83 pages 2 hours read

Henry James

The Turn of the Screw

Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 1898

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Essay Topics

1.

Do the contents of the Prologue increase or decrease your trust in the governess as a reliable narrator? Why?

2.

Taking into account the governess’s gender and social class, explain why her name is never revealed.

3.

In the Prologue Douglas says the governess was in love, but her narrativewon’t tell” with whom, “not in any literal vulgar way” (5). Whom did she love? The uncle? Miles? Someone else? In what ways is her love a central part of her story, as Douglas suggests it is?