The Interpretation of the “Turn of the Screw” in the Movie “The Innocents”

Abstract

The Interpretation of the “Turn of the Screw” in the Movie “The Innocents” Sofia Gourgoulianni Abstract In 1898 Henry James published the novel “The Turn of the Screw”. The book, on a first glance, is a seemingly plain ghost story about a governess experiencing visions of the spirits of the previous governors, in a castle at the English countryside. However, the book has caused a lot of controversy amongst literary critics, which have interpreted it in various ways, but mostly on the grounds of a story about the sexual oppression of the governess. This theory regards the appearance of the aforementioned spirits as a result of this exact erotic deprivation. The novel has, also, been a source for various theatrical and cinema adaptations. In this paper, we chose its most famous cinematographic adaptation, “The Innocents” (1961), directed by Jack Clayton. By means of comparing the two works of art, we have drawn conclusions in reference to the way of the interpretation of the literary work by the director and the screenplay writer of the movie. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/rah.v9n1a2