The Turn of the Screw: Complete, Authoritative Text With Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary C (Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism) - Hardcover

Henry James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312122608 ISBN 13: 9780312122607

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 1994

Synopsis

This edition of James's classic novel presents the 1908 New York Edition along with five critical essays - newly commissioned or revised for a student audience - that read The Turn of the Screw from five contemporary critical perspectives.Each critical essay is accompanied by a succinct introduction to the history, principles, and practice of the critical perspective and by a bibliography that promotes further exploration of that approach.In addition, the text and essays are complemented by an introduction providing biographical and historical contexts for James and "The Turn of the Screw," a survey of critical responses to the novel since its initial publication, and a glossary of critical and theoretical terms.

About this title

Review

The story starts conventionally enough with friends sharing ghost stories 'round the fire on Christmas Eve. One of the guests tells about a governess at a country house plagued by supernatural visitors. But in the hands of Henry James, the master of nuance, this little tale of terror is an exquisite gem of sexual and psychological ambiguity. Only the young governess can see the ghosts; only she suspects that the previous governess and her lover are controlling the two orphaned children (a girl and a boy) for some evil purpose. The household staff don't know what she's talking about, the children are evasive when questioned, and the master of the house (the children's uncle) is absent. Why does the young girl claim not to see a perfectly visible woman standing on the far side of the lake? Are the children being deceptive, or is the governess being paranoid? By leaving the questions unanswered, The Turn of Screw generates spine-tingling anxiety in its mesmerized readers.

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Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312122608
• ISBN 13: 9780312122607
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1