For Thursday: The Turn of the Screw, Chapters 8-19

NOTE: We're backtracking a little for those who need time to catch up, so try to get somewhere between Chapters 8 and 19 for Thursday, though feel free to read the entire story. Here are some questions to write about for our next class:

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: Anna Jameson wrote in her work, The Relative Social Position of Mothers and Governesses (1846) that the position of governess "places a woman of education and of superior faculties in an ambiguous and inferior position, with none of the privileges of a recognized possession, or places a vulgar, half-educated woman in a situation of high responsibility, requiring superior endowments.”  Does this knowledge make us more or less sympathetic (or more or less suspicious) of the governess? And which one is she: the superior woman, or the half-educated one?

Q2: We mentioned in class that the Governess is a writer, and apparently writes every word of this story (assuming the Narrator transcribed it faithfully). Where do we see instances of her being an ‘author’ or a writer in the story itself? Are there references to her writing, interpreting, translating, and narrating events to other people, the way an author would?

Q3: Somewhat related to the above, is the story of the ghosts and the ‘haunted’ children premeditated? Was this the Governess’ plan from the beginning, even before she stepped foot on Bly’s grounds? And if so, what might be her end game? Why would she want the entire household to suspect the children and fear the infiltration of evil spirits? How could this possibly work to her advantage?

Q4: In Chapter 8, the Governess writes, “To gaze into the depths of blue of the child’s eyes and pronounce their loveliness a trick of premature cunning was to be guilty of a cynicism in preference to which I naturally preferred to abjure my judgment, and, so far as might be, my agitation.” Is she admitting here that her own cynicism and bias is coloring what she sees in the children? Does she have anything to support her fears that they are acting, holding things back, and playing up to her? Or does she suspect that it’s really all in her own head?

Q5: How might a story about ghosts and a haunted house be a great metaphor for the isolated lives of people like the Governess, Mrs. Grose, Miss Jessel, and others? Why might it be strangely appropriate for most ghost stories to occur in old houses like Bly, populated by an ‘invisible’ team of servants and groundskeepers? Does James ever suggest this kind of reading in the plot itself?