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Episode 528 - The Turn of the Screw - Part 3 (Patreon)

Published:
2020-12-21 17:01:01
Edited:
2024-12-12 19:00:31
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

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Content

[insert a lot of words to say we're continuing our coverage of] Henry James' classic novel THE TURN OF THE SCREW!

Special thanks once again to reader Rachel Lackey!

Next up: MANIMALISM!

Comments

Robert Curtin

Hey! Was listening to the latest comments show today, and was bummed I was almost finished with it, when, “ding!” A new episode released! I’ve been enjoying hearing your coverage of this story immensely after feeling alittle disappointed after finishing the Netflix series with the girlfriend. (She enjoyed both the adaptations of the Haunting of Hill House and this one, creatively titled: “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” both by presumably the same studio, and reusing several actors between them.) (I know you both said you wouldn’t discuss the adaptations till after you finished your coverage of the story, so feel free to ignore the upcoming rant.) The adaptations both seemed to heavily sanitize the source material, and turn it undeniably towards the supernatural reading of them, as well as give happy(?) endings to both. It’s been refreshing to hear the source material for this story covered thoughtfully and revealing the potentially nastier connotations of sexual abuse to the poor children that definitely seem to hit closer to home, and have a far more sinister effect for many people, myself included. Been loving the coverage and can’t wait for your thoughts on the conclusion. Unrelated question: I enjoy the sub-title you two have given the show, “Strange Studies of Strange Stories,” what’s the origin of the addition, and if Greig Johnson could time travel to the beginning of your foray into the podcast and tell you guys to add it then, would you let him?

Christine M

Chris, your thoughts on the paradox of raising children reminded me of this poem I encountered when my first child was still young. She’s 17 and waiting to hear back from colleges now, and it still resonates with me. How Far is It to the Land We Left? On the first day of his life the baby opens his eyes and gets tired doing even that. He cries when they place a cap on his head. Too much, too much! Later the whole world will touch him and he won’t even flinch. - Naomi Shihab Nye

Sweatin' to the Great Oldies

This section of the book reminded me of some Jun'ichirō Tanizaki works. Sinister overtones, an unreliable narrator, family stretched to a point where they must either break or forever take on a new shape. I doubt any of his works would be appropriate for this show, but if you are looking for something that really goes there, do pick up something.

Necropolis Railway

What if the kids are just innately evil little demons? I agree that James achieves a masterful balance between equally plausible interpretations-- it could be that the governess is just seeing things; it could be that Quint and Miss Jessel really are haunting the children, maybe trying to possess them, so they can return to the flesh; or it could be that the true horror is repressed child abuse. All of these takes are really rich, and are each strongly supported by textual evidence, but one that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere is that Miles and Flora are themselves malevolent supernatural entities. How did their parents die? Why is their uncle so averse to having anything to do with them? Does he know something about them, such that he avoided them even before Quint and Miss Jessel died? And how is it that their new guardians both came to die shortly after taking charge of them? Quint fell and hit his head on a rock?? What if Quint was just a relatively harmless rake and was corrupted by Miles? What if the apparitions are psychic projections by the children, or are bound spirits that the children summon through their demonic powers, so as to drive the governess insane?

Runninghead

Rachael's accent (and acting) has been exceptional on this story! I'm talking David Tennant doing an English accent while also hammering home the feels level of skill! Even more impressive when you consider the material she has to work with. I hated studying James for my degree. He's often put forward as remarkably modern for his day but I honestly question that. Many other writers of the day produced far more digestible (and readable) material, though Chris & Chad's treatment of the story was as cheering and entertaining as ever. It's notable that unreconstructed Shakespeare is easier to plough through than James. Great job Rachael!

Bob Kelly of Heresy Research Labs

And thus ends Episode 3: Oh-My-God-Kill-Me-Now I've been curious about James' Turn of the Screw ever since I skipped over reading it in my college years. Every so often, I'd go back and think, I should read this. I am so happy I didn't. The prose you've wonderfully read is ok - but the governess' inaction to all events would simply drive me insane. Thank you for taking this one for the team.

Ben Gilbert

If you have Audible you can listen to Emma Thompson and Richard Armitage read the story for free.

Mandy Reznor (She/It)

I'll need to see how the story resolves, but I am wondering something now. Namely, how compatible the sexual abuse interpretation of the haunting is with the idea that Quinn and Jessel are stand ins for the childrens' adulthoods? After all, while it is by no means a sure thing, there can be a propensities for victims of abuse (of many kinds, not just sexual) to end up reproducing that abuse in turn when they or on the other end of the power dynamic elsewhere. Particularly when the initial trauma isn't dealt with at all, or actively made to fester--say, when one lives in a society that refuses to acknowledge the abuse happened, and it can't be talked about? It's one of the many ways trauma can...*haunt* you. Okay, yeah, that wasn't on the nose so much as punching it. I'm ending this comment here.