Apparitions or no apparitions, that is (not) the question : Another Turn of the Screw

Abstract

The readers well accustomed to Jamesian style unanimously agree that most of Henry James's works are deceptive in the sense that his seemingly simple plots often hide some serious messages aiming to criticize the Victorian society of England. The Turn of the Screw use of the gothic tradition to set up a trap to mislead the 'unwary reader' to think that the novel is only ‘a simple pure ghost tale' which was popular in England during, that time. But the careful readers can notice that James's real motivation is to criticize the Victorian capitalist society which encouraged the patriarchal system. With such a clear purpose in mind, he then moves to highlight the matter of gender bias, social inequities, and careless aristocrats who abandoned their responsibilities for the rearing of children in the hands of unknown governesses or servants. The corrupt influence of the romances is also included in the novel. To James, these romances tend to lead people to wild imagination and deprive them of coping skills needed in solving any problems. This is vividly portrayed in the life and work of his governess who makes a long journey to take care of a wealthy family's children at Bly. The governess's inexperience, her fantasy imagination which was partly nurtured and heightened by her reading romances, and the negligence of the legal guardian of the children, are all contributed to the unexpected tragedies there...