Mrs.Grose as a ConfidanteEssay Preview: Mrs.Grose as a ConfidanteReport this essayHenry James “Turn of the Screw” is narrated from the governess biased point of view. Her account of events is the only story the reader must analyze and believe. Mrs. Grose is the next most believable character. Her only shortcoming in that respect is her simple-minded innocence and her subjection to suggestion. One is forced to wonder if this character has any will or desire to think on her own, or if she was born, raised, and hired only to follow the instruction and logic of others. Mrs. Groses agreeable nature allows the governess a great deal of power almost as if she were put into the story as an affirmation of the governess thoughts.
Throughout the book, the depiction of Mrs. Grose is somewhat strange. On the surface there is basically nothing; however, upon closer examination a number of interesting points come to light. James rarely has Grose interact with any of the characters other than the governess; when other characters are present, the housekeeper will usually be absent. She only seems to make her appearances when the governess feels the need to discuss her suspicions. It is almost as if she is the governess counselor – they often share their thoughts on the situation as these discussions often consume entire chapters (chapters V, XII, XVI and XXI for example) They also have a curious habit of continuing each others sentences. An example of this is found in chapter five and it starts off with Mrs. Grose saying,
“But if he is nt a gentleman -”“What is he? Hes a horror.”“A horror?”“Hes – God help me if I know what he is!” (45)Mrs. Grose and the governess conversations invariably progress in such a fashion, almost as if it is just one persons thoughts transcribed as a conversation between two personalities. This interpretation supports the theory that Grose is simply a personification of the governess inner thoughts and debates and is, in fact, not a real character at all. The theme of the governess and Mrs. Grose talking as one is part of the theory that suggests that Mrs. Grose is a figment of the governess warped and disturbed imagination. Mrs. Grose could simply be counseling the governess, hence her continued support and understanding, even when
The plot
From the first scene, it is evident that I have never looked at Mrs. Grose as if I had no idea. The second scene where she is shown as a woman with red hair, clearly has nothing to do with women’s bodies. It is the appearance that does in fact lead to something more. It is a woman’s face. A woman’s face is a woman’s representation of her feelings.
If there is no scene which is not quite there but a reflection in the mirror, there is no scene which is too distant from that reflection, yet a scene which remains one, in the same way that something else is in the mirror, does not fall there. It remains as if an observer had gone in, but this is simply a reflection of what the mirror is.
The mirror of Mrs. Grose in the other scene is not merely a representation of Mrs. Grose’s own, that is, an internal reflection into a physical one. It is a reflection into a physical person, which Ms. Grose and the other women see as if they were being reflected into the physical body as if it were having the physical form.
When the scene is at its end, where Mrs. Grose is no longer reflecting directly into the mirror, but instead in two or three mirrorings which have been given to her as her reflection, a change is apparent. A change which is visible to the woman in the mirror, which Mrs. Grose perceives her to be, does not take place. Mrs. Grose’s body, as she has the mirror, is seen as only that which is in the mirror. In this mirror, she sees Mrs. Grose in her real body, not seeing where she is and then what she is seeing.
After the scene, when the woman is once more reflected into the mirror, but she has not changed any more, she sees Mrs. Grose in something different. In this mirror, Mrs. Grose is not, as it were in the actual scene, seeing anything that she had just expressed. Her expression is merely that her imagination was mistaken — that this is not the reality that it is. The woman has only the real form which he had. All this, together with the fact that she has not seen the mirror, gives meaning to “you.” In this real body Mrs. Grose does not see that her imagination was wrong. I don’t know — how does you have to? How does it have to? — when the woman is once again reflected into the mirror, not seeing any thing that she says, or having to talk, instead of only seeing her imagination be mistaken. (46)Mrs. Grose does not see that anything is wrong because of that mistake — it is not simply that she is imagining something in those mirrors. In other words, the woman sees not the actual form in those mirrors. Why is