Dichotomy In The Turn Of The Screw

Angels and Monsters in Turn of the Screw Gilbert and Gubar’s metaphorical monster/angel dichotomy as mentioned in their publication The Madwoman in the Attic fits perfectly within the authors depiction of the angelic and monstrous Mrs. Grose, the Governess, and Flora. Dichotomy, meaning a contrast, a difference, a normal and a not normal, a yin and yang, a sweetheart and a bitch is demonstrated throughout the novella on many levels. These personality traits can be found within all of us as we had all experienced and caused rights and wrongs, goods, bads and evils, happys and sads; we’re human, we err, we live. We have affectations and expectations, of course we hope for good, but, of course, we need drama, excitement to hold our interest so we must read on to discover the bad within any well-written text. And, of course, Turn of the Screw is well written, so let us apply the theory and examine the angelic and monstrous qualities of the three women in the novella.
First let us begin by examining the Governess and her angelic qualities, although many if not most will lament the repression of women at the time or the difficulties of climbing the socio-economic ladder and use these as excuses for her behaviour, but in this story we are presented with the exact opposite.
In the story, the Master grants this young woman the full authority to run the Bly estate and full authority to take care of matters. All of this hullabaloo about oppression and lack of women's right that I read from other students is completely contradicted by the complete trust the Master has in this young
woman. Soon after she arrives at the Bly mansion, the Governess begins to see ghosts. She consults with Mrs. Gross, who gives her some history of the happenings at Bly and explains that these ghosts just might be the former Peter Quint and Miss Jessell. The Governess, angelic in her actions decides to stay with the position, overcome the difficulties with ghostly apparitions and please the Uncle, all of which are good and the right thing to do. However, soon, stress begins to break her and the Governess shows her alternate (monstrous) side as she begins accuse the children of consorting with the ghosts and these monstrous qualities grow as she accuses the children of consorting with the ghosts and eventually culminate at the end of the novella when she kills young Miles in a death squeeze. Mrs Grose, although seemingly harmless and helpful, (angelic qualities), does attempt to help the Governess by telling her some of the past events and how they may have led up to the ghosts that she has encountered. Although Mrs. Grose stops short of giving full accounts like here about Miss Jessell like, "Well, miss—she's gone. I won't tell tales“ (Conrad). Mrs. Grose, having experience and knowledge about Bly could have been much more helpful to the Governess, but strangely she does not. Eventually, Mrs. Grose takes Flora and departs for safety. Maybe better, but since Flora has departed, this left young Miles with the full brunt of the Governess' insanities. Flora, although young, sweet, playful, begins to become a possible villain to the Governess as she loses her sanity and constantly views the children as accomplices with the ghosts.