In Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw, the insane governess undeliberately strangles Miles in an attempt to be his hero and save him from the ghosts she is hallucinating.
The governess soon becomes delusional after arriving at the estate and begins to hallucinate and sees two ghosts, a man and a woman. After her first sighting of the man in the tower, she speaks with another worker, Mrs. Grose, and they decide that it is the ghost of a previous servant, Peter Quint. After the governess’ next sighting, this time of a woman, she describes her as “a figure of unmistakeable horror and evil: a woman in black, pale and dreadful--with such an air also, and such a face!”, but due to this vague description Mrs. Grose can not identify who …show more content…
This sighting shows that the governess is not able to form an accurate description of the ghost she believes she saw. Due to the fact that she is the one who decides it is the children’s old governess, Miss Jessel, there is no proof that the ghost looks like Miss Jessel because the governess has never seen her before. Later, the governess is in one of the estate’s gardens with Mrs. Grose and Flora when she feels the presence of Miss Jessel’s ghost once again. The governess, excited to finally have proof of the ghosts, is shocked when her companions tell her they cannot see Miss Jessel and the governess asks, “You don’t see her exactly as we see her? -- you mean to say you don’t now -- now? She’s as big as a blazing fire!”(102). The governess is distressed because neither Mrs. Grose nor Flora is able to see Miss Jessel and asks them why they cannot see her as “we” see her, even though she is the only one who …show more content…
After her first encounter with Peter Quint, the governess decides that she must protect the children because “[they] were cut off, really, [they] were united in [their] danger. They had nothing but [her]”(41). The governess’ need to become the children’s hero is so extreme, that it becomes an obsession. She becomes so addicted that she is able to convince herself she is seeing ghosts, so she can then become their hero when she saves them because she is the only person they have. The governess refers to her duty to keep the children safe as “the extraordinary flight or heroism the occasion demand[s] of [her]” and confesses that she is “able to find a joy” from it (41). The governess’ addiction to keeping the children safe in an attempt to impress their uncle is very possibly the reason why she continued to hallucinate and then find joy from her “heroism”. During the governess’ last sighting of Miss Jessel, she is sitting with Miles and as she realizes Peter Quint’s presence she tells herself that her main goal would be “to keep the boy himself unaware”(120). Even after the governess was thinking that maybe Miles was working with the ghosts or that the ghosts has possessed him, she still makes it her main goal to protect him and keep him safe when she sees Peter
The governess soon becomes delusional after arriving at the estate and begins to hallucinate and sees two ghosts, a man and a woman. After her first sighting of the man in the tower, she speaks with another worker, Mrs. Grose, and they decide that it is the ghost of a previous servant, Peter Quint. After the governess’ next sighting, this time of a woman, she describes her as “a figure of unmistakeable horror and evil: a woman in black, pale and dreadful--with such an air also, and such a face!”, but due to this vague description Mrs. Grose can not identify who …show more content…
This sighting shows that the governess is not able to form an accurate description of the ghost she believes she saw. Due to the fact that she is the one who decides it is the children’s old governess, Miss Jessel, there is no proof that the ghost looks like Miss Jessel because the governess has never seen her before. Later, the governess is in one of the estate’s gardens with Mrs. Grose and Flora when she feels the presence of Miss Jessel’s ghost once again. The governess, excited to finally have proof of the ghosts, is shocked when her companions tell her they cannot see Miss Jessel and the governess asks, “You don’t see her exactly as we see her? -- you mean to say you don’t now -- now? She’s as big as a blazing fire!”(102). The governess is distressed because neither Mrs. Grose nor Flora is able to see Miss Jessel and asks them why they cannot see her as “we” see her, even though she is the only one who …show more content…
After her first encounter with Peter Quint, the governess decides that she must protect the children because “[they] were cut off, really, [they] were united in [their] danger. They had nothing but [her]”(41). The governess’ need to become the children’s hero is so extreme, that it becomes an obsession. She becomes so addicted that she is able to convince herself she is seeing ghosts, so she can then become their hero when she saves them because she is the only person they have. The governess refers to her duty to keep the children safe as “the extraordinary flight or heroism the occasion demand[s] of [her]” and confesses that she is “able to find a joy” from it (41). The governess’ addiction to keeping the children safe in an attempt to impress their uncle is very possibly the reason why she continued to hallucinate and then find joy from her “heroism”. During the governess’ last sighting of Miss Jessel, she is sitting with Miles and as she realizes Peter Quint’s presence she tells herself that her main goal would be “to keep the boy himself unaware”(120). Even after the governess was thinking that maybe Miles was working with the ghosts or that the ghosts has possessed him, she still makes it her main goal to protect him and keep him safe when she sees Peter