Henry James Essays

anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for yourself” -Henry James (Brainyquote.com). Henry James was one who would rather observe everything he knew rather than just believe someone giving him the information. He wanted to experience everything for himself. “Henry James identified the middle of the 19th century as the "golden age" for Americans” (PBS.org).  Henry James was a significant part of American Literature due to his real life experiences, his writings

expected for society, he is presented as weak and inferior. In the passage from “The Pupil” Henry James uses an ironic tone, and a third person limited point of view in order to present the complexities in the relationships among the three characters to set a hierarchy among the characters. James establishes a tense tone as the young man is afraid of Mrs. Moreen and what could potentially happen in his future job. James uses words like “hesitated”, “timid”, and “nervousness” to describe the young man as

The ghosts in Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw are not real because the governess is the only person who sees the ghosts, the governess is immature and delusional, and her affection with the Uncle is indicative of false judgement. The biggest argument one can have against the existence of ghosts in the novel is that no one can see these supposed ghosts except for the Governess herself. Though the Governess suspects that the children can in fact see and can even communicate with these spectral

In Henry James’s novella, The Turn of the Screw, the governess’ sanity is commonly argued among the readers. Sanity is the “soundness and health of mind” while insanity is a “deranged state of mind usually occurring as a specific disorder” (Merriam Webster Dictionary). It is up to the audience to decide on whether the author intends for the governess to be sane or insane. Despite this controversy, the governess is insane throughout the whole story because she is a paranoid schizophrenic, possesses

In The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, the author uses symbols to help the reader understand the character of the governess. One of the important symbols throughout the text is light. She was unable to make any decisions in darkness. For instance, “I can’t say how long I turned it over, or how long, in a confusion of curiosity and dread, I remained where I had had my collision; I only recall that when I re-entered the house darkness had quite closed in” (James, 17). I think she meant to specify

In The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, the governess’ sanity is constantly being questioned. James initially displays the governess as a lovely agreeable woman, then adds aspects to her character that may be seen as insane. However, as a whole, the governess’ actions and character traits confirm her sanity. The governess is sane because she tries to protect the children and makes rational decisions. Furthermore, she is not the only one that senses the ghosts. Since the Governess’ only goal

In the novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, the story revolves around the unchanging ambiguity that constantly questions the reader of the book, do the ghosts exist or is it just a figment of the governess’ imagination. Although obscure at first, to a certain audience, James is able to prove the existence of the occult by creating situations and actions that are considered absurd when questioned, so that the only possible reasoning has to be something impossible that in some way, shape

uncertainty to the reader, which can be just as horrific as gore and violence. One author whom is well known for his use of ambiguity is Henry James, who used it to create chaos in the minds of his readers. Some of his uses can completely change the outcome of his novels, most notably in The Turn of the Screw, allowing the reader to decide the fates of each character. Henry James uses ambiguity through tone and diction to provide the reader with a more confusing and, in turn, more horrific story. The Turn

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

Written by Henry James in 1898, The Turn of the Screw is a chilling and intriguing novella which has captivated its readers ever since. This novella tells us the story of a governess who believes two children in charge are haunted by former caretakers. In The Turn of the Screw, Henry James uses sublime to develop a sense of uneasiness and tension aiming to question the reader’s own perception of reality Even though there are both the sublime and the uncanny in the novella, our focus will be on the

Argumentative Essay In Henry James’ novella, The Turn of the Screw, an ambiguous ghost story is told by a man named Douglas. The story was given to Douglas on a manuscript by the woman who wrote and lived it many years before. The governess and narrator of the ghost story was hired to work at a country home named Bly to care for two children. Everything is going well for the governess at her new job until she begins to see apparitions. Many argue that the governess has gone insane and hallucinates

In Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, many people agree that the Governess is an unreliable narrator, because of her actions, her tendency to jump to conclusions, a possible mental illness in the family, and the fact that everything that goes on in the story is just so strange. There are many things that may be intentionally left out by the Governess, such as sexual abuse of the children, because she is an unreliable narrator who hallucinates ghosts. The Governess is not mentally stable, making

The Insanity of a Governess Insanity is a tragic problem that many people suffer from and is especially apparent in Henry James’s novel, The Turn of the Screw. Insanity is described as, “a mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior”(Law.com). People who are insane lose the ability to act rationally and this causes fear of the insane people, and as

Henry James was a very famous author in the early 1900s and one of his famous stories is called "The Jolly Corner." The story is about a man named Spencer Brydon who returns to New York after being in England for a long time. The story is actually based off of Henry James's life and how he returned to America after many years. Brydon returns to his old house and another house that he owned. He had inherited both houses while he was away. He starts to think about the life he left behind and the life

The governess’s sanity in Henry James’s Turn of the Screw is often disputed over in literature. Because the governess sees ghosts in the novel, she is often argued as insane. The definition of sanity proves otherwise, stating that it is the “state of being sound of mind or having appropriate judgment skills” (Psychology Dictionary). The governess is sane because she behaves rationally, protects the children above all costs, and is not the only character witnessing a supernatural presence. The governess

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

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

In Henry James’s novella The Turn of the Screw, the Governess purportedly sees the ghosts of her predecessor and her lover. Critics have been debating whether the Governess was really seeing the ghosts or if they were visual hallucinations ever since the publication of the work. On one side, some argue that it is a simple ghost story and can be easily over-analyzed. The more prevailing opinion is that the “ghosts” are figments of a sexually repressed woman’s imagination. This implication of this

Is the Governess Insane or Is She Being Tricked? Henry James created a number of famous stories during his time “The Turn of the Screw” being one of his most iconic ones. James is a very iconic writer for his day and even till this day with the structure of his writing. This short story has been read over, for more than 100 years and will continue to be read. Throughout this story’s time frame, there has been a lot of controversy over certain characters in the story and what is there position

Recurring ‘blanks’ occur throughout the novella ‘The Turn of the Screw’ by Henry James. These ‘blanks’ are significant in that they create an atmosphere of suspense and curiosity for the reader and gather their wholehearted attention. Additionally, these blanks allow the reader to place themselves within the opening setting of the novella, which is a group of people listening to Douglas tell a story that is; ‘beyond everything. Nothing at all I know touches it’ (p.342). Thus, one feels as if they