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The Governess Insanity In Turn Of The Screw By Henry James

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The Governess’ Insanity “Does believing you’re the last sane man on the planet make you crazy?” -Del Spooner, I, Robot. In the story Turn of the Screw by Henry James, the main character, the Governess has gone completely insane due to paranoia caused by the ghosts she is seeing around Bly household. According to Mrs. Grose, one of the maids who worked at Bly, the Governess described the ghosts as being Miss Jessel and Peter Quint. Miss Jessel was the former Governess and Peter Quint was a part of the help at Bly. Mrs. Grose also saw the Governess slip quickly away into insanity caused by the ghosts, and Mrs. Grose and the children wanted to escape from the Governess by leaving Bly household. There are several indicators that the children and Mrs. Grose wanted to escape from the Governess as a result of her mental instability and possibly even the ghosts. Miles says “Then when am I going back(to school)?” (James 54). He asks the Governess this saying his reason being is …show more content…

For example, the Governess explained the male apparition to Mrs. Grose who said that it was the exact description of Peter Quint. She said that the man had red hair and wore clothes that looked as though they did not belong to him. The Governess also said that he seemed like a musical fellow, but he was never a gentleman. Mrs. Grose says “Quint was much too free(with Miles).” This statement is openly left for interpretation. This statement may mean that Quint molested Miles which was the reason as to why he wanted to go back to school, so he can be away from Bly and where the incident had happened. The Governess also explains Miss Jessel as wearing black garments and she gave off a depressing vibe because she had committed suicide. Since it is apparent that the ghosts could have actually existed, they can be the reason that the Governess was losing her

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