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Jamesian Parody, "Jane Eyre," and "The Turn of the Screw" Author(S): Alice Hall Petry Reviewed Work(S): Source: Modern Language Studies, Vol

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Jamesian Parody, Modern Language Studies Jamesian Parody, "Jane Eyre," and "The Turn of the Screw" Author(s): Alice Hall Petry Reviewed work(s): Source: Modern Language Studies, Vol. 13, No. 4, Henry James Issue (Autumn, 1983), pp. 61-78 Published by: Modern Language Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3194215 . Accessed: 05/03/2013 10:06 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Modern Language Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Modern Language Studies. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded on Tue, 5 Mar 2013 10:06:12 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JamesianParody, Jane Eyre, and 'The Turnof the Screw" Alice Hall Petry Ever sinceit was firstpublished in 1898,Henry James's "The Turn of theScrew" has receiveda phenomenalamount of criticalattention and popular acclaim; and no smallportion of thisperennial interest is due to thefact that there are basicallytwo waysin which to read thestory: (1)that theghosts of PeterQuint and MissJessel really do appear to thegoverness (and that,consequently, she is indeed a reliablenarrator); or (2)thatthe ghostsdo not exist,and the governessis deluded-perhaps insane.' I happen to agree withthe second interpretation,with the important quali- ficationthat I do notbelieve thegoverness is insane.Rather, I would argue thatthe governess, a basicallynormal albeit sensitive and impressionistic younglady, has been undulyinfluenced by herreading of one ofthe most popular books of the nineteenthcentury, Jane Eyre; more specifically, that the tragic events which occur at Bly are the direct resultof her perceptionsof herself, her employer, her situation, and of Blyitself having been hopelesslydistorted by her patheticattempt to emulateCharlotte Bronte'sfamous heroine. In supportof thisinterpretation, I would further arguethat James borrowed heavily from Bronte's novel: the similarities in plot,characterization, narrative technique, and even phraseologyare so strikingthat it is impossibleto believe thatthey are purelyfortuitous. In fact,I would argue thatthese similarities are intentionaland conscious; thatJames expected his readers to perceive parallelsbetween Bronte's novel and his tale; and that,in the final analysis,James is utilizing, exploiting,indeed underminingthe literarytradition of the pluckyEng- lish governess:that in "The Turn of the Screw" he is, in fact,writing a parody of JaneEyre. It is a matterof commonknowledge that James was well aware of the work of CharlotteBronte and her siblings,and in particularof Jane Eyre, forhe refersto the book several timesin his reviews and in his autobiographicalwritings. In A Small Boy and Others,he recalls Anne King,"young and frail,but not less firm,under stress, than the othersof herblood," who remindedhim of "a littleBronte heroine... thoughmore indeed a Lucy Snowe thana JaneEyre, and withno shade ofa Brontehero withinsight."2 In an 1866issue of the Atlantic Monthly, he praisesthe "very good poetry"of the Moor House chaptersin Jane Eyre, and a yearlater, in a reviewof Mrs.R. H. Davis's "Waitingfor the Verdict," he notesthat Mrs. Davis had "evidentlyread" Bronte'snovel, one of the "greatauthorities" forMrs. Davis's typeof fiction.3But his referencesto JaneEyre are not altogetherlaudatory; indeed, in 1905 he speaks, less wistfullythan cut- tingly,of the "luckybox" in whichthe Brontesisters found themselves, viz, "a case of popularity. ., a beguilded infatuation,a sentimentalized vision,determined largely by theaccidents and circumstancesoriginally surroundingthe manifestationof the genius-- . ." In fine,the reading 61 This content downloaded on Tue, 5 Mar 2013 10:06:12 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions public'sblurring of thedistinction between the Bronte's own remarkable private lives and the equally remarkablelives of the charactersthey created was generating"the most complete intellectualmuddle, if the termbe not too invidious,ever achieved ... by our wonderfulpublic."4 That the readersof Bronte'sdurable novel were somehow blurringthe distinctionbetween reality and fictionseems to have struckJames's fancy: and whatbetter way to develop thisbizarre notion than to writea parody in whichthe heroineconfuses her own lifewith that of Bronte'sheroine and becomes,as itwere, a flesh-and-bloodparody of Jane-with horrible consequences? That James was familiarwith Jane Eyre is, then,a matterof commonknowledge; and indeed,several commentators have notedsim- ilaritiesbetween Bronte'sbook and "The Turn of the Screw." Oscar Cargill and Robert Kimbroughhave pointed out thatthere is a blatant referenceto JaneEyre in thepassage "Was therea 'secret'at Bly- ... an insane, an unmentionablerelative kept in unsuspectedconfinement?" (179).5 Walterde la Mare pointsout thatJames's governess, "with her queer littleflutters, her impassioned self-dedication, faintly recalls no less delightfula prototypethan Jane Eyre."6Krishna Vaid-notes that James may have been drawingupon "the fictionalconvention of the English governess,"and Leon Edel, in his prefaceto his editionof Storiesof the Supernatural(formerly the Ghostly Tales) remarksthat "'The Turnof the Screw' is in the Brontetradition; much of its atmosphereand even lan- guage representsJames's attempt to enshrinethat tradition in his story. It is to the Brontes,rather than to themodern psychological movement in its nascentstate in Vienna,that this story must be referred.. ."7But none of thesecritics-not even Edna Kenton,who remindsus thatthe story was designedto "catch"us8-has perceivedthat James was notsimply draw- ing upon the literarytradition of the Englishgoverness popularized by Bronte,but ratherwas brilliantlyparodying it; and not merely,I must emphasize,for the sake of comedy. I believe thatthe process of parodyingJane Eyre beginswith the generalstory line of-thetwo works: a young woman goes to a remote countryestate to serve as governess.In each case, her immediateconfi- dante and associate at theestate is a widow who functionsas thehouse- keeper: Mrs. Fairfax and Mrs. Grose. The childreninvolved do have notablesimilarities: both Adele Varensand Flora are eight-year-oldgirls, and althoughthere is no boy correspondingto Milesin Jane Eyre,9 all the childrenshare an unfortunatedouble situation:they have no parents,and theirguardians have littleinterest in them.Celine Varenshad abandoned theillegitimate Adele; as Rochestermakes clear, although "'she was lefton myhands,"' she is nothis daughter("'Pilot [hisdog] is morelike me than she"' [chaps. 17, 15]),10and hisrelationship with her is chilledat best ("'I am notfond of the prattle of children'" [chap. 14]). Likewise,the bachelor at HarleyStreet acquired Flora and Milesupon the death of their parents in India,and although"he immenselypitied the poor chicks,"James makes it clear thatthey weighed "veryheavy on his hands. It had all been a great worryand, on his own partdoubtless, a seriesof blunders.. ." (153-54). Each guardian is a man in early middle age who is understandably 62 This content downloaded on Tue, 5 Mar 2013 10:06:12 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions resentfulabout being forced into the role of surrogatefather, in part apparentlybecause each is something of a ladies'man: Rochester has left a stringof sexualconquests on theContinent (chap. 27), and theHarley Streetbachelor has, according to Mrs.Grose, "carried away" numerous damsels(162). In fine,the two men are both essentially sociable urbanites, so theykeep their wards at theircountry estates which, presumably, are soundenvironments for growing children: Bly is saidto be "healthyand secure"(154), and Adele lives at Thomfield, which Rochester declares is healthierthan his other home, Ferndean Manor (chap. 27). Finally,both men are positedas eligible:everyone at Thomfield-evenRochester himself-callshim a bachelor(e.g., chap. 14), eventhough he is very muchmarried to BerthaMason Rochester; and theemployer at Harley Streetis repeatedlyreferred to as a bachelor(e.g., 153). Likewise, each manis repeatedlyspoken of as "themaster." Whatwe have,in essence, is this: two broad story lines and a series of characterswhich are so similarthat it is doubtfulthat they could be attributedto anythingother than conscious artifice on James'spart. But whatof the specific story line of the corrupting governess and the immoral love affairbetween servants, and whatof thegovernesses themselves? Variousscholars have attemptedto pin downthe origins of theseele- ments:James himself attributed his story to an anecdotetold to himby EdwardWhite Benson, the Archbishop of Canterbury, although Benson's sonswere dubious of the veracity of the account." Robert Lee Wolffhas suggestedthat James may have seen the painting "The Haunted House," byTom Griffiths, inthe 1891 Christmas issue of the London review Black and White.'2Oscar Cargillhas suggestedthat James may have been drawingupon the case studyof "MissLucy R." in Freud'sStudien uber Hysterie(a matterto be consideredat some length below), and Francis X. Roellinger,Jr., offers several other case studieswhich may have inspired James.13But to the best
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