In the story The Turn of The Screw by Henry James, we perceive how various power relationships inform the world of The Turn of the Screw and how these relationships color the way the narrator perceives the truth of the world around her. This phenomenon is viewed through the narrator’s relationship with her pupils, the ghosts’ relationship with the children and the narrator’s relationship with Mrs. Grose.
Firstly, we notice how narrator’s relationship with the children has an impact on the way she perceives the world around her. When the governess meets the young boy Miles for the first time she is astonished by his beauty and she describes him with divine terms such as great glow of freshness (13) which is an alliteration and fragrance of purity …show more content…
Grose has an impact on the way she sees her surrounding and herself. Through the story, the governess gives the impression that she is superior to Mr. Grose. We witness this feeling when the governess attempts to give the letter to Mr. Grose so she can read, but the servant is illiterate and she mentions that (such things are not for her) (10). Thus Mr. Grose is apostrophized and reacts by saying almost in a surprised and mocking way to herself My counselor couldn’t read! (10) From this reaction, we see that the governess thinks of herself as a superior being to Mr. Grose due to the fact that she can read, but Mr. Grose, who is her counselor cannot even read. Furthermore, we also see that the governess thinks of herself as a big sister to Mr. Grose. One can experience this situation when the governess and Mr. Grose hug and the governess mentions that (She took the good creature in her arms and, after they had embraced like sisters, she felt more fortified and indignant.) (14). The fact that the governess compares Mr. Grose to a good creature (10) by using a dysphoric term such as creature (14) to describe Mr. Grose shows us that she thinks she is better than Mrs. Grose. Although, we also see that Mrs. Grose is a loyal confidante to the governess as well as a great asset when it comes to getting information. Additionally, as we see the governess communicating with Mrs. Grose, we witness the narrator affirming …show more content…
Throughout the story, we learn that Miles use to spend a great amount of time with Peter Quint. Even if it is not mentioned explicitly, but the way Mrs. Grose explains the relationship between the two individuals gives us the impression that it is a one-way relationship when she says Oh, it wasn’t him! (25). Consequently, this weird relationship awakens a sense of protectiveness in the governess to save the young boy from Quint as we observe when she identifies Miles as her boy (26) after learning that Mr. Quit has a malicious habit of being free (26) with people including the little boy. The book does not give us more detail on the definition the term being free (26), but one can assume that term being free (26) has a certain sexual connotation and that the relationship with Mr. Quint and Miles is dreadful. Moreover, we notice that the governess is greatly affected by the secret affiliation that Flora has with the ghost of Miss Jessel as we identify a sense stupefaction in her reaction when she catches Flora with Miss Jessel in the garden: Not a word—that’s the horror. She kept it to herself! The child of eight, that child! (30). As a result, the governess became more aware of the little things round her to make sure the children are not playing with her mind. In addition to that, we witness the governess becoming delusional about the fact
Firstly, we notice how narrator’s relationship with the children has an impact on the way she perceives the world around her. When the governess meets the young boy Miles for the first time she is astonished by his beauty and she describes him with divine terms such as great glow of freshness (13) which is an alliteration and fragrance of purity …show more content…
Grose has an impact on the way she sees her surrounding and herself. Through the story, the governess gives the impression that she is superior to Mr. Grose. We witness this feeling when the governess attempts to give the letter to Mr. Grose so she can read, but the servant is illiterate and she mentions that (such things are not for her) (10). Thus Mr. Grose is apostrophized and reacts by saying almost in a surprised and mocking way to herself My counselor couldn’t read! (10) From this reaction, we see that the governess thinks of herself as a superior being to Mr. Grose due to the fact that she can read, but Mr. Grose, who is her counselor cannot even read. Furthermore, we also see that the governess thinks of herself as a big sister to Mr. Grose. One can experience this situation when the governess and Mr. Grose hug and the governess mentions that (She took the good creature in her arms and, after they had embraced like sisters, she felt more fortified and indignant.) (14). The fact that the governess compares Mr. Grose to a good creature (10) by using a dysphoric term such as creature (14) to describe Mr. Grose shows us that she thinks she is better than Mrs. Grose. Although, we also see that Mrs. Grose is a loyal confidante to the governess as well as a great asset when it comes to getting information. Additionally, as we see the governess communicating with Mrs. Grose, we witness the narrator affirming …show more content…
Throughout the story, we learn that Miles use to spend a great amount of time with Peter Quint. Even if it is not mentioned explicitly, but the way Mrs. Grose explains the relationship between the two individuals gives us the impression that it is a one-way relationship when she says Oh, it wasn’t him! (25). Consequently, this weird relationship awakens a sense of protectiveness in the governess to save the young boy from Quint as we observe when she identifies Miles as her boy (26) after learning that Mr. Quit has a malicious habit of being free (26) with people including the little boy. The book does not give us more detail on the definition the term being free (26), but one can assume that term being free (26) has a certain sexual connotation and that the relationship with Mr. Quint and Miles is dreadful. Moreover, we notice that the governess is greatly affected by the secret affiliation that Flora has with the ghost of Miss Jessel as we identify a sense stupefaction in her reaction when she catches Flora with Miss Jessel in the garden: Not a word—that’s the horror. She kept it to herself! The child of eight, that child! (30). As a result, the governess became more aware of the little things round her to make sure the children are not playing with her mind. In addition to that, we witness the governess becoming delusional about the fact