The Turn of the Screw

Reading Check

1. “[T]o win the child into the sense of knowing me” (Chapter 1)

2. So the governess would see him and think he was “bad” (Chapter 11)

3. The ghost of Miss Jessel sitting at the governess’s desk (Chapter 15)

4. She says to the governess, “I don’t like you” and then asks Mrs. Grose to “take [her] away.” (Chapter 20)

5. Demons (Chapter 21)

Short Answer

1. Douglas provides background to the governess’s manuscript prior to reading out loud: As a young woman, she applies for a job as a governess at a house to take care of two children who are recently orphaned. The children’s uncle hires her under the circumstances that he should not be disturbed about their upbringing, and she has full control over them. Despite her unsteady feeling, she agrees to the terms. (Prologue)

2. The governess receives a letter that Miles had been expelled from school, prompting the governess to ask Mrs. Grose about the child’s behavior. She is immediately defensive of him, and she later alludes to the fact that “he” likes governesses who are young and pretty.