Historical Criticism of the Book "The Turn of The Screw" (Book Review Sample)

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Historical Criticism of The Turn of the Screw
Historical criticism is a form of literary criticism that seeks to determine the origin of ancient text in order to extract inherent deeper meaning and contextual predisposition of the actual worldview of the words used in a text with reference to the authentic prevailing nature of the world in which they are written. Historical criticism therefore strives to establish the original sense of a text in by placing it within its realistic historical, factual and circumstantial background to have a deeper understanding. In addition, it seeks to create a literal reconstruction of the historical circumstances of the writer and recipients of the text right at the time of its writing by hypothetical reestablishment of the real setting of events that are subject of the text. This literary tool takes into account various methods and procedures to establish a historical context and origin with regards to a text such as place of writing, time of writing, sources, events, dates, places, persons and customs and practices depicted in the text (Spiller, 1955, 44) . The Turn of the Screw is a gothic ghost story written in 1898 by Henry James whose original content has caused widespread conversations among critics and commentators over the years. This paper seeks to delve into literary criticism of various aspects of this novel by employing historical criticism.
In order to understand the novel, it is imperative to conceptualize the history of the period in which it was written. To begin with, the book was written both in England and America. In an overview, the novel brings with it various aspects of the prevailing political and social aspects of the times of its writing.
At the time of writing while in the United States, there are certain social issues that arise and that greatly seem to influence the author. At the period of writing, America experienced massive upheavals in the social scene most notably the women’s movement. This was a revolutionary moment for women in which they became more aware of their significance both socially and politically and aggressively campaigned for change and reforms that would entrench their recognition and equal participation on political and social issues. As thus, the women suffrage then called the suffrage movement was born. Even though the women did not gain most of the radical entitlements they sort within the period of writing the novel, various important milestones were made that resonate within the novel that were primarily spearheaded by women. One of these is the temperance movement which championed for less consumption of alcohol and influenced the passing of the eighteenth amendment that banned production and sale of alcohol (Parizo). The antagonism between men and women, while depicted throughout the book, is highlighted as the governess admits to taking pleasure in the mysterious death of quint. This is after a series of misunderstandings and differences when it came to taking care of the children and the fact that the master unequivocally left quint in authority over everything including the children as Mrs. Grose would admit. This antagonism directly reflects the historical feminist suffrage at the time where women challenged men for power on social and political issues.
Another notable change was the rise of séances and mediums who were female spiritualists who communicated to the dead, fortunes readers and spirit summers. With time, the places where these mediums worked evolved into places of equality where men and women sat equally across tables and sometimes women reigned supreme as their services were sort, putting them in positions of authority over men. This aspect of social America at the time of writing the book is seen particularly in chapter six of the novel besides other chapters. The governess decides that she would intercept the ghosts and form a fiber glass between them and the children in an attempt to protect them (Henry and Bromwich 2011, 42). This is a procedure that largely dominated the United States at the time as female mediums conjured spirit in a conversational kind of way.
This author of the book and its writing in England was during the Victorian time, at a time when Queen Victoria was the monarch of Great Britain. During this peaceful and thriving time for the empire, life was largely governed by customs. Consequently, this led to greater competition and less negotiation on various aspects of life, especially in business within the Empire. The earliest depiction of this in the novel is the fact that the governess accepts the responsibility that her job entrusted onto her for the primary reason that the pay was good. This is an attitude attributed to this business driven era in the history of great Britain where commerce was run on a take it or leave it basis and instances of people doing things for the money were a normalcy.
This era is also accredited for the stabilization of the social classes in Great Britain. As thus, the social structure based on occupation and income emerged with a working, middle and upper class. The concept of working women became more common and women became important members of society with greater participation in commerce and politics. This characteristic of the ideal Victorian woman is exemplified by the governess who gets into the labor force in response to the prevailing trends at the time. In addition, the moral code at the time defined the confines within which people transacted daily life. It is probably for this that the governess detested Quint who she viewed as immoral and unethical as he had sexual relationships with many women.
Historical criticism also draws from the fact that understanding of a text in its historical context is complementary to reviewing various works and styles around the time of the writing of that particular text to understand various common influences and parallels in writing. The novel is widely influenced by various conventional themes that were contemporary to the time of writing. The Turn of the Screw was written at a time when the gothic and romanticism were the prevailing approaches and themes. Additionally, it was at the offset year of detective and investigative novels. As a result, these three approaches are incorporated within the novel in a blend that brings them out clearly and distinctively to expose a historical inclination within which the novel and its author existed. Romanticism is seen depicted through the main character at a time when the scandalous in society were admired in writing though not approved as depicted by Quint. At a time of great social order, the urge to express the darkest human imagination gave way to gothic stories that blended perfectly to roma...