Turn Of The Screw By Daryl Koehn: Chapter Analysis

Daryl Koehn, Evil as Imagine Portent, ‘Nature of Evil’ (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), Google eBooks, 117-149

The introduction of Koehn’s chapter ‘Evil as Imagine Portent’ identifies that ‘The Turn of the Screw’ is recognised as one of the most horrifying and evil stories in literature. She notes that there is a great deal of foreshadowing within the novel, especially in relation to the governess. Within this chapter, Koehn provides the reader with a short overview of the novel, up until the first sighting of Quint. She suggests that as the ghost is unknown to the governess, it acts as an intruder and so a threat to herself and the children, which creates a sense of evil. To support this, Koehn uses the second sighting of Quint to suggest that the reason the

Koehn identifies that ‘the governess has assumed the place of the evil figure. What is more, she produces in others the same horror she felt when she encountered the evil figure’. (126) This interpretation acts as her core argument throughout the chapter, that not only are the ghosts figures of evil, but the governess is also. As the chapter progresses, Koehn uses the sighting of Miss Jessel to support her argument that the governess is also evil. For example, Miss Jessel resembles the governess in every single way. They are both similar in age, looks and their desire to have control over Flora. Therefore the reader assumes that the governess is also a threat to the children. Koehn also suggests that ‘the more fixated the governess becomes, the more her fury shifts from the evil Quint and Miss Jessel toward Miles and, to a lesser extent, his sister Flora. The governess will have her victory over evil at all costs. Having victory means controlling children’. (139) Therefore the children fear the governess and so she switches from their saviour to their enemy. Koehn concludes her chapter by referencing the novel,