1、1Dream Analysis of the Governess in The Turn of the ScrewAbstract. When discussing Henry Jamess 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 characterthe governess， mainly focused on the internal an
2、d 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 governesss hallucination in her dream state. Key words： dream， desire， the governess 1 Introduction When discussing The Turn of the Screw （1898） ， people have to fac
3、e 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 governesss wish- fulfillment. It is her d
4、esire that makes trouble. In 1934， in Hound & Horn， Edmund Wilson remarks that the 2appearance of these two ghosts is the result of an old virgins insanity and her hallucination. The landmark study of the governesss psychological makeup came in 1934 with Edmund Wilsons essay “The Ambiguity of Henry
5、James.” Wilsons 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 governesss repression of her natural sexual drives， in Wilsons view， forces her into a neurotic pattern
6、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 prosper
7、ous bachelor， she cant 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 munificen
8、t 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， 3the 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 s
9、ound 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 Freuds works， Freud cited dreams cases that collected by Jessen to illustrate that every noise indistinctly perceived gives rise t
10、o 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
11、representation in her mind. Actually， they dont 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 li
12、ne 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 4actually， she takes a very import
13、ant role in the process of the governesss 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.
14、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 “hes like nobody”. From the conversation between them， it is clear to find that Mrs. Grose is a woman with strong desire to power and
15、 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 governesss plight”（T p28）. She doesnt correct the false ide
16、a 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
17、 to reveal the identity of that woman in shabby mourning. With her evil information about Peter 5Qunit 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 dont do it！ I sobbed i
18、n despair； I dont save or shield them！ Its far worse than I dreamed. Theyre 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 th
19、e results of the governesss 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 narrator
20、s 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 he
21、rself. 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 6ghost story. Cook and Corrigan suggest that “the subject of The Turn of the Screw is the nature of narrativeBy constantly undermin
22、ing and restoring his narrators 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
23、reasons for Miless expelling from school， the exact reason of Miss Jessels 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 mus
24、t 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
25、 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 7a
26、ppearance 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 Freuds psychoanalysis theory. It is stated in The interpretation of dreams that Freud believes that people have all kinds of desires. But whe
27、n it is impossible to fulfill the desires in reality， they will be disguised into dreams to satisfy the dreamers. According to Freuds theory， without the external and internal stimuli， dream or hallucination will not come into being. 1. The External Factors as the Sources of the Governesss Dream The
28、 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 daughters family lost a lot of money， the governess must go out for the money to buy some
29、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. 8The governess in The Turn of the Screw （1898） is a young daughter o
30、f a vicarage and is engaged by a wealth and mysterious man who owns Bly to care for the children of his brothers， 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 o
31、f 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 governes
32、s. 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 th
33、e 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 mo
34、ral 9criterion. 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 behav
35、ior 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 Governesss Dream In the Sigmund Freuds theory， the classificati
36、on 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 isolat
37、ed beyond the social environment. The stimuli from the external factors can become one of sources of persons 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-con
38、tent， Sigmund Freud adduces the 10fact that impressions from peoples 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
39、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
40、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
41、a poor country parsons 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.
