The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

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and can describe him impeccably to Mrs. Grose which suggests she did indeed see him in the tower. The same thing happened, again but it was a woman, Miss Jessel, instead identified. Although Mrs. Grose can not see the ghost, she does hear Flora utter things that are assumable to Miss Jessel. The setting of the story is an old estate, Bly Estate, which gives reason to think that ghosts could be upon them. Miles “distracts” the governess as Flora runs to the lake and when the governess gets, there she sees Miss Jessel’s and assumes that is why the children wanted to distract her; so Flora could talk to Miss Jessel. As the governess’s attempts to save Miles, Peter Quint shows up, and Miles last words are close to Peter Quint—you devil. That gives us an idea that he did see Peter Quint and that maybe the children did the entire time.

If the ghosts are real, then the governess is sane, and her attempts to save this child were with reason. Whether the ghosts are real or not her behavior at moments is eccentric and show examples of her “madness.” Her madness and behavior show significance to the work as a whole by leaving the reader with percepts of imagination to justify her actions. Henry James leaves many possibilities and questions that are unanswered. He never gives the answer to if she is sane or not, or if the ghosts were just the governess’s hallucinations. The setting also gives way to her madness by its significance as the estate is old and been in the family for years which justifies why there would be ghosts.The governess’s behavior adds to the importance of the ghost story, whether the ghosts are real or not, as she believes she can see them and the children did use to have a connection with both of the ghosts. Therefore making the governess believe the ghosts are real and that they are after the children she is raising and protecting.

The governess’s delusional or eccentric behavior consists of many interactions with spirits that can give different interpretations as judged reasonable although the madness of her behavior affects the significance of the work. Henry James, novella, Turn of the Screw has many unjustified moments or event that the reader has to interpretive for themselves. The governess believed she was helping the children, as she had good intentions. She was trying to protect them from what she thought was evil although her protecting them could have been what doomed them in the end.

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