Turn Of The Screw Ambiguity

Henry James’s novella, The Turn of the Screw, has entranced readers and held them in a finely woven web of ambiguity for over one hundred years. During that time, readers, scholars, and critics have tried to escape its clutches by offering a myriad of interpretations, a vast spectrum of critical opinions which make a definitive solution an impossibility. James’s masterful use of uncertainty truly supports, if not promotes, the ability of readers to discover numerous meanings to the tales mysteries. Does the governess really see the ghostly figures of Quint and Miss Jessel? Are the apparitions merely figments of an overactive imagination? Are the children accurately perceived as angelic innocents, or are they willing participants to possession
Many others have been made through the years, but none to the same success; as an example of psychological horror it is still regarded as one of the all-time best. As an adaptation, however, it falls somewhat short of the original. The primary appeal of The Turn of the Screw is Henry James’s masterful use of ambiguity, something that just fails to transfer into Clayton’s direction of The Innocents. Many of the scenes, while still viable and entertaining parts of the movie, are completely new and used by Clayton only as a way to fill in many of James’s blanks. If the viewer is only interested in The Innocents as the source of a good old-fashioned scare, then the movie will not disappoint. The addition of scenes and lack of ambiguity are not noticeable, and the story keeps you breathless at times. If, however, the viewer is concerned with the study of Henry James and The Turn of the Screw, then The Innocents should only be seen as an artistic, cinematic work based on a book. While there is some consistency between the versions, there are still too many fundamental differences to make it an accurate substitute. Only a close reading of the original can reveal all of the subtle nuances that make The Turn of the Screw classic