Comparing Beidler's The Governess And The Ghosts

Along with accepting her job from the her beloved bachelor, the young governess must agree to take full responsibility of his niece and nephew and promise to never contact their uncle for anything. His kin were left to him after not only the death of their biological parents, but also the death of their caretaking grandparents. It is never made clear why the uncle chooses to cut off communications with them given the children’s unfortunate upbringing; however, as anyone might assume, the uncle simply just does not care for anyone but himself. He did leave them in possession of Bly and cater financially to their needs, but he choose not to involve himself in their upbringing. Perhaps because being a young, wealthy bachelor is a life all too

In an essay titled, “The Governess and the Ghosts”, authors Peter G. Beidler and Alexander E. Jones agree that “scholars who think Peter Quint and Miss Jessel are not really ghosts but the wild imaginings of a sexually repressed neurotic or a pathological liar and that the real evil at Bly is the governess, not the ghosts.” A psychoanalytic reading of Turn of the Screw, would lead to the same conclusions, as for the governess’ realities. Mental Health America, a foundation for mental health awareness, defines psychosis as, “a general term to describe a set of symptoms of mental illnesses that result in strange or bizarre thinking, perceptions (sight, sound), behaviors, and emotions. Psychosis is a brain-based condition that is made better or worse by environmental factors - like drug use and stress.” (Mental Health America) In the case of the governess her condition is worsened by her environment, she learns facts about the new place she is living and uses them to create hallucinations. Being that Peter Quint and Miss Jessel (the persons of her delusions) had passed before the governess’ time at Bly so it is perplexing that those are the people she claims to see. It is possible then that the governess is seeing aspirations who are not Peter Quint and Miss Jessel but she is seeing strangers and associating them with the people that she knows those around her could relate to. And so forth, she starts her first description of her delusions of seeing a man in the window with, "I haven't the least idea [who he is]." (James