “Mrs Grose and Flora had passed into the church… We were for a minute alone” If parts have been added to cover up her mistakes, then perhaps other things may have been removed disproving her claims. This therefore undermines the narrative reliability.
The perspective in which the governesses’ story is written also undermines the narrative reliability. As it is written in the 1st person by the governess, the entire narrative is subject to the governesses’ influence and her influence alone. She uses plenty of 1st person pronouns “I remember it…” which proves this is her personal account of events. She refers to her story with the words “the strings of my invention” This gives the impression that this story is her puppet and she has full control over it. We should not trust this story as it is heavily subjectivised and therefore it is unlikely that it will be entirely correct.
There is only one other character in the story who could give us an extra perspective on events: Mrs Grose. However, Mrs Grose is being manipulated by the governess throughout the book. The governess admits she had “formed the habit of keeping Grose well in hand”. There are also examples where Mrs Grose takes on the governesses reasoning after being pressured by the governess “Lord how I pressed her now.” We only get the governesses perspective and any interjections from the interlocutor Mrs Grose are likely to be influenced by the governess.
It also seems that the other characters in the book cannot be relied on for the truth. Both Miles and Flora (the children) are accused of stealing or lying, “Did you take letters – or other things?” It seems we can’t trust anyone to give us a true version of events.
The governess seems to be writing her story in the style of a contemporary gothic narrative. Her story uses many gothic themes and imagery like loss of control “let myself go” “mahogany and brass” and she refers to other gothic novels ‘‘some Mystery of Udolpho’’. She casts herself as the gothic heroine as she has an obsession with protecting the children “offering myself bravely”. Women in the Victorian period, where this book is set, would read lots of books of this genre and this is why the governess would write her story in this style. She probably makes up most of these themes to turn her narrative into a gothic novel with her as the gothic heroine “strangely at the helm”
The use of taboo and lacunae by the Governess and Mrs Grose means we do not get all of the details also. “Mrs Grose had kept back” . Women of the period were not meant to be heard saying things that were considered to be a taboo and as most of the story contains taboo, we are not told most of it. We are not told why Miles is expelled from school. Many of the conversations between the Governess and Mrs Grose are very ambiguous because they are both afraid of saying certain things that would be classed as a taboo. Therefore their conversations are often quite ambiguous and we are not always sure what the two women are talking about: “ ‘But aren’t they all – ’ ‘sent home – yes’ ” We cant possibly hope to trust these parts of the story as we don’t know what is happening, and neither does it seem do Mrs Grose or the Governess.
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Next this essay will look at how we can conceive the governess as being unreliable.
Not only does the governess’ perception change after the narrative, but they also change during it. For example, when she first sees Quint she is aware that they are “too far apart to call each other” but when she next meets Mrs Grose she gives a very detailed description of the ghost and claims to have met him. “I came to meet him” “He has red hair, very red…etc”. The governess may be trying to show off or manipulating Mrs Grose into believing her, but it is clear that the governess is lying and cannot be relied upon.
This essay will argue that the governess is paranoid, hysterical, over-anxious and is suppressing her sexual desires. This essay will show that all these things are because of a psychological and mental imbalance.
It is clear in the governess’ language that she is hysterical and neurotic. When she says “I know, I know, I know!” or “sharper, sharper” she sounds increasingly hysterical because of her use of repetition. There are even parts where she tells us about her neurotic state “the state of my nerves” “soothing my nerves” It is clear to the reader that the governess is not in the correct mental state and there is something affecting her mental balance and therefore cannot be trusted.
The language the governess uses shows that she is paranoid. She is worried about the ‘ghosts’ “and always the same lady and she uses a lot of possessive pronouns when talking about the children “too free with my boy!”. This combined with her nervousness makes the governess quite jumpy. At one point she confuses the blowing out of a candle with the scream of somebody who has just seen a ghost. “the boy gave a loud high shriek” “ ‘the candle’s out’ – ‘it was I who blew it’ ” The governess’ paranoia undermines her reliability.
Next this essay will look at the apparitionist and non-apparitionist evidence. By proving that the ghosts are not we will undermine the governess’. She doesn’t see the ghosts close up They are either “too far apart” “across the lake” or not with “greater distinctness” yet she feels “as if I had been looking at him for years” talks about “where I had last met Quint” and assumes he is “after the children” By contradicting herself she undermines her own reliability and makes her story of ghosts seem more unbelievable.
The main apparitionist argument is focused on the time when the governess describes Quint exactly to Mrs Grose. “He has red hair, very red…etc”. However, we know that the governess has a habit of manipulating Mrs Grose into believing her side of events. Another thing we can tell is that the governess must have been making her description of Quint up, as she never gets a proper view of him. “we were too far apart” The chances are that Mrs Grose is taking in the governess’ ideas, and using them when it’s her turn to think.
The Governess is often manipulated by little Miles because of gender “you really compare me to a baby girl” This greatly undermines the governess’ reliability as she is being manipulated by a ten year old boy. This shows how women of this period didn’t have much influence over men.
A Freudian critic may also argue that the governess has a psychological imbalance due to suppressed sexual desires and is therefore unreliable. The governess is desperate for class as she’s only a “parson’s daughter” and love and wants the master. According to Freud, these desires form her id. However, her super-ego (which acts like her conscience) tells her that she cannot have these things and so she tries to suppress and hide these emotions. Doing this causes her to reveal them through Freudian slips. For example, when she firsts sees the master, she uses the word “conceived” to describe him. We know that she likes the master, and the word conceived shoes that she probably wants to have his children as well. Because her vocabulary changes due to her suppressed emotions we know that she has a mental imbalance.
She takes advantage of Mrs Grose because she is not as educated as her “My councillor couldn’t read” “dropped on me a foolish face”. She does to give herself the impression that she has class and is therefore acceptable for the master.
You could also argue that she creates the ghosts in her mind to fulfil her desires. She sees Quint as a sexual alternative to the master. She says that she wishes that he “would stand before me and smile and approve” when she first sees the ghost of Quint. The ghost of Jessel acts as an imaginary rival that she can compare herself to “always with the same lady”. The ghosts can’t be real as the chances of their characters matching her exact desires are incredibly slim.
Another way in which the governess tries to get rid of these feelings is by casting herself as the gothic heroine of the story “for my part, let myself go” “we can prevent”. To do this she has to change her narrative structure. By changing her character, she undermines her reliability to tell us the truth.
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