Comparing The Governess In The Turn Of The Screw, By Henry James

In The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, the governess worked at Bly and was in charge of caring for two children, Miles and Flora. While at Bly, she had multiple encounters with two ghosts, Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. After seeing Quint and Miss Jessel multiple times and discussing them with Mrs. Grose, the governess was set on the idea that they are haunting Bly in order to take over the souls of the children. She felt that it was her job as their governess to protect them at all costs. This caused her to have to face the ghosts, instead of being able to ignore them and pretend they are not there. The governess was forced to face her fears of the ghosts of Quint and Jessel when she decided that she would do anything to protect the

She thought that Peter Quint and Miss Jessel may have been haunting Bly in order to corrupt the children and get rid of their childhood innocence that kept them good and pure. When the governess saw Peter Quint for the first time, she did not think that he was looking for her. She thought Peter Quint may have been looking for Miles to try and corrupt him of his purity. “He was looking for little Miles...That’s whom he was looking for.” (James, 25). The governess felt the need to protect Miles from Quint in order to keep his as innocent as he portrayed to be when she first arrived at Bly. The first time the governess saw Peter Quint, she was frightened by the fact that there was a figure standing on the top of the tower. When she saw him again in the window of the dining room, she decided to take action. Even though the governess was still in a mode of panic and was frightened by the ghost of Peter Quint, she took a step in order to protect Miles. The governess felt “...a sudden vibration of duty and courage” (James 20) to protect Miles so that he would not be harmed by Peter Quint. The governess faced her fear of the ghost of Quint to protect the people of Bly, especially Miles, from his intentions of

While at the lake with Flora, the governess noticed a figure across the lake watching them. The governess recognized her as Miss Jessel and described her looking at Flora “With a determination--indescribable. With a kind of fury of intention.” (James, 31). The governess thought that Miss Jessel had come back to Bly as a ghost to try and continue her relationship with Flora from when she was her governess before her death. The governess saw this as a threat and thought that Miss Jessel might do harm towards Flora and her natural innocence as a child. The governess decided that she has to take action to protect Flora when she goes missing one afternoon. After discussing where Flora could have been with Mrs. Grose, they decided that she has run off with Miss Jessel. “She’s with her? She’s with her!...We must find them.” (James, 66). Mrs. Grose and the governess later found Flora on the opposite side of the lake from where the governess was with Flora earlier. While Mrs. Grose cared for Flora after finding her, the governess saw Miss Jessel standing on the other side of the lake watching them. The governess felt the need to quickly find Flora after figuring out that she was with Miss Jessel so that Miss Jessel could not take over Flora and turn her into a bad kid. The governess felt that it was her job