A Nineteenth Century Ghost Story in The Turn of The Screw by Henry Jame

A Nineteenth Century Ghost Story in The Turn of The Screw by Henry James The Turn of The Screw is a classic Gothic ghost novella with a wicket twist set in a grand old house at Bly. The story is ambiguous; we never fully know whether the apparitions exist or not and we are left with many more questions than answers. The Governess is left in charge of two young children, Miles and Flora, of whom she later becomes obsessed with, describing them as 'angelic'. She has no contact with her employer from London, the children's enigmatic uncle once there, sparking suspicions of the children being unwanted. The anonymous Governess' obsessive nature is taken to another level, with the darker side of Bly appearing. Her sanity is called into question with her continued revelations of apparitions around the family's country residence. The story itself could not have had a bigger twist in it, from being overwhelmed by the beauty and innocence of the two orphans under he care to being convinced that ghosts of her predecessor and the master's former valet, Miss Jessel and Peter Quint, both who die in mysterious circumstances, have come to possess the souls of her charges. The Governess begins to take ever more desperate measures to protect them, but is it enough? A typical Gothic story in many respects, The Turn of the Screw conforms to our expectations by sharing many key features, style and themes typical to nineteenth century horror fiction. A gothic story is a type of romantic fiction that predominated in English Literature in the last third of the 18th century and the first two decades of the 19th century. The setting for this type of st... ...riously wrong with her. Taking all of these points into account all of these points, I am sure that you now agree that The Turn of the Screw is a typical 19th century gothic ghost story. The story itself has many characteristics typical of a gothic story and it is based around two apparitions, which is a necessity in any ghost story. Gothic stories were very popular during this period due to Darwin's book, 'The Origin of Species' which hugely questioned Christian beliefs. People were no longer sure of religion, and became very superstitious, with Ghost stories becoming very popular. They had always thought god came first; now science was starting to take over. In the 19th century people were unsure about what was real in the world. The Victorians did not know what to believe about in their world and spirituality.