The Turn of the Screw

Shocked, the governess remains motionless for long moments, trying to account for the stranger’s presence on the tower. She returns to the house, still mulling the mystery, and finds Mrs. Grose in the hall. The housekeeper’s face is so friendly, the governess cannot bear to trouble her with news of her startling vision and says nothing about it.

By quietly observing other members of the household over the following days, the governess concludes that no one else knows an intruder somehow gained access to the tower. The incident is her concern alone, but the “charming work” (23) of teaching and caring for such remarkably lovely children soon dispels her lingering worries. Miles, in particular, dazzles the governess with his beauty. By means of his gentle, innocent disposition, he renders the headmaster’s insinuations against him absurd. The governess decides that Miles was “too fine and fair for the little horrid unclean school-world” (23), and thus the headmaster, overcome with envy, expelled him.

One Sunday afternoon, the governess walks into the empty dining room and stops in her tracks. The mysterious stranger is standing outside the window, pressing his face to the glass. Although she is terrified, a sense of duty compels the governess to race outdoors and around the house to confront the man.