Turn of the Screw
Women during the Victorian era were expected to not have any sexual desires. Women
were often seen as conservative, insecure or emotional. Those who exhibited sexual
arousal were considered disgraceful and mentally ill. On the other hand, men were seen as
brave, full of testosterone and confidence. The main purpose of a Victorian woman’s life
was to marry a man and become a mother. In “The Turn of the Screw,” the main character,
the governess tries to live up to the standards of an asexual Victorian female. The story is
told in the governess’ point of view; she could have manipulated and missed important
facts. She takes care of Miles and Flora, who she thinks are being threatened by the two
ghosts of Peter Quint and the previous governess, Miss Jessel. The governess falls in love
with her master. Her love for the master was obvious when she proclaims “this prospective
patron proved a gentleman, a bachelor in the prime of life, such a figure as had never risen,
save in a dream or an old novel, before a fluttered anxious girl out of Hampshire vicarage”
(James 7). Despite her attraction to him, she agrees to never talk to him and to put him
aside. Her job consists of only taking responsibility of the children. She had enough reason
to admire the master as he proved to be the promise of prosperity for a young girl of a
lower class. In this quote she indulges in a lot of speculation about the master and the
pleasure she might bring him “It was a pleasure at these moments to feel myself tranquil
and justified; doubtless, perhaps, also to reflect that by my descretion, my quiet good sense
and general high propriety, I was giving pleasure-ife he ever thought of it!- to the person to
whose pleasure I had responded.” (James 26) The governess’ true intentions for taking the
job at Bly is to win the love of the master and protect the innocence of the children:
explicates that she is willing to do whatever it takes.
The children symbolize a bridge that connects into the romance that she desires. The
governess motives were selfish and her desires were immoral. Male association
determined the class of women. Therefore women felt obligated by men to do whatever
they needed to gain their own value. For example, in the story the governess was very
determined to protect the children to prove her value. In the beginning of the novella,
