Theme Of Parenting In The Turn Of The Screw (Essay Sample)

The role of parental figures and the importance of the relationship between a parental figure and their children are examined in Henry James’ novel The Turn of the Screw. The story follows an unnamed governess, who the uncle of Miles and Flora employs after the death of the previous governess Miss Jessel. During her time at Bly, the governess begins to believe the ghosts of Miss Jessel and Peter Quint, who were previously in charge of Bly, are consorting with Flora and Miles respectively. Throughout the novel, the governess becomes increasingly paranoid that she is losing the children to the ghosts and vows to save them. At the novel’s climax, however, Flora vows to never talk to the governess again, and Miles dies in the arms of the governess. Being written in the late 1800s, The Turn of the Screw exhibits many elements of gothic literature, such as a haunted location and supernatural elements, an element of mystery, and women – in this case, the governess – in distress. James uses traditional gothic elements such as the victimization of children along with the plot to subvert traditional archetypes of children and their maternal figure in the governess. Additionally, he uses the supernatural as symbolism for the people from the past and present that haunt the children. Finally, he uses the motif of loss to express how the governess fails to save the children from what haunts them. Through the subversion of archetypes, supernatural symbolism, and the motif of loss, James examines the importance of the relationship between children and maternal figures through the governess’ inability to “save” Miles and Flora.

In The Turn of the Screw, both the story's narrator the governess, and the children Miles and Flora subvert typical archetypes of maternal figures and children respectively. In literature, childhood is often synonymous with innocence. Throughout the novel, the governess makes it her goal to preserve Miles and Flora’s childhood innocence. In a conversation between Mrs. Gross – a longtime servant at bly – and the governess regarding the governess’ sighting of the ghost of Miss Jessel, Mrs. Gross exclaims that they “ must clutch at that—we must cling to it! If it isn’t a proof of what you say, it’s a proof of—God knows what!” (James 46). The children, however, are far from innocent. The governess becomes increasingly paranoid as the children act suspiciously as the novel progresses, but it is not without reason. At the beginning of the novel, the reader learns about the children’s past, in which their uncle “had been left, by the death of their parents in India,” (James 7) which for “a lone man without the right sort of experience or a grain of patience,” (James 7-8) laid very heavily on his hands. Additionally, it is implied that the former employees at Bly in Miss Jessel and Peter Quint possibly corrupted the children by being witnesses or even participating in the relationship between the two (Scofield). This corruption of children from a young age was very common in gothic literature, with the victimization of children being common throughout different gothic works (Haggerty). The corruption of Miles and Flora through their involvement in Quint and Jessel’s relationship and the death of their parents, Quint, and Jessel follow this element of gothic literature, which inherently contradicts the archetype of childhood innocence. The governess, however, believes that the children are still innocent and want to protect them from the corruption of the ghosts when in reality the children are already corrupted from a younger age, which highlights the misunderstanding between the parental role (in the governess) and their children (Miles and Flora).

While Miles and Flora more outwardly subvert the archetype of childhood innocence, the governess also subverts the archetype of a woman as a maternal figure. At first glance, the governess fits the archetype of a woman in a parental role, as her goal throughout the book is to protect the children from the ghosts of Quint and Jessel that are supposedly corrupting Miles and Flora. The governess establishes herself as the protector of the children, as “nothing but me, and I—well, I had them. It was in short a magnificent chance. This chance presented itself to me in an image richly material. I was a screen—I was to stand before them. The more I saw, the less they would.” (James 41). It is possible, though, that the governess had less than honorable intentions when it came to supposedly save the children. The governess seeks advancement in society and believes that the uncle of Miles and Flora will be so impressed by the handling of the ghosts by the governess that he will marry her (Cole). The governess is consistently an unreliable narrator throughout the novella, with no one but herself ever confirming the existence of the ghosts, so it is possible that the ghosts of Quint and Jessel were all made up in the governess’ head in hopes of advancing in society. This would make the governess the opposite of the normally benevolent maternal archetype, and instead, an individual who exploits the children she takes care of to her benefit. The subversion of this maternal archetype stresses the importance of the relationship between children and their caretakers, as the children’s fates at the end of the novel are less than ideal. The children, though mature due to their exposure to death and sexual relationships from a young age, are still in need of a maternal figure which the governess does not fulfill throughout the novel, as she fails to better the children’s lives in any sort.