The Governess: Victim Of Inhuman Victorian Conventions In The Turn Of The Screw

The Turn of the Screw is a novella by Henry James in the middle phase of his writing career. For over one hundred years since its publication, there have been hot debates on the insanity of the governess, also the tale's narrator and its protagonist, and on whether there are really ghosts in the story. Taking the non-ghost view, this thesis explores the reasons leading to the governess's insanity, the process of her insanity, and the results of her insanity. It concludes that this work condemns the inhumanity of Victorian conventions.Firstly, this thesis provides new evidence for the governess's unreliability, proving that the apparitions are only her illusions, not in reality. Secondly, it deals with some symptoms of her insanity, the causes of her insanity, and the process of her becoming insane. It holds that the powerful social conventions about gender, class, wealth, marriage, religion, and so on, internalized in her unconsciousness are in conflict with her nature and relentlessly surpress her nature, which finally makes her have illusions of ghosts. With the joined forces of her strong sense of alienation, loss of faith in religion, as well as biases on love and sex, she finally loses mind, becoming a victim of Victorian inhuman conventions. Lastly, the thesis reveals that, having totally lost self-control, the governess, at the mercy of her strong will, which embodies the conventions, becomes their agent, surpressing the children's natures and torturing them irrationally. In the end, she causes one child's death and another's insanity. It henceforth concludes that this masterpiece aims at condemning the inhuman Victorian conventions.