The Turn of the Screw

7 Pages 1763 Words

Delusions of Grandeur

In 1898, Henry James wrote one of the most controversial novels of all time. “The Turn of the Screw” is probably one of the first and greatest psychological thrillers of all time. “The Turn of the Screw” The novel is more or less about a governess who is hired to be the caretaker of two children, Miles, and Flora”with an angelic beauty”. During her stay, the governess undergoes many situations, which lead her to believe that the children are possessed by satanic spirits; Miles possessed by Quint, the last master; and Flora, supposedly possessed by Mrs. Jessel, the last governess. These instances could have very well contributed to her losing her sanity, and killing miles. Many people argue that the ghosts of the novel do exist and that the death of miles was a direct response to Quint’s spirit leaving miles’ body. Despite all of the arguments supporting ghosts, the fact of the matter is that the only one who saw the ghosts was the governess; proving that no matter how sane the governess might have been before her stay as governess, she was definitely not sane during her stay with the children, and was in direct responsibility for Mile’s death.
To be able to understand “the Turn of the Screw” you must first understand Henry James. James was born in1843, into a wealthy family; in fact, his father was one of the most well known intellectuals of the nineteenth century, befriending other scholars like Emerson and Hawthorn .James’s childhood consisted of traveling back and forth from America to Europe learning from the best of the best. After being tutored in New York, Paris, and Geneva, James decided to go to Harvard law school, but shortly backed out to write his first short story, “'A Tragedy of Errors”, after which he continued writing. When James wrote the “Turn of the Screw”, his popularity exploded, becoming one of the most controversial writers of all time. Even today peop...