Essay On The Turn Of The Screw Figurative Language

Semantic satiation is the occurrence when something is said so many times that it temporarily loses its meaning or sounds weird. This means that through uninterrupted repetition, a word loses its relationship with its definition and pronunciation. This effect allows authors to change the meaning of the word and therefore the story, without altering the word itself. Many critics, like Barbara Bengels, say that The Turn of the Screw’s uniqueness comes from its ability to perplex the reader and create doubt in their minds. Bengels strengthens this argument by looking at the devolution of words, specifically “charm”, in the novella. By analyzing the relationship between words and their definitions in Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, readers …show more content…
The new governess uses the positive connotation of charming when describing her charges, surroundings, and even her employer. The first example of this is given when the governess meets one of her wards, Flora, whom she calls, “a creature too charming not to make it a great fortune to have to do with her” (James 30; par. 2). In this instance, charming is meant captivate or enchant, so much so that the governess feels blessed to have met and be in-charge of such a girl. She spends the rest of her “charming summer” (James 30; par. 14) at Bly lost in her “charming [work] that… was all the romance of the nursery” (James 37; par. 3). The governess’s descriptions flood the readers’ thoughts with a fairy-tale world, making it seem almost too perfect to be true. At this point, it is apparent that the governess is fully under the hypnotizing charm of Bly and its occupants. Yet, it cannot be certain that the charm of Bly is a bad thing, but the readers sense that it foreshadows a gloomy finale. Author Henry James’s constant use of this word hints at the quick and seamless transition of the story from dream-like to …show more content…
This change is made even more evident when the governess realized that the “charm” Bly and her wards exude maybe manipulative and used to hide something dangerous from her. We see this shift mainly through her descriptions of the children whose “immediate charm” she believes is “a beguilement still effective even under the shadow of the possibility that is was studied” (James 65; par. 1). Even though, the governess shows she is fully aware of children’s, especially Miles’, conscious manipulation, she is unable to fight off his charms for long. The reader witnesses this when she becomes negligent in watching Flora, because she is too enthralled with Miles’ piano playing. Even though she thought it is suspicious that Miles “played as he had never played”, she still “ceased to measure” and had “a strange sense of having literally slept at my post” (James 110; par. 3). By the time the charm wore off, it was too late. Flora had snuck away in order to talk to one of the ghosts, Miss Jessel, according to the governess. We see that no longer is the “charm” innocent like in the beginning, but rather it is rehearsed and has a purpose of hiding something more