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Turn of the screw Essay

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“The Turn of the Screw” Henry James, the famous author of ‘The Turn of the Screw’ was born on April 15, 1843 to his wealthy parents Henry James and Mary Walsh. His father, also called Henry James, was an Irish immigrant and by the time his own children were born he had inherited a lot of money from his father; and at this time Henry James senior and his family were living in New York. Henry James author of ‘The Turn Of The Screw’ was one of five children and had an older brother William who was born in 1942 he had four younger siblings also; Garth Wilkinson born 1845, Robertson born 1846 and Alice born 1848. Henry James’ father was devoted to studying theology, philosophy and mysticism (religion) as he was keen on studying and wanted his …show more content…

Maybe this was the actual start of ‘The Turn Of The Screw’. At the time the book was written it was the late 19th century, Victorian era; and at the time Victorians were fascinated by ghosts - a perfect reason to write a psychological ghost story. The Victorians were convinced ghosts were dangerous though, evil spirits believed either to get them, to possess the living or to do the devil’s work. People in the 19th century were also intrigued by the after life, including what happened when you actually died. Henry James’ family was also included in this. This would give Henry James a perfect reason to write the novella aimed at a huge proportion of people who would be actually interested in reading a book involving ghosts. As ‘The Turn of the Screw’ was written in the 19th century when most of his family were famous and praised for their study of the mind and investigations into spirit phenomena, this could have inspired Henry to write the story. The fact that his older brother was famous and successful man when it came to psychology and physiology may have contributed to sibling rivalry. Henry had written novels that hadn’t sold well and had written plays that were far too intellectual for many of the general public to even watch. Writing a psychological ghost story in a spirit-obsessed era when his family were renowned for their knowledge seems to be best explanation as to why the novella was written. The whereabouts of the actual tale has real evidence because in one

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