Line #38 Literature/TheTurnOfTheScrew


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3	Creator/HenryJames' {{novella}} ''The Turn of the Screw'' (1898) introduces us to the memoirs of an anonymous governess, which relate her eerie experiences at the country estate of Bly. Young and inexperienced at the time, the governess initially adored her two charges, the "angelic" Miles and Flora. Soon, however, her glimpses of a strange man and an equally strange woman convince her not only that dark doings are afoot, but also that the children are directly involved. With the help of Mrs. Grose, the stolid housekeeper, the governess seeks to save the children from unimaginable evils...
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5	''The Turn of the Screw'' still ranks as one of the Victorian era's most famous tales of the supernatural, yet half of its appeal is the ambiguously UnreliableNarrator. The story could either be about a brave but overmatched governess trying to defend her charges from evil spirits, or about an insane governess who subjects innocent children to her own murderous hallucinations. It's equally spooky either way.
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7	The novella has inspired numerous film, television, stage, and even ballet adaptations, as well as {{sequel}}s and the occasional PerspectiveFlip. Of these, the best-known are the film ''Film/TheInnocents'' (based on a Broadway play that was itself an adaptation of ''The Turn of the Screw'') and Music/BenjaminBritten's {{opera}}. The novel was adapted to a TV series as the follow-up to ''Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse2018'' as ''Series/TheHauntingOfBlyManor'' and received another movie adaptation in 2020 called ''Film/TheTurning''.
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10	!!Tropes in ''The Turn of the Screw'':
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12	* AllFirstPersonNarratorsWriteLikeNovelists: The governess is the youngest daughter of a poor country parson, so you would think that she would have an education, and therefore a writing style, to match. But Creator/HenryJames is in typical, full blown SesquipedalianLoquaciousness mode here.
13	* AmbiguouslyEvil: The ghosts. It's possibly they're genuinely malevolent, or it's possible that the UnreliableNarrator is making a lot of assumptions about their character based on a biased view of events she wasn't even there for. Assuming, of course, that there are in fact ghosts in the first place.
14	* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Invoked; the first time the governess sees Miles, she decides he can't possibly have done whatever it was that got him expelled from school because he's so adorable. (Of course, she soon changes her mind...)
15	* BigFancyHouse: How the governess initially perceives Bly--although she admits that if she saw it again, she would probably think differently.
16	* BrainFever: Flora, after the governess accuses her of conspiring with the ghosts.
17	* TheCasanova: Peter Quint, according to Mrs. Grose. And, perhaps, the Master of Bly.
18	* ConversationalTroping: The novella is bookended by a couple of people trying to share ghost stories. The TitleDrop refers to the characters believing there is an extra layer to the horror (the extra "turn of the screw") that separates it from other stories they've heard. Whether they mean the children themselves being at the center of it or the UnreliableNarrator status of the governess is unclear.
19	* CreepyChild: Miles and Flora. The extent of their creepiness, however, depends on how you judge the narrator's sanity.
20	* CreepyChildrenSinging: An important part of the Britten opera (especially [[IronicNurseryTune "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son"]]).
21	* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: Whatever kills Miss Jessell (quite possibly [[spoiler: death in childbirth - or suicide after getting pregnant out of wedlock]]).
22	* EvilRedhead: Peter Quint.
23	* FalseFriend: Some scholars see Mrs. Grose as this, noting that the governess always got more hysterical after her talks with her, only noted details about the ghosts when Mrs. Grose provided them about the people (notably Mrs. Grose asks if the first ghost "had red hair" and the governess suddenly agreed that he did indeed). The main interpretation is that before the Governess came, Mrs. Grose ran the house, and she wanted her old job back (of course all of this falls into the "there were no ghosts" camp).
24	* TheFilmOfTheBook:
25	** ''Film/TheInnocents''
26	** A TV film starring Ingrid Bergman as the governess. Said to be very well done.
27	** Another TV film from Dan Curtis of Series/DarkShadows fame, starring Lynn Redgrave as the governess, with Megs Jenkins reprising her role from ''Film/TheInnocents'' as Mrs. Grose.
28	** A 1989 offering from Shelley Duvall's Nightmare Classics, with the governess played by Amy Irving and the Uncle played by David Hemmings (who sang the role of Miles in the Benjamin Britten opera when he was a child).
29	** A 1993 Rusty Lemorande film starring Patsy Kensit as the governess and Julian Sands as the Uncle.
30	** ''The Haunting of Helen Walker'', (1995), starring Creator/ValerieBertinelli (!) as the governess, and Creator/DianaRigg as Mrs. Grose.
31	** ''Presence of Mind'' (1999), with Sadie Frost as the governess, Creator/HarveyKeitel as the Uncle, and Creator/LaurenBacall as Mrs. Grose (though the character has a different name here).
32	** A 2004 British production made for MasterpieceTheater, with Creator/JodhiMay as the governess.
33	** ''In a Dark Place'' (2007), set in modern times, starring Creator/LeeleeSobieski in the governess role, and Creator/TaraFitzgerald as Mrs. Grose (more or less).
34	** A 2009 BBC adaptation starring Creator/MichelleDockery as the governess. Surprisingly disappointing, although it makes one wonder how [[Literature/{{Hogfather}} Susan Sto Helit]] would have fared against Peter Quint.
35	** ''Film/TheTurning'', another modern-day adaptation with Creator/MackenzieDavis in the governess role.
36	** A 2020 New Zealand production that tells the tale of a ''stage'' production of ''The Turn of the Screw''. It focuses on Julia (played by Greer Phillips), a young actress who is called in at the last second to replace another actress who has had a mysterious nervous breakdown. Julia flies in to participate in a crash dress rehearsal the night before the premiere.
37	* FramingDevice: The story is supposed to be the main character's diary, as read to the author. Bookends deal with how the story is read to him, and his reaction.
38	* GenreSavvy: The governess frequently imagines herself in the role of a Gothic or romance heroine, albeit while forgetting their tendency to be driven insane...
39	* GhostlyGoals: If you believe the governess, Peter Quint and Miss Jessell are attempting to [[spoiler: murder the children.]]
40	* HauntedHeroine: If the governess isn't an UnreliableNarrator, then she's this.
41	* HeartwarmingOrphan: How the governess initially perceives Miles and Flora, before she decides that they're actually [[CreepyChild in cahoots with dark forces]].
42	* IJustKnew: A variant on this phrase occurs repeatedly:
43	-->"But how do you know?"\
44	"I know, I know, I know!" My exaltation grew. "And ''you'' know, my dear!"
45	* ISeeDeadPeople: The governess is the only person who ''admits'', at least, to seeing the ghosts.
46	* LoveAtFirstSight: The governess falls for the Master immediately, and sometimes fantasizes about obtaining his approval. Her obsession usually emerges only obliquely, as in her excuses for his lack of interest in the children.
47	* MadwomanInTheAttic: The governess' initial explanation for Peter Quint's sudden appearance.
48	* MatureWorkChildProtagonists: The book is a psychological novel for adults that features two {{Creepy Child}}ren and their governess. Many events in the book (adapted many times as a motion picture or television drama) focus on strange things the children say or do. The theme questions how can we be certain what we experience is real.
49	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: ''Are'' there ghosts? Or are the children just acting out for normal reasons that the narrator is putting a supernatural gloss on?
50	* MoralMyopia:
51	** Depending on whether the reader believes the governess or not. If she is imagining the ghosts, then she torments and frightens the children with accusations, ultimately driving Flora into hysterics and [[spoiler: leading to Miles' death]]... all the while believing that she is saving them.
52	** It also applies with the interpretation that the ghosts are real but benign. The governess makes the automatic assumption that their being ghosts means they have evil intentions for the children, but they could have stayed so the children would not feel abandoned and lonely (as they have already lost their parents and their uncle is rarely around), and could have even attempted to save them from the governess.
53	** It applies as well to the interpretation that Quint and Jessel are working against each other. (Notice that Quint and Jessel are never seen together.) If so, then the governess may have spurned a potential ally when she [[spoiler: confronted Jessel in the schoolroom]]. What it all boils down to is that, whether the ghosts exist or not, the governess makes a lot of assumptions-- and we all know what happens you (ass)(u)(me).
54	* NamelessNarrative: The governess remains unnamed throughout.
55	* NeverLearnedToRead: Mrs. Grose is illiterate.
56	* NiceToTheWaiter: Subverted. The governess makes much of her graciousness to and intimacy with the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, but consistently condescends to her. Possibly FairForItsDay, seeing as noticing that servants were people too was enough to put you in the stated trope at the time.
57	* NoEnding: [[spoiler: The story abruptly ends as soon as Miles dies, with no explanation of what exactly caused his death or what happened next to the other characters.]]
58	* NotSoImaginaryFriend: The governess believes that Miles and Flora spend their time with the ghosts, much as they did when Peter Quint and Miss Jessell were still alive.
59	* OrphansOrdeal: Given what ultimately happens to both Flora and Miles...
60	* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The governess seems convinced that the children will be liberated from the ghosts if they admit to their existence.
61	* ParentalAbandonment: Or, rather, avuncular abandonment. The Master of Bly refuses to have anything to do with the children.
62	* PerspectiveFlip:
63	** Hilary Bailey's ''Miles and Flora'', as well as Joyce Carol Oates' ''The Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly''.
64	** There is a short novel, ''The Case of the Ghosts at Bly'' by Donald Thomas, in which the events of ''The Turn of the Screw'' are investigated by none other than Literature/SherlockHolmes himself.
65	* SanitySlippage: [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane If the ghosts aren't real,]] then the governess shows signs of this, which has disastrous consequences on her young wards.
66	* SupernaturalFiction: It's a ghost story, though it MaybeMagicMaybeMundane.
67	* TitleDrop: In both the prologue and the governess' narrative.
68	* UnfinishedBusiness: How the governess explains why the ghosts of Peter Quint and Miss Jessell have returned.
69	* UnreliableNarrator: Whether or not the governess is just imagining the ghosts is a matter for debate. James claimed that it was just a simple ghost story, but he was also known for writing stories from biased or unreliable perspectives.
70	* TheUnreveal: We never find out just what Miles did to get expelled from school.
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Context Literature / TheTurnOfTheScrew