The Turn of the Screw â€� Reader Q&A

Questions About The Turn of the Screw

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Answered Questions (23)

I don't quite understood the following sentences. "If the child gives the effect another turn of the screw, what do you say to two children---? "We say, of course," somebody explained, "that they give two turns!" can somebody briefly explain? thanks.

Elodie So basically what he's saying is, If you think having a child involved in a scary situation makes it creepier, how about two children? He's using "givâ€¦m´Ç°ù±ðSo basically what he's saying is, If you think having a child involved in a scary situation makes it creepier, how about two children? He's using "giving a turn of the screw" as an expression to mean "making it more intense". The guests answering "they give two turns" is them agreeing that it would indeed double the effect.(less)

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Of what evil, exactly, were Miss Kressel and Quint supposed to be guilty of in life? Undue familiarity with each other, and with others, especially the children, I understand. Not staying quietly within their place. But was that tantamount to true evil? Or was more supposed to have passed between them and the children?

Nola Tillman There's also an implication that they sexually molested the children, which I first thought as I read and then saw again on wikipedia:

'Poet and literaâ€¦m´Ç°ù±ðThere's also an implication that they sexually molested the children, which I first thought as I read and then saw again on wikipedia:

'Poet and literary critic Craig Raine, in his essay "Sex in nineteenth-century literature", states quite categorically his belief that Victorian readers would have identified the two ghosts as child molesters'(less)

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I am struggling with the language. The phrasing is weird, his sentences go on and on, and up to the left, and the below to the right. It's like a maze. a Gordian knot. I'm not reading a novel, I'm solving riddles. Is Henry James always like this?

Alexandra Dolzhenko This is not an answer to your question (I've only read one of his books), but I also had a hard time reading this. It reminded me of when I tried to râ€¦m´Ç°ù±ðThis is not an answer to your question (I've only read one of his books), but I also had a hard time reading this. It reminded me of when I tried to read Proust's Swann's way and gave up after a hundred pages. I'm sure we're not alone in struggling to get though these page-long sentences of his!(less)

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