Is Henry James The turn of the Screw a traditional ghost story? Essay

Is Henry James' The turn of the Screw a traditional ghost story? Ghost stories are found way back in history, some dating back to the Victorian times. The Victorians were known to be greatly interested in ghosts and the supernatural and showed this fascination through telling ghost stories. The telling of ghost stories was used as a way of entertainment especially around Christmas time and it was also very common for upper class Victorians to participate in seances where they would try to make contact with the ghosts/spirits of their dead loved ones. However this was not the only reason, in the later Victorian age, with many people having a great mixture of beliefs there was a disaffection with organised religion and more towards scientific influences and discoveries. Therefore this could mean that Victorians societies interest in the supernatural was just a move away from religion and the idea that God provides all the answers. In this essay I will look at Henry James' 'The Turn of the Screw' which was written in the Victorian era. The question I will be looking to answer is, does James' 'The Turn of the Screw' fit into the traditional mode of a ghost story or does he do something different and more sinister? The story is initially about a lonely governess and her new job looking after two young children. The story is set in a large house named Bly which is isolated in the countryside. The governess starts to form a strange relationship with the children and in many ways becomes too attached, finding it hard to separate herself from them, enchanted by their surposide innocence. Life at Bly runs smoothly until the governess receives a letter from Miles' school informing her that he has been exp... ...e contaminating and corrupting of the idea of innocence by the governess and not by the apparitions. There seems to be answers for the happenings at Bly however these answers appear to lie in the mental state of the governess. She seems to have developed delusions, resulting in the obsession with the ghosts and their relationship with the children. This climaxes in Flora's exit to London with Mrs Grose and Miles' death. The role of the governess in Miles' death is not clear, was he smothered by his affection? Or did he die of another cause? This story twists the truth to the extent that the true answer to what is going on is never actually revealed. All traditional aspects of this story are contorted, making it seem far more untraditional, the storyline is designed to make the reader think and ask themselves questions to which there is no clear answers.