The Governess's Sanity In The Turn Of The Screw By Henry James

Governess’s Sanity In the novel The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, the governess is a fluid character who can be interpreted many ways. She is forced to deal with an odd situation when the ghosts of past workers appear around Bly. The manner in which she confronts issues in the story creates a deliberately ambiguous character that can be seen as sane or insane. The governess is sane as her motivation is rational, the ghosts are real, and the other characters are unreliable. The governess’s rational actions to protect Miles and Flora illustrate her soundness of mind. After seeing the apparitions and realizing they were the ghosts of past workers at Bly House, the governess’s first thought is concern for the children. She places their

The governess feels that Peter Quint had returned to Bly to see Miles after learning about the close relationship held between the two. Mrs. Grose explains that “Quint was much too free” with Miles while employed at Bly. This close relationship makes Miles an unreliable character. The intimate relationship Mile held with Peter Quint gives Miles incentive to protect Peter Quint by denying his existence. At the end of the story Miles admits to seeing Quint with the statement; “Peter Quint -- you devil” (James 86). In this exclamation Miles is identifying the ghost of Peter Quint in the room, as well as referring to the governess as the devil. After finally admitting to Quint’s presence, Miles refers to the governess as the devil due to his anger at her for impeding on his close relationship. He would want to keep Peter Quint exclusively to him, making him an unreliable character as he has reason to denounce the apparitions. Alternate characters in the story are not believable, furthering the notion that the governess is

It could be argued that she is insane as her relationship with the children turns to borderline obsession as the story progresses. The governess becomes extremely attached and protective of the children almost immediately; however, she was forced to do this. Her employer requested that the governess “never trouble him…[and] to meet all questions herself” (James 6). The Uncle placed blind faith in the governess without her ever meeting the children, forcing her to create a strong relationship with the children immediately. She is forced into a situation where she is to serve as Miles and Flora’s sole caretaker as soon as she arrived at Bly. Under these conditions her relationship with the children is justified. It can also be argued that the governess’s reluctance to contact anyone about the issues at Bly are reason for insanity. The governess denounces Mrs. Grose’s idea to contact the Uncle by threatening to quit if Mrs. Grose does. This is not insanity as the governess was given specific instructions not to contact the Uncle, and also because the ghosts had not presented any danger. The ghosts had only “appeared and stood there” throughout the novel (James 30). There was no action taken by the apparitions that would suggest they had any intention of harming the children. The lack of danger the situation rationalizes why the governess did not contact anyone about the apparitions at