Is It Ghosts That Haunt Bly in Henry James’ Novella the Turn of the Screw or Are They Hallucinations Created by the Governess?

Staci Potter

ENG 113.3 (X01)

Prof. Matlock

July 14, 2013

Is It Ghosts That Haunt Bly in Henry James’ Novella The Turn Of The Screw Or Are They Hallucinations Created by The Governess?

The Turn Of The Screw, written by Henry James, is a story told by an unnamed narrator about a ghost story she heard told by a man named Douglas. His sister’s governess told this ghost story to him. The story is her personal account the time she spent at a house called Bly where she was governess of two young children. The novella is written in first person. The unnamed narrator reads the story of the governess by an exact transcript, and that part is from the point of view is of the governess. Initially, it appears that the ghosts seen by the governess are real but, as the story develops, it becomes clear that the ghosts may be hallucinations created by the governess.

As the governess’s story is told from her point of view, the reader should question her reliability. An unreliable narrator will consciously mislead readers for his/her own benefit. After the governess sees an apparition whom she guesses is Miss Jessel for the first time, she goes on to say to Mrs. Grose,

‘“Then ask Flora – she’s sure!” But I had no sooner spoken than I caught myself up. “ No, for God’s sake don’t! She’ll say she is n’t – she’ll lie!”’ (James 30).

By saying this, it sounds like the governess is covering something up and misleading the reader to believe that Flora makes up lies. Another statement she makes that leads the reader to question her reliability is when she states,

“… charming as a charming story suddenly to meet some one. Some one would appear there at the turn of the path and would stand before me and smile and approve.” (James 15).

This is thought while she is wandering the yard, also immediately following this is when the first male apparition appears to her. As she was imaging meeting a man on her walk when she sees the apparition, this may lead the reader to believe she has imagined it. With this evidence the reader may conclude she is an unreliable narrator.

The governess’ relationships with the uncle, her employer is important in that is shapes how the governess feels about her job duty. The readers know, because of Douglas, that the governess took the job at Bly because she had fallen in love with the uncle. The governess tells Mrs. Grose that she likes the uncle ‘“… I was carried away in London.”… “In Harley Street.”’ (James 8). Due to this attraction and the high demand of her duties, the governess feels a lot of pressure to please her employer. This relationship plays an important role in the sightings of the ghost; could the governess be making up the ghosts in order to create something to protect the children from, to prove to the uncle she can provide and protect the children.

The governess’ relationship with the children is built on her job duties. She is completely responsible for the children, and she is not to bother her employer with anything. The governess herself states that her job description did make her slightly fearful and pressured to do a good job, but also proud. This is proven when the governess states, ‘“They had, as it were, an extent and mass for which I had not been prepared and in the presence of which I found myself, freshly, a little scared not less then a little proud.”’ (James 9). The governess’ need to protect the children becomes something like an obsession to her, and she feels she must fence them in in order to protect them. Proof of her obsession arises when she states, “They had the bloom of health and happiness; and yet, as if I had been in charge of a pair of little grandees, of princes of the blood, for whom everything, to be right, would have to be fenced about and ordered and arranged…” (James 14). The fondness she develops for the children and the stress of her job duties has created a form of obsession, and she could be creating hallucinations to use as something to protect the children from.

The apparitions seem to appear following sleepless nights or on nights that the governess has stayed up late and they usually appear around reflective surfaces. Peter Quint first appears after the governess is imaging about running into a man and falling in love. Peter appears in a window in one of the towers on the house as she states, “He did stand there! – but high up, beyond the lawn and at the very top of the tower…” (James 15). The second sighting of the man is when she decides to confide in Mrs. Grose. When Mrs. Grose hears the description of the man she thinks it could be formal valet, Peter Quint. The first appearance of Miss Jessel,