Dream Analysis of the Governess in The Turn of the Screw

Abstract. When discussing Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw （1898）， people have to face the long-term debating problem about the reality of the ghosts. Though the analysis of the main character—the governess， mainly focused on the internal and external factors as the sources of her dream， this thesis attempts to state that the novel is not a simple ghost story but an insane governess’s hallucination in her dream state.

Key words： dream， desire， the governess

1 Introduction

When discussing The Turn of the Screw （1898）， people have to face the long-term debating problem about the reality of the ghosts. Some critics think in the certain social circumstance， the existence of ghosts seems reliable. Others think that it is not a pure gothic story but a tragic story to describe the young neurotic governess’s wish- fulfillment. It is her desire that makes trouble.

In 1934， in Hound & Horn， Edmund Wilson remarks that the appearance of these two ghosts is the result of an old virgin’s insanity and her hallucination. The landmark study of the governess’s psychological makeup came in 1934 with Edmund Wilson’s essay “The Ambiguity of Henry James.” Wilson’s theory is that “the governess who is made to tell the story is a neurotic case of sex repression， and that the ghosts are not real ghosts but hallucinations of the governess”. The governess’s repression of her natural sexual drives， in Wilson’s view， forces her into a neurotic pattern of visions. From the text analysis， there are a lot of supporting details to proof his stand.

Firstly， the governess who Henry James portrays is a woman with problematic personality. As a young girl at twenty， she has her physiological instinct for love and sex. After meeting with a handsome prosperous bachelor， she can’t help being attracted by him. But at the same time， she realizes the unbridgeable class boundary between them. Unavoidably， her desire for love and sex puts pressure on her mind. When considering to accept or to refuse the employment， she is attracted once more by his munificent pay. Her financial status brings pressure on her mind too. She is so nervous that she always doubts the correctness of her decision. For another， the governess is a little suspicious. According to her own narration， in her first sleepless night at Bly， she seems to fancy one or two less natural sound within the old mansion， and she recognizes that the sound is like the faint and far cry of children， and slight footsteps before her room at the passage. In Sigmund Freud’s works， Freud cited dreams cases that collected by Jessen to illustrate that every noise indistinctly perceived gives rise to corresponding dream- representations. Because of her tense nerve， she is too anxious to lose her own judgment about the surrounding of her. Even she imagines noise as the cry of children and the sound of footsteps. She dwells on these kinds of unmoral things in her thought and then results in the representation in her mind. Actually， they don’t exist in reality. She throws herself into fantasy and dream.

Secondly， most critics concern much about the main character –the governess. Actually， there is another important woman who adds fuel to the flames. That refers to Mrs. Grose， the reference line figure of this novel. Before the arrival of the governess， Mrs. Grose is the housekeeper of Bly. The appearance of the governess makes her have to give up the leading role of the household service. The governess takes for granted that Mrs. Grose is her ally. But actually， she takes a very important role in the process of the governess’s dream. When the governess encounters with the ghosts of Peter Quint and asks her， Mrs. Grose provides the information of Peter to the governess and makes the young governess to firmly believe what she met is the ghost of Peter who she never saw before. Mrs. Grose identifies the man – and would have identified any evil man the governess described –as the dead former valet. Actually， Henry James has implied in the remark that “he’s like nobody”. From the conversation between them， it is clear to find that Mrs. Grose is a woman with strong desire to power and at the same time she is very good at hiding her own feeling. On the problem of seeing the ghost of Peter Quint， actually Mrs. Grose “herself had seen nothing， not the shadow of a shadow， and nobody in the house but the governess was in the governess’s plight…”（T p28）. She doesn’t correct the false idea of the governess mind about Peter but “accepted without directly impugning my sanity the truth as I gave it to her…”（T p28）. Mrs. Grose accepts the assumption and misleads her to think that it must be the ghost of Peter Qunit. When the governess mentions the image of a woman in black， she leads her to reveal the identity of that woman in shabby mourning. With her evil information about Peter Qunit and Miss Jessel， she forces and guides the governess to step into misunderstanding about her situation. And finally， the governess bursts into tears desperately， and cries “I don’t do it！ I sobbed in despair； I don’t save or shield them！ It’s far worse than I dreamed. They’re lost.”（T p36） Mrs. Grose drives the unstable young governess almost out of mind. The talk between them becomes the accelerator of the insanity of the young governess， eventually fabricates the ghosts and makes them become the results of the governess’s dream.

Thirdly， most works of Henry James use the third person perspective. There is only one exception. That is The Turn of the Screw （1989）. In this novel， the author chooses the first person limited perspective to narrate the story. He takes advantage of three narrators to create ambiguity and uncertain atmosphere. The first narrator is a nameless “I” who begins the story at Christmas Eve. Then “I” mentions a person named Douglas. Douglas tells a story about a governess who teaches his sister. And when it comes to the first chapter， it is told by the governess herself. The effect of transferring different narrators is easy for readers to avoid regarding the governess as the reliable narrator and believe that the story is a pure ghost story. Cook and Corrigan suggest that “the subject of The Turn of the Screw is the nature of narrative…By constantly undermining and restoring his narrator’s credibility， James transforms a narrative which is potentially either a ghost story or a mystery tale about a demented governess into a very subtle fiction about the process of fiction itself.” During the narration， there still exists omitted information， such as the reasons for Miles’s expelling from school， the exact reason of Miss Jessel’s death etc. These gaps between the acts of telling add much mysteries of the story. It is so easy for readers to imagine such gaps that lose the objectiveness of the plot. And it is much easier to make them believe that it must not be a real ghost story and only happens in the dream of the governess.

The Turn of the Screw （1898）， as has been mentioned above， is no more than a conventional and terrible ghost story on the literal level， it displays a deep concern about the psychology of the governess. Under the repression from different aspects， the governess suffers from neurosis and hysteria. Of course， her problematic personality is also an important reason for it. The external and internal stimuli cause the governess to fall into a disordered mental state， hysterical fantasy and dreams as well. Therefore， the appearance of ghosts is not real， but in the hallucination and dream of the governess.

The Interpretation of Dreams （1898） is an important component of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis theory. It is stated in The interpretation of dreams that Freud believes that people have all kinds of desires. But when it is impossible to fulfill the desires in reality， they will be disguised into dreams to satisfy the dreamers. According to Freud’s theory， without the external and internal stimuli， dream or hallucination will not come into being.

1. The External Factors as the Sources of the

Governess’s Dream

The governess belonged to an ambiguous class in the Victorian Age. In Victorian Age， a well-to-do woman had particularly nothing to do. She was like a symbol for the affluent for her father or husband. But if the daughter’s family lost a lot of money， the governess must go out for the money to buy some necessary things. The governess took the maternal responsibility to educate and look after children， but she also might be dismissed by the employer at any time. The social position for the governess in Victorian Age was uncertain.

The governess in The Turn of the Screw （1898） is a young daughter of a vicarage and is engaged by a wealth and mysterious man who owns Bly to care for the children of his brother’s， Miles and Flora. This story happens at Bly， and actually， Bly is the miniature of the whole society of Victorian Age， and the people at Bly also can be divided as the pyramid structure of the patriarchal society. The master who is always away from Bly has the absolute power of this family. He is at the top class. Miles and Flora belong to his rank. The governess belongs to the middle class. The position of the housekeeper named Mrs. Grose is a little lower than that of the governess. At the last level of the rank pyramid， it is the five servants of Bly.

Due to the clear hierarchic social system and the predicament of the governess mentioned above， neither the political nor the economic status of the governess is very satisfying. The position of the governess in The Turn of the Screw （1989） also lies in the line between the middle class and the upper class of Victorian Age. In her heart， she also longs for living a stable life and makes a shelter for her husband even for their children in her whole life. But her idea and behavior are restrained strictly by the social moral criterion. With the pressure from the social and living environment， she is serious in restricting herself. She cannot express her own thoughts about many aspects freely， such as passion， love， and sexual desire and so on. The typical hierarchic social system and moral criterion limit her behavior and at the same time exert pressure upon her. It is undoubted that pressure from the external world prevents her desires from fulfilling. And this provides external sources for her dream.

2 The Internal Factors as the Sources of the

Governess’s Dream

In the Sigmund Freud’s theory， the classification of the sources of dream can be divided into the stimuli from external factors， the stimuli from the internal factors， the somatic and metal factors as the source of dream. When it explores the dream activities of a certain person， the external factor is very necessary because no one can be isolated beyond the social environment. The stimuli from the external factors can become one of sources of person’s dream. Together with the external factors， the internal factors take the same role.

2.1 Infantile experiences

In psychoanalysis field， after the research of the peculiarities of the dream-content， Sigmund Freud adduces the fact that impressions from people’s childhood may appear in dreams， which do not seem to be at the disposal of the walking memory. In series of dreams he learns from analysis that “the very wish which has given rise to a dream， and whose fulfillment the dream proves to be， has itself originated in childhood”. And it is self-evident that infantile experience can be regarded as one of sources of dream.

As to the governess in The Turn of the Screw （1898）， her infantile experience also can provide material and condition for her dream. Henry James describes in his prologue to The Turn of the Screw （1898） as， “The fact to be in possession of was therefore that his old friend， the youngest of several daughters of a poor country parson， had at the age of twenty， on taking service for the first time in the schoolroom， come up to London.” The governess comes from a poor country parson’s family. In her childhood， she lives a very poor and simple life. But in her inner heart， she still long for living a happy and comfortable life as others. The main foundation of Freudian doctrine is that the hypermedia of the dream and its ability to dispose of infantile material. In its theory of dreams， Freud has assigned to a wish of infantile origin the part of the indispensable motive- power of dream- formation. This kind experience makes her form the desire for happy life in the future， and just provides sources for her dream in her life of Bly.

2.2 Internal somatic stimuli

Freud illustrated that “if we are disposed to look for the sources of dreams not outside the organism， we must remember that almost all our internal organs， which in a state of health hardly remind us of their existence， may， in states of excitation- as we call them – or in disease， become a source of the most painful sensations， and must therefore be put on a par with the external excitants of pain and sensation.” In the novel， driving at that hour to Bly， “through a country the summer sweetness of which served as a friendly welcome”， she “fortitude revived”. After the following turn， her mood takes a flight. She “had no drop again till the next day” and she “was carried triumphantly through the following hours…” she can’t fall into sleep that night because “I was too excited”. Freud suggested that when our bodies are in extreme excited state or illness， the somatic stimuli of internal organs will become the sources of pain.

On one hand of somatic aspect， at the age of twenty， the governess is so young and attractive that it will be very common for her to have somatic desire. She has her normal somatic requirements， even sexual desire， even she is eager to enjoy love with the master she meets in London. As a children’s governess， she must behave as a pure woman without any desire. She can’t show her feeling in public but represses it secretly in her own heart. Then the repressed desire of love from her somatic aspect can provide material and resource for her dream naturally.

On the other hand of somatic aspects， the governess is nervous， uncertain， suspicious and anxious.

At the beginning of her new life at Bly， it is very easy to find her nervous and uncertain personality from her action and words in this novel. She thinks， “I remember the whole beginning as a succession of flights and drops， a little see-saw of the right throbs and the wrong. After rising， in town， to meet his appeal I had at all events a couple of very bad days---found all my doubts bristle again， felt indeed sure I had made a mistake”. She feels very nervous and uncertain about her own choice.

The gradual reinforcement of her uneasy and suspicious personality is revealed much more clearly from her own psychological activity on the first night at Bly. Because of this mind and the thought of recalling what has happened in the day， she is almost hard to fall asleep. The suspicion in her personality is described by Henry James in the following chapters of The Turn of the Screw （1898）. Undoubtedly， this kind of personality has serious effect on her future life and even her tragic fate.

Approaching The Turn of the Screw （1898） from the perspective of dream interpretation， the thesis explores that this novel is not a pure gothic story but the hallucination of an insane governess in her dream. The repressed desire of her love to her master that can’t attain in reality gets fulfillment in her dream. Unfortunately， as the story progresses， the governess grows more and more neurotic and dangerously insane. Eventually， her crazy dream results in ghosts haunted the old estate and tragic situation of the children. Through the novel， Henry James not only portrays the vivid psychological activity of the governess in this novel， but also reflects the hardship of woman in the living environment of Victorian Age and lashes the repression and devastation for woman in that age.

References

1. Freud， Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. London： Wordsworth Editions Limited， （1997）.

2. James， Henry. The Turn of the Screw. London： Wordsworth Editions Limited， （2000）.

3. Peide， Wan. An Anthology of 20th Century American Fiction. Shanghai： East China Normal University， （1981）.