INTRODUCTION
The turn of the screw is a gothic ghost story novella written at the end of Victorian era by Henry James. Henry James(1843-1916) was English essayist, critic and author of “The Ambassadors”(1903), “Portrait of a Lady”(1881) and “The Turn of the Screw”(1897). James finished The Turn of the Screw in November 1897, and the story was published in Collier's Weekly between January and April of 1898. This American-born novelist became one of his generation’s most well-known writers and one important figure in transatlantic literary culture of the day. James’s works include narrative romances with highly developed characters left on enlightening commentary on politics, status and class, as well as research of the themes of personal …show more content…
In their approach to this work, critics have come up with a great range of different interpretations, and, among them, two criticisms stand out: the apparitionist and non-apparitionist theories. The history of the criticism of Henry James’s work during that period is dominated by Harold C. Goddard(1957) and Edna Kenton(1924). Kenton’s famous essay "Henry James to the Ruminant Reader: The Turn of the Screw" was published in The Arts, 1924. According to her state, apparitions "are only exquisite dramatizations of her little personal mystery, figures for the ebb and flow of troubled thought within her mind, acting out her story". I mentioned Kenton’s theory because her theory is at least likely option in the novel, and my personal opinion is that it is the most convenient for the understanding the whole story. Edna considers the story “susceptible of various readings” but stands the side of non-apparitionist theory. Other critical reactions were interpreted by Edmund Wilson(1934), Virginia Woolf(1918), Walter de la Mare(1915), Rebecca West(1915), etc. Those outstanding critics and writers presented both sides, the apparitionist and non-apparitionist
The turn of the screw is a gothic ghost story novella written at the end of Victorian era by Henry James. Henry James(1843-1916) was English essayist, critic and author of “The Ambassadors”(1903), “Portrait of a Lady”(1881) and “The Turn of the Screw”(1897). James finished The Turn of the Screw in November 1897, and the story was published in Collier's Weekly between January and April of 1898. This American-born novelist became one of his generation’s most well-known writers and one important figure in transatlantic literary culture of the day. James’s works include narrative romances with highly developed characters left on enlightening commentary on politics, status and class, as well as research of the themes of personal …show more content…
In their approach to this work, critics have come up with a great range of different interpretations, and, among them, two criticisms stand out: the apparitionist and non-apparitionist theories. The history of the criticism of Henry James’s work during that period is dominated by Harold C. Goddard(1957) and Edna Kenton(1924). Kenton’s famous essay "Henry James to the Ruminant Reader: The Turn of the Screw" was published in The Arts, 1924. According to her state, apparitions "are only exquisite dramatizations of her little personal mystery, figures for the ebb and flow of troubled thought within her mind, acting out her story". I mentioned Kenton’s theory because her theory is at least likely option in the novel, and my personal opinion is that it is the most convenient for the understanding the whole story. Edna considers the story “susceptible of various readings” but stands the side of non-apparitionist theory. Other critical reactions were interpreted by Edmund Wilson(1934), Virginia Woolf(1918), Walter de la Mare(1915), Rebecca West(1915), etc. Those outstanding critics and writers presented both sides, the apparitionist and non-apparitionist