“The Turn of the Screw” has been analyzed multiple times, each with a different focus. Psychoanalytic criticisms are unique in the way that it is like analyzing the plot and characters of the story the same way a therapist would their patients. Picking apart the things that make people wonder or the things that drive them to find the truth. In the story, we’re introduced to seemingly normal characters at first: the narrator, the governess, the master, the maid named Mrs. Grose, and a child named Flora. However, once the reader becomes accustomed to the characters and begins to pick up the plot, Henry James introduces the notion of ghosts. How these ghosts are received depends on the reader’s specific mindset. Many see them as merely figments …show more content…
Throughout the story, she wants nothing more than to do well at her job so the master will notice her and fall in love with her. However, when things don’t go as planned, the governess sees in her head the children’s previous caretakers. She convinces herself that the master prefers them to take care of his children, and she believes the ghosts are there to mock her. Many critics believe that the governess did indeed have prior knowledge of Mr. Quint and Miss Jessel. They find evidence in the story when Flora is showing the governess around Bly, and it describes the way Flora gave her a tour with the phrase “room by room, secret by secret” (James, 16). This implies that Flora told and showed the governess more than a usual guest at Bly would get on a tour. A man named John Silver has a theory that the governess learned of Mr. Quint and Miss Jessel from people in the village. He thinks “before coming to Bly, she ventured through the village and talked to people and they couldn’t help but to inform her of Bly’s history” …show more content…
He describes how the governess has fallen in love with the boy, who is much younger than her, and society sees this as corrupting a child. In the story, the governess specifically says she’s protecting the children from the ghosts because she fears the ghosts will corrupt them. This seems backwards, almost. She’s afraid of corrupting the children, but she is in turn corrupting them. This is where the governess’s conscience, as well as her id, ego, and superego come into play. Her conscience tells her that her relationship with Miles is wrong and it can’t continue. Her ego tells her she’s not good enough for the master, so she must pursue the young boy. Her id tells her that she should pursue what she wants, therefore continuing the relationship with Miles. The governess’s superego is rethinking all the social standards that would be broken if she listened to her id. While these theories make sense and have substantial evidence backing them, I think they apply better to the governess’s and the master’s relationship. Relationship may not be the right word for this, as the governess displays an impossible love for a man she’s met twice. Her conscience tells her that she’s not at Bly to fall in love, she’s there to do her job as a governess and take care of the children. However, her id tells her she’s right for pursuing what she wants most, which