Background information the turn of the screw

The governess is so stricken by this that she walks back to the house, intending to leave it for good. When she sees Miss Jessel sitting at her desk in her classroom, she resolves to stay. She also decides to write to their employer about the suspected behavior of his niece and nephew. Before she writes the letter, she goes to talk to Miles, trying to find out his experiences at school before he was sent home.

When she pries too deeply, she suddenly feels a blast of cold air and the candle goes out, although Miles tells her that he blew it out. The next day, Miles is very happy and offers to play piano for her. The governess is delighted at the music, until she realizes that Flora is not around. Miles feigns innocence over Flora's whereabouts, so the governess seeks the aid of Mrs. Before the two women leave to search, the governess places the letter to her employer on the table for one of the servants to mail.

The governess and Mrs. Grose go to the lake, where they find the boat missing. After walking around the lake, the governess finds Flora and, for the first time, asks her bluntly where Miss Jessel is. The ghost appears to the governess; however, Mrs. Grose sees nothing and sides with Flora, who also says that she sees nothing and never has. Furthermore, she asks to be taken away from Bly, away from the governess.

The next morning, the governess finds out from Mrs.

Grose that Flora was struck with a fever during the night and that she is terrified of seeing the governess. However, Mrs. Grose does say that the governess was justified in her suspicions of Flora, because the child has started to use evil language. The governess encourages Mrs. Grose to take Flora to her uncle's house for safety and also so that she can try to gain Miles's allegiance in his sister's absence. Before she leaves, Mrs. Grose says that the governess's letter never got sent and that it has mysteriously disappeared.

When the governess is alone with Miles after dinner, she asks him if he stole her letter. Before he can respond, she feels the presence of Quint and shields Miles from seeing the ghost. Miles admits that he stole the letter so that he could read it. When she presses him to talk about his experiences at school, he says only that he said bad things to others. The governess holds him tightly to keep him from the window, and he asks her if it is "she.

Reader Interactions

When Miles looks to see the ghost, Quint is gone. Miles screams and falls into the governess's arms, dead, his heart having stopped. Douglas is the person who reads the governess's tale to the narrator and the assembled guests at the Christmas party. In the introduction to the governess's tale, Douglas offers to tell a terrible tale that heightens the terror effect by "two turns" of the screw, since it tells about ghostly interactions with two children.

Douglas is very cryptic about his relationship to the governess, saying only that she was ten years older than he was and that she was his sister's governess, which is when she told him her tale. Once Douglas starts telling the tale, it is told entirely from the governess's point of view, from the account that she wrote down for Douglas. Flora is the eight-year-old girl who the governess thinks is being tempted by the ghost of Miss Jessel, her former governess.

When the governess arrives at Bly to take care of Flora and Miles, she is overwhelmed by Flora's charm; Flora is a model student in the classroom. When the governess sees Miss Jessel while alone with Flora in the garden, she believes that Flora saw the ghost, too. However, the girl sweetly denies that anything is amiss when the governess tries to question her in vague terms about what is happening.

Even when the governess catches her peering out of the window in the room they share, Flora denies anything is wrong. One afternoon, the governess realizes that she does not know where Flora's whereabouts. She and the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, go looking for the little girl by the lake, where they see she has taken the boat.

Analysis: Henry James´ The Turn of the Screw

They walk around the lake, and the governess confronts her, asking where Miss Jessel is. At this moment, the ghost of Miss Jessel appears to the governess, but the little girl, no longer charming, tells the governess that she does not see the ghost and never has. She tells Mrs. Grose that she wants to be taken away from Bly, away from the governess.

That night, Flora gets ill with a fever. The next morning, Mrs.

Historical Context

Grose tells the governess that Flora has been using evil language. The governess has Mrs. Grose take Flora away from Bly to her uncle's home. In the introduction to the tale, Douglas, who says that he was friends with the governess before her death, gives her background. The governess is a young woman during the events of her tale, and she has been given the task of taking care of Miles and Flora. The children's uncle has hired her on the condition that she never bothers him with matters involving the children.

When she arrives at Bly, the governess is nervous, having never had this much responsibility. She is instantly taken with Flora and dismisses sounds that she hears her first night there. After receiving a note from Miles's headmaster that says he is being expelled, she is nervous about meeting the boy but finds him to be charming.

It is not long after she arrives that the governess starts to see ghosts—first a man, then a woman. With Mrs.

"The Turn of the Screw" THEMES -- Henry James' "Turn of the Screw" ... from 60second Recap®

Grose's help, the governess identifies these ghosts as Peter Quint, the former valet, and Miss Jessel, the governess's predecessor. Feeling that the children's souls are in grave danger, the governess sets herself the task of protecting them from the ghosts and stands up to the apparitions on several occasions.

Meanwhile, the governess keeps an eye on the children and attempts to get them to confess that they have seen the ghosts, too, approaching the subject in vague terms. When the children are unresponsive, she becomes more insistent, watching them at all hours and questioning them when she finds them out of their beds at night.

She writes a letter to her employer to let him know of the suspicious activities at Bly, but Miles steals it.

The Turn of the Screw Summary | Book Reports

When she confronts Flora at last, naming Miss Jessel, Flora denies seeing the ghost and becomes sick. Grose take Flora to her uncle's. When the governess confronts Miles about his association with Quint one night, she sees the ghost at the window. She presses the boy, who finally names the valet.

When the boy turns to look at the ghost, it is gone, and the boy shrieks, falling into the governess's arms, dead. Grose is the housekeeper at Bly, who gives the governess information about the identities and lives of Miss Jessel and Peter Quint. When the governess first arrives at Bly, Mrs. Grose seems to be overjoyed at her appearance, although she hides this emotion, which the governess finds odd.

After the death of Miss Jessel, and prior to the arrival of the governess, Mrs. Grose—who is of a lower class than the governess—has been taking care of Flora, while Miles was sent away to school.


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Grose cannot read, which the governess realizes when she hands Mrs. Grose a letter. When the governess sees the second appearance of Quint, she confesses the sighting to Mrs. Grose, who identifies the ghost. From this point on, Mrs. Grose is the governess's confidant in the ghostly matter, although Mrs. Grose rarely gives information to the governess unless pressed to do so. Even then, she gives many vague responses, which sometimes cause the governess to come to her own conclusions.

When Flora is found missing, Mrs.

The Turn of the Screw Character List

Grose and the governess go to look for her. When they find her by the lake, Mrs. Grose does not see the ghost of Miss Jessel, although the governess does. Because she cannot see the ghost and because the governess tries to browbeat Flora into saying that the child has seen Miss Jessel, Mrs. Grose starts to think that the governess is seeing things. However, that night after Flora has a fever and starts to use bad language, Mrs.

Grose is inclined to side with the governess once again, and she agrees to take Flora to her uncle's.