Turn of the Screw: Chapters 1-5 Summary
Turn of the Screw: Chapters 6-10 Summary
In this post, we continue with The Turn of the Screw: Chapters 11-15 summary. The novel is by psychological-horror author Henry James. As we are nearing the end of the book, we should be taking note of the building tension in the manor. The governess has now seen ghosts on two occasions. Meanwhile, the children are acting in strange ways. In the following chapters, more eeriness assails the governess as she comes closer to unraveling the mystery.
Turn of the Screw: Chapters 11-13 Summary
After standing on the lawn at night and frightening the governess, she leads Miles back inside. After questioning him, Miles insists it is because he wants to be “bad” and to prove it to her.
He tells her: “‘Think me—for a change—bad!’ I shall never forget the sweetness and gaiety with which he brought out the word, nor how, on top of it, he bent forward and kissed me.”
While the governess doesn’t entirely understand Miles’s motivations, she forgives the child.
Though Mrs. Grose doesn’t believe the governess, the governess goes into detail about the children’s relationship with Quint and Miss Jessel. She explains that they are either tied to them or are in fact that spiritual slaves. In her opinion, she aims to destroy the children. Mrs. Grose attempts to convince the governess to contact the master of the house in order to spirit the children away. However, the governess denounces any and all plans for various reasons. Mostly, she doesn’t want to seem like she is going insane.
In the text, the governess explains that she could already see the master of the house’s reactions. She saw his, “derision, his amusement, his contempt for the breakdown of her resignation.”
As the season turns to autumn, the governess finds the children still a delight but has her suspicions. Mostly, her suspicions are about how they communicate with the ghosts. Yet, the governess is unable to confront the children about these sightings. As such, she leaves it be for the time. After the children ask to see their uncle, the governess insists that they write letters–letters that she in fact keeps and does not send to the master of the house.
Turn of the Screw: Chapters 14-15 Summary
One day, when walking to church with the household, Miles asks about returning to school. He admits that he has been very good with only one exception. The governess tries to parse Miles’ reasons for being sent out of school. But, she is unable to discover his motives. Miles then insists that he wants to go back to school, and though he is rebuked, he insists. He comes to the conclusion that he will convince his uncle to visit and allow him to return.
In the novel, both the governess and Miles have a brief exchange outside of the church before the child enters:
Miles, on this, stood looking at me. “Then don’t you think he can be made to?”
“In what way?”
“Why, by his coming down.”
“But who’ll get him to come down?”
“I will!” the boy said with extraordinary brightness and emphasis. He gave me another look charged with that expression and then marched off alone into church.
At this point, the governess intends to leave Bly as she feels the events at the manor have been untenable. Entering the house, she sits on the stares but remembers seeing the ghost of Miss Jessel. So, she decides to head to the schoolroom. Regardless, she sees the ghost of the woman once more and has a violent reaction. No doubt this is a consequence of the trauma and anxiety caused by the apparition.
She states of the occurrence: “It was as a wild protest against it that, actually addressing her—’You terrible, miserable woman!’—I heard myself break into a sound that, by the open door, rang through the long passage and the empty house. She looked at me as if she heard me, but I had recovered myself and cleared the air. There was nothing in the room the next minute but the sunshine and a sense that I must stay.”
Conclusion
In The Turn of the Screw: Chapters 11-15, we have more character building and a continued rising of suspense. We discover that Miles is quite precocious and is a conniving child. He makes plans to manipulate people into getting what he wants, such as convincing the governess that he is capable of being “bad.”
In addition, we also learn that the governess has multiple motives for staying on at Bly Manor and not alerting the master of the house. For one, her duty to the children is supreme, and her motherly protection seems to be paramount to her leaving; moreover, she understands that what she has seen at Bly is a little strange and that alerting anybody other than Mrs. Grose may make her seem insane.
Leave a Reply