{"id":22,"date":"2013-08-21T21:04:38","date_gmt":"2013-08-21T21:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/portfolio.snc.edu\/meganbania\/?page_id=20"},"modified":"2019-12-03T21:38:57","modified_gmt":"2019-12-03T21:38:57","slug":"essay2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/english305.graceknudsen.knight.domains\/presentation-portfolio\/essay2\/","title":{"rendered":"Feminine Identity and Oppression in James\u2019 The Turn of the Screw"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cThe hope of many feminists is that\nonce people are empowered and become accustomed to making their own life\nchoices, their exploitation and exclusion will no longer be easy\u201d (Nelson and\nShanahan 229). Feminist theory highlights the fact that women are constantly\nforced to submit their own passions or identity for the sake of pleasing their\npatriarchal society. Women strive to create identities for themselves that are\nsocially acceptable, such as a housewife or some other type of \u2018feminine\u2019\nidentity that serves men. In Henry James\u2019s The\nTurn of the Screw<\/em>, the governess is continuously forced to create her\nidentity based off of the perception of the others around her that submit to\npatriarchal institutions. However, there are certain instances in which the governess\nseeks to break through these barriers of female oppression. The patriarchal\nforces in Henry James’ The Turn of the\nScrew<\/em> are responsible for crafting a shattered and mentally unstable female\nidentity of the governess, rather than allowing the governess to discover her\nown autonomy and empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the power that the governess\nis given through her job, her worth becomes valued only by her ability to\nsucceed at her job. The governess is forced to keep her job as the main aspect\nof her own identity. Her value is evaluated in terms of her ability to take\ncare of others around her, rather than being valued for her own power and\nautonomy. The main praise that Douglas has of the governess in the novel is\nthat \u201cShe was the most agreeable woman I\u2019ve ever known in her position\u201d (James\n8). Douglas only gives credit to the governess in terms of her job performance\nand not as an individual human being. In fact, she is only never named\nthroughout the entire novel, thus only having the ability to be referred to as\nthe governess. This identification of the woman based only on her occupation\ngives all of her identity to her profession and not to her own individuality.\nThe governess is evaluated and judged only by her ability to work, rather than\nas a holistic individual. Additionally, there is a sense of bias attached to\nthe job of governess as well. \u201cIn caring for children, they did for pay what\nthe middle-class wife and mother did for free, a fact that brought the\ngoverness perilously close to the figure of the prostitute\u201d (Newman 51). The\ngoverness is forced to submit to the \u201cmother-woman\u201d archetype that society\ndemands of her, and she is evaluated by the work that she can provide to a man,\nin this case being the uncle of the children that she is caring for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the governess is\ncontinuously sexualized by males in their descriptions of her in the novel,\nwhich prevents her character from being given an autonomous identity. Douglas\nrefers to the fact that the governess must have been in love to be hired by the\nmaster. He assumes that the governess took the job from the master of the house\nof Bly through seduction, and \u201cshe succumbed to it\u201d (James 9). This assumption\nof attraction paints the governess as a stereotypical woman who is blinded by\nlove and attraction, unable to make her own decisions and instead seeking only\nto please the man of her affection. Additionally, the governess makes a comment\nlater on in the novel that \u201che seems to like [the governesses] young and\npretty\u201d (James 19), showing the master\u2019s sexism and apparent value of looks and\nsexuality over a woman\u2019s competence of her job. Despite the fact that the\nbeauty of the governess may have given her the position, the potential to use\nher beauty in order to gain power over man is shut down by the nineteenth\ncentury perspective of the governess job. The governess \u201cwas looked upon as a\nsubordinate rather than as a prospective partner\u2026indefinitely banished to the\nliminal space of spinsterhood\u201d (Gilbert 459). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the constraint that the\ngoverness job places on the woman to craft a real identity, the lack of male\npresence in the house of Bly allows the governess to think she is building\nleadership. The governess begins to find empowerment and autonomy in her\nidentity when she is given the ability to lead the household of Bly. The master\nof the house, the uncle of Flora and Miles, is never around to lead the\nhousehold, and this allows the governess to gain confidence in herself. The\ngoverness believes that she may have full autonomy of herself when she first\nbegins her job at the house of Bly. She is surprised with the opportunities\nthat she is given, and refers to the house of Bly as a ship where she is\n\u201cstrangely at the helm!\u201d (James 15) Additionally, she feels empowered and\nstates that she \u201cfancied [her]self in short a remarkable young woman and took\ncomfort in the faith that this would more publicly appear\u201d (James 23). Given the\ntime period, having this kind of autonomy belonging to women was uncommon, and\nthe governess finds it empowering. Self-determination and empowerment are falsely\npromised to the governess in her adoption of the job, and she tries to craft\nher own identity now that she is somewhat given the freedom and power to do so.\nThis so-called freedom proves itself to be false later in the novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patriarchy\u2019s efforts to hide women\u2019s\nevidence of power is present in the novel, however. Even though the governess\nis given power, little to no other people are aware of it. The head of the\nhouse of Bly is aware of her authority of the children, but he is given the\ncredit as the one in power. It is very easy to see why the patriarchy seeks to\nkeep hidden the growth of female power, as they are afraid that \u201cif the\ninfluence of feminist ideas increases, those who have previously benefitted\nfrom the domination of others will find it more difficult to reap the rewards\nof their domination\u201d (Nelson and Shanahan 230). Patriarchy\u2019s failure to grasp\nthe true meaning of the feminist movement causes the fear that it must lose a\nsense of its power in order for women to gain equality. The patriarchy seeks to\nkeep its power by silencing the voices that they find threatening. The\ngoverness has been given power in the novel through the absence of the\nchildren\u2019s uncle, but this power is being silenced in order to keep male power\nfrom being decreased as a result. Mrs. Grose\u2019s character also reflects the\nsilencing of female power, as the head of the house of Bly \u201chad placed [her] at\nthe head of their little establishment- but belowstairs only\u201d (James 8). Mrs.\nGrose may have power, but it is kept a secret. The patriarchal values in the\nnovel show that women are certainly capable of success and being empowered, but\nit is silenced in order to keep the men \u201csafe\u201d. The women\u2019s success can be\nallowed as long as it does not come in the form of a threat to male domination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Amy Haslehurst<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Once the governess has her taste of power, another method of male oppression comes to stop her from gaining any more. The power that the governess begins to have marks her as a dangerous woman to the patriarchy, and her passion and autonomy needs to be stopped. The ghost of Mr. Quint represents another patriarchal force that keeps the governess from gaining a perception of herself that is empowered or liberated. Quint is the distraction from the governess\u2019s job that stops her ability to be successful at her profession. As the governess explains the power that she believes she has over Quint to Miles, she says \u201cWhat will he ever <\/em>matter? I <\/em>have you\u2026 but he has lost you forever\u201d (James 124). The governess is proud of herself and acknowledges the power she has as a woman in protecting Miles. This confidence she feels is undermined by Quint\u2019s attack of Miles, resulting in his death. Rather than just being the death of Miles, this act also serves as the loss of power in the governess because she has failed as his caretaker. \u201cThe problem of social identity compounds the more personal onslaughts to the governess\u2019 sense of self\u201d (Newman 51). Quint causes her to \u201ckill\u201d Miles, and now she has failed to use her power effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results of the governess\u2019\nfailure have the potential to ruin her identity even more. Now that Miles is\ndead, who is to blame? Either the governess is labeled as an evil woman, or she\nis to blame because of delusions. There is something to be said for giving\nmental delusions the responsibility for Miles\u2019 death, but what does this imply\nabout the governess as a woman? Is her identity as a caretaker disregarded as\ndelusional or hysterical? This failure to succeed is not because the governess\nis incapable or delusional, however, it is because she is sabotaged by Quint,\nby the patriarchal powers that seek to keep her from succeeding as a woman. The\nfact that Quint is a ghost, however, allows the blame to be placed on the\ngoverness rather than on the man for perpetuating the shortcomings and\noppression of women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In trying to keep the children from\nthe oppressive forces, the governess proceeds to fail at her own profession and\ninstead endangers Flora, Miles, and herself. This failure highlights the\ncontinual suppression of the female voice of reason, despite its many efforts\nto defend itself. Women have searched for power and equality throughout all of\nhistory, yet still remain unequal. Even though the governess had tastes of\nequality, the oppressive male force snuffed this power out of her, and forced\nher own identity to shatter and place her beneath the rest of society yet\nagain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gilbert,\nNora. \u201cA Servitude of One\u2019s Own: Isolation, Authorship, and the\nNineteenth-Century British Governess.\u201d Nineteenth-Century Literature<\/em>,\nvol. 69, no. 4, 2015, pp. 455\u2013480. JSTOR<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James, Henry, and David Bromwich. The Turn of the Screw<\/em>. Penguin Group,\n2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson, Lori J., and Sandra B.\nShanahan. \u201cPower, Empowerment, and Equality: Evidence for the Motives of\nFeminists, Nonfeminists, and Antifeminists.\u201d Sex Roles<\/em>, vol. 37, no. 3\u20134, Aug. 1997, pp. 227\u2013249. EBSCOhost<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newman, Beth. \u201cGetting Fixed:\nFeminine Identity and Scopic Crisis in \u2018The Turn of the Screw.\u2019\u201d NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction<\/em>, vol. 26, no.\n1, 1992, pp. 43\u201363.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe hope of many feminists is that once people are empowered and become accustomed to making their own life choices, their exploitation and exclusion will no longer be easy\u201d (Nelson and Shanahan 229). Feminist theory highlights the fact that women are constantly forced to submit their own passions or identity for the sake of pleasing … Continue reading Feminine Identity and Oppression in James\u2019 The Turn of the Screw<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":12,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"page-full-width.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english305.graceknudsen.knight.domains\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english305.graceknudsen.knight.domains\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english305.graceknudsen.knight.domains\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english305.graceknudsen.knight.domains\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english305.graceknudsen.knight.domains\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/english305.graceknudsen.knight.domains\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":541,"href":"https:\/\/english305.graceknudsen.knight.domains\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22\/revisions\/541"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english305.graceknudsen.knight.domains\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english305.graceknudsen.knight.domains\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}