‘More a Study of Madness Than a Ghost Story.’

‘More a study of madness than a ghost story.’

There have been many critics that suggest ‘The Turn Of The Screw’ is much more than a ghost story and there is sufficient evidence to support both interpretations. The novel has been described as being in an interpretive crisis.

The novel has been described by Edmund Wilson as ‘a study of morbid psychology’ and that ‘the governess…is a neurotic case of sex repression’, which strongly supports the novel being a study of madness. Wilson’s use of the word ‘morbid’ suggests the novel is not simply that of a ghost story but the exploration of the governess’ delusional and fantasising mind. In Victorian society, female sexuality was considered to be a mental illness, providing another reason why the novel is a study of madness. The governess has an obvious sexual obsession for the master of the house, which she feels the need to fulfil. The master is described as ‘a figure as had never risen’, like she saw him ‘in a dream or an old novel, before a fluttered, anxious girl out of a Hampshire vicarage’. She never sees this man again after accepting her job as governess, yet she is still in love with him and convinced they will meet again. This is where her sexual repression is derived from. The master is above her social class and she should not be with him, yet she continues to desire him even after she realises they will never meet again. This pent up sexual frustration causes her to act out in a strange manner, possibly due to madness. For example, her frustration is implied with her over physical relationship with the children and how she romanticises her dull life.

The governess’ mind is often clouded by her sexual needs. For example, before meeting Miles, she believed him to be ‘an injury to the’ other boys, but upon their meeting, she describes him as ‘incredibly beautiful’ with an ‘indescribable little air of knowing nothing in the world but love’. The governess only goes by what he looks like, before she...