I noticed that this year another adaption of Henry James’ “A Trun of the Scew” is due to be realeased and upon reading the synopsis of the movie I am dissapointed to see that it seems they have missed the mark again. Once more it seems as if the story is going to be told as a simple ghost story. While I know many classify the book as a ghost story James really does give the book much more of a psychological bend than it often gets credit for. I would love to see film makers give it the ambuguity that the story deserves instead of force feeding the paranormal explination. The Turn of the Screw is in fact not a cut and dry ghost story. I read into it at least three different possible scenarios.
1. This is the obvious and most popular view that it is simply a ghost story.
2. The twins of whom the governess is in charge of are malevent. They set out to manipulate and trick their new governess into believing there is something sinsiter and otherwordly going on until she is driven crazy by the fear they instill within her. I admit this is my personal favorite scenerio.
3. The governess a young woman isolated from everything she kknows, placed in a strange house and put in charge of two children who are a bit of handful begins to break down under the stress and pressure. Rather than a ghost story it is the story of a young woman’s esculating mental breakdown.