This article posits a subversive reading of Henry James's Turn of the Screw. The novella ostensibly tells the story of a governess who struggles to protect her charges from supernatural malevolence. Yet I suggest that this is actually the story of a governess who abuses her charges in an attempt to gain control of Bly. Ghosts, conversely, are benevolent companions for children. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay My thesis is loosely based on Sami Ludwig's article, “Metaphors, Cognition, and Behavior: The Reality of Sexual Puns in the Turn of the Screw," in which Ludwig claims that Miles and the housekeeper are having an affair. Ludwig claims that when Miles said to the housekeeper, on their way to church, "You know, my dear, that a man always be with a lady...” (53) – he subtly suggests that their relationship becomes sexual, thus provoking their affair Ludwig emphasizes the feelings of helplessness and fear that Miles' suggestion arouses in the governess. , claiming that her precarious position, as a woman who is neither a member of the family nor a servant, makes her powerless to refuse outright. She therefore reacts with confusion, dodging the boy's insinuations and rushing towards the house. Ludwig then turns to the second bedroom scene, in which Miles asks the governess to come to his room and admits that he has been lying awake thinking about her. The governess reacts by changing the subject and asking about his old school, from which he was expelled. Their conversation gradually becomes physically intimate, culminating in fierce hugs and kisses between the two. Ludwig interprets this scene as a further step in Miles' sexual advances towards the governess. He highlights the boy's request for "a new field" (62), arguing that by this request, Miles demands sex education. Ludwig also interprets words such as "possess", "little", and "die" as Shakespearean erotic allusions. Analyzing the outcome of the short story, Ludwig asserts that the chaotic sentences that follow Peter Quint's final appearance are a disguised description of the sexual act. Ludwig notes that the physical positions of the governess and Miles are not specified in this scene, but that their emotions and movements, as well as the sounds they make, are detailed. He interprets this gap between omission and specification as a subtle delineation of the sexual relations between Miles and the governess. Ludwig therefore interprets Miles' "death" as a Shakespearean death: an orgasm. He concludes that The Turn of the Screw is a Bildungsroman describing the sexual initiation of a young boy by his governess. Ludwig's analysis, while innovative and insightful, suffers from two fundamental drawbacks. First, the reviewer's assertion that Miles manipulates the governess into committing an affair rests on shaky ground, and I intend to counter that it is rather the governess who seduces Miles. Second, Ludwig does not explain the function of the ghosts in the short story. I will address this issue later in the document. Ludwig's claim that Miles instigated the affair can be refuted by three points. First, the governess refrains from any action that would allow Miles to return to school. When she learns of the boy's expulsion, she reacts by saying 'Nothing at all'” (13). Even after Miles repeatedly asks to return to school, she remains unmoved. Thisconstant and unprofessional refusal suggests that she has an ulterior motive for keeping Miles at Bly. Second, the governess's behavior toward Miles is overtly sexual even before the church scene, during which, according to Ludwig, Miles initiated the affair. The night Miles wanders out onto the lawn, the governess brings him back to his room and caresses him in the following way: “I put hands of such tenderness on his little shoulders with which... I held him well there under fire. his clothes: "I met his kiss and... I took him in my arms for a minute... I could say - 'So you didn't undress at all?' » (45-6) Unsuitable behavior for a governess who is; simply showing maternal affection towards her charge. Third, the governess refers to Miles as "the little gentleman" (10), shortly after describing the uncle as "a gentleman" (7). from a similar angle to that in which she sees the uncle, as a man of higher status and therefore a potential husband. Although some critics, such as Beth Newman, claim that the governess is in love with the uncle, I argue that she has none. intense feelings for him, she instead wishes to marry him in order to improve her financial situation and social status. Douglass explicitly tells us that “what attracted her [the governess] most [about the uncle]… was that he did everything as a favor to her.” (emphasis mine, 4). The governess believes that the uncle is asking for her cooperation as a personal “favor” and that he will therefore be indebted to her if she agrees. Presumably she hopes he will repay her through marriage, the most important act an upper-class gentleman can bestow on a middle-class woman. Thus, the governess adopts a calculated attitude towards the uncle and not an infatuated one. Also, in the scene between the governess and Mrs. Grose, when the latter extinguishes the governess's hopes of marriage to the uncle, by telling her: "Well, miss, you're not the first - and you don't won't be. the last.'" (8), the governess responds: "'Oh, I have no pretensions...to be the only one.'" (8). Her full response supports my argument that the governess perceives the uncle as nothing more than a social ladder leading to wealth and high status In light of the governess's practical approach to marriage with the uncle, we should pay close attention to the question she poses. to Mrs. Grose, immediately after learning that she was not interested in him: “My other student, in any case… is coming back tomorrow (9). his question regarding Miles suggests a connection between the two In order to understand this connection, we must consider two facts First, Miles will become Bly's master when he enters adulthood, and second, Douglas tells us that. the governess has "supreme authority" (5) over Miles We can therefore assume that the juxtaposition signifies the governess's decision to substitute the inaccessible uncle for Miles, over whom she occupies an advantageous position. The governess, I suggest, believes that she can harness her power over Miles to manipulate him into marrying him when he comes of age. Their marriage gave her the title of mistress of Bly, thus giving her social and financial advantages, similar to those which aroused her interest in the uncle. The governess's interest in Miles is further understood through her frequent use of the term "possession." She applies the word to a variety of actions, including physical grasping: "it always ended... by taking possession of my hand" (65), the accumulation of knowledge: "they were in possession of everythingthat had never happened to me” (49). , and even self-control: “my demonstration of self-control” (33). The governess's reiteration of the word in so many different contexts suggests that she perceives everything around her in terms of possession. In his eyes, people are constantly struggling to control property, each other, and themselves. As a result, the governess strives to possess Miles, and thus to possess Bly by proxy. Early in the story, she notes that "he [the uncle] had put them [Miles and Flora] in possession of Bly" (emphasis mine, 5), and later describes his behavior towards Miles as an attempt of possession of the boy: “I… once more seize the opportunity to possess him [Miles]” (62). This description is particularly revealing when we observe that, among other denotations, "to possess" also means "to have sexual relations with" (OED). Based on the arguments presented so far, I propose a reading of the scenes discussed by Ludwig. this is diametrically opposed to his analysis. Rather than flirting with the governess on the way to church, Miles tries to free himself from her. She has been too intimate with him – “for a man to always be with a lady” (53). ) - and he is frightened by his behavior. He asks her to let him go: "When in the world, please, am I going back to school" (53), and when she dodges the question, he just pleads: "'You Can't say I wasn't very good, can you?'" (53). Finally, he threatens to contact his uncle. This is not the behavior of a boy who teases his crush. In the bedroom, when the governess urges Miles - "'I thought you wanted to go on as you are.'" (61) - the boy rejects her: "'I don't – I don't. I want to get far'" (61) However, she reacts by imposing herself on him, twice in the same scene: "I threw myself on him and... I kissed him" (62), "it made me. …get on my knees and grab him…” (62) Miles first asks her to stop – “‘leave me alone’” (62) – and when she grabs him a second time, he pushes “a”. loud cry" (63). I give little weight to the governess's assertion that he cried out in fear in the face of "a gust of icy air" (63). After establishing the governess's malice, I would now like to argue for the benevolence of ghosts It seems appropriate at this point to re-evaluate the governess's statements regarding the "quite unmistakable horror and evil" of ghosts (30). the ghosts “do not beckon, invite, or solicit children or induce them to put themselves in physical danger” (377). He also notes that "the children found nothing terrifying about a living Quint and a living Miss Jessel" (377). Dawn Keetley reinforces Hanson's point, suggesting that Quint and Miss Jessel "may in fact have been beneficent influences" (149). Integrating these comments with our previous observations about the governess, we might well conclude that the governess's portrayal of ghosts is unreliable, and attempt to draw our own conclusions regarding Miss Jessel and Peter Quint. The ghost of Miss Jessel is depicted throughout the short story as either a crying victim or a companion of Flora. That Flora enjoys and even seeks the ghost's company is illustrated by the young girl's assembly of a toy boat, while she plays on the shore of the lake opposite the shore where Miss Jessel is standing. By assembling this toy boat, Flora expresses her desire to create a vehicle that could transport her across the lake to the ghost. Furthermore, towards the end of the story, Flora sails on a real boat to this same area, thus closing the loop.started with his toy boat. The governess, for her part, exploits her knowledge of the secret meetings between the ghost and the young girl to advance her plans. She must get rid of Mrs. Grose and Flora in order to force Miles into full sexual intercourse. She therefore puts emotional pressure on the girl to reveal her secret, thus pushing her to a breaking point: "she [Flora] let out an almost furious cry. 'Take me away, take me away – oh take me away -me from her!’” (70). The governess then uses Flora's depression as an excuse to send Flora and Mrs. Grose away: "You must take Flora...away from here." Far from them. » (73). Note that it is the governess, “she” (70), and not the ghosts, “them” (73), from whom Flora wishes to escape. Quint's ghost competes with the governess in her efforts to possess Miles. Their struggle for the boy begins after the governess sees Quint for the second time, realizing his interest in Miles: "'He [Quint] was looking for little Miles... It was him he was looking for'" (25). Later in the same scene, Mrs. Grose remarks: "'Quint was much too free'" (25), to which the governess responds: "'Too free with my boy?'" (25), thus claiming Miles as her possession and expressing anger at Quint's encroachment on his claim. From now on, the governess considers Quint a threat - "he was absolutely... a living, hateful, dangerous presence" (39) - and compares their fight for Miles to "a fight with a demon for a human soul" (82). . It is worth noting that many critics prescribe to his view, interpreting Ms. Grose's remark about Quint's excessive freedom as a euphemism for his sexual appeal. abuse towards Miles. Robert W. Hill Jr., for example, asserts that "Quint seems to have been able to... engage a prepubescent boy in whatever satisfied the man's perverse imagination." » (58) The defamation of Quint. Quite the contrary, Miles seems to have loved Quint: “for several months, Quint and the boy were perpetually together… as if Quint were his guardian – and a very big one” (34-35). Therefore, I suggest a different interpretation of Mrs. Grose's remark that "Quint was much too free" (25). Mrs. Grose also states that Quint "'did what he wanted'" (32). This statement can be seen as a later elucidation of his initial remark. If we accept it as such, then Quint's freedom is his ability to act as he pleases, without submitting to the will or morals of others. Her freedom thus challenges the governess's view that people are either possessors or possessed. Furthermore, the governess herself admits that Miles desires freedom: "he [Miles] should probably be able to... gain, on his own account, more freedom." » (55), and in a moment of despair, she affirms that Miles has now won "his freedom" (71). We can therefore assume that Quint and the governess have approaches that are the opposite of Miles. While the governess tries to possess him, Quint tries to grant the boy the freedom he dreams of. The case for Quint's benevolence is further strengthened by a biblical allusion embedded in the ghost's first appearance. The emergence of Quint “at the very top of the tower” (15) alludes to the prophet Habakkuk: “I will stand on my guard, I will place myself on the tower and I will watch to see what he will say to me” (c (emphasis mine). , King James Version, Hab. Habakkuk stands atop a tower to speak to God and condemn sinners, especially the proud: “he is a proud man…who expands his desire like hell and is like death” (Hab. 1:5 ). This biblical allusion appears immediately after the housekeeper has proud thoughts about., 1966.