Content Category
Literary Criticism
Abstract/Description
Most literary critics focus on the children’s relation to the ghosts in The Turn of the Screw, but in doing so they overlook the lack of textual evidence that the ghosts ever interacted with the children. This essay endeavors to show that the ghosts in The Turn of the Screw are manifestations of the governess’s own subconscious and are related to her internal problems instead of the children. More specifically, the ghosts embody the governess’s fears about her attraction for her employer that conflicts with her understanding of class boundaries. The essay employs a Marxist reading to show how rigidly the governess adheres to the social class distinctions of her time. It then considers how the contradictions of her situation could drive her to the point of hallucination in order to reveal that the ghosts had nothing to do with the children and everything to do with the governess.
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Origin of Submission
as part of a class
Faculty Involvement
Carl Sederholm
Clashes of Class and Prohibited Passion in The Turn of the Screw
Most literary critics focus on the children’s relation to the ghosts in The Turn of the Screw, but in doing so they overlook the lack of textual evidence that the ghosts ever interacted with the children. This essay endeavors to show that the ghosts in The Turn of the Screw are manifestations of the governess’s own subconscious and are related to her internal problems instead of the children. More specifically, the ghosts embody the governess’s fears about her attraction for her employer that conflicts with her understanding of class boundaries. The essay employs a Marxist reading to show how rigidly the governess adheres to the social class distinctions of her time. It then considers how the contradictions of her situation could drive her to the point of hallucination in order to reveal that the ghosts had nothing to do with the children and everything to do with the governess.