Name: The Turn of the Screw
Author: Henry James

How you explore The Turn of the Screw on Literah

The cast, the places, the objects, the plot, and the author’s own words — each one a card in a feed you scroll on your phone. One at a time, at your pace, in any order you like.

Built for your phone. Literah is designed for mobile, so your worlds travel with you. On a laptop it shows a QR code to carry the world to your phone.
A feed, not a wall of text. 14 characters, 14 places, 13 objects and 4 plot beats, each its own card with its own illustration.
The author’s own words. 15 passages of The Turn of the Screw sit in the feed verbatim, exactly as Henry James wrote them, each with a short reading of what it is doing. The map is ours; the prose is always the book’s.
The same scroll, a better world. The gesture you already give away to feeds, spent on Henry James instead.

9:41

The Cast

The Governess

Main · Bly household

A young woman arrives at Bly to protect two children and becomes the story’s most dangerous interpreter.

Locations

Bly

country_house_estate

A bright house with open windows slowly becomes a place where everyone is being watched.

Passage

One haunted child is chilling enough, but what if there were two?

Read →

The Author’s Pen

Two Turns of the Screw

“I quite agree—in regard to Griffin’s ghost, or whatever it was—that its appearing first to the little boy, at so tender an age, adds a particular touch. But it’s not the first occurrence of its charming kind that I know to have involved a child. If the child gives the effect another turn of the screw, what do you say to _two_ children—?”

“We say, of course,” somebody exclaimed, “that they give two turns! Also that we want to hear about them.”

Reading

This is where the book gets its name, and Douglas knows exactly what he is doing by dangling it. Around a fire, one guest has just told a ghost story that owes its extra shiver to the fact that the ghost came to a young boy. Douglas quietly tops it: if one child tightens the tension, he asks, what would two do? The listener who answers has already surrendered, doing the arithmetic Douglas wanted and admitting they need to hear more. He has sold the story before telling a word of it.

World Index

The Plot

The governess arrives at Bly - and sees the stranger on the towerThe governess decides the ghosts are after the children - and seals them inFlora denies everything and rejects the governess - Mrs. Grose takes her awayMiles names Peter Quint - and dies in the governess's arms

The Cast

The GovernessMilesFloraMrs. GrosePeter QuintMiss JesselThe UncleDouglasThe Frame NarratorSchool Authorities / HeadmasterLukeGriffinMrs. GriffinFireside Listeners

Locations

BlyBly Avenue and LawnBly Grounds and GardenDouglas’s London Apartments / Locked Drawer LocationHarley StreetThe ChurchyardThe Dining Room / Window RoomThe Final RoomThe Frame House / Fireside HallThe Governess’s RoomThe Lake / PondThe SchoolroomThe Staircase / LandingThe Tower

Objects of Note

Books and LessonsCandles / Extinguished LightFlora’s Little BedMaster’s ClothesThe BoatThe Letter to the UncleThe Locked Drawer, Key, and PacketThe ManuscriptThe School LetterThe Schoolroom TableThe WindowThe Withered FernWriting Materials / Paper / Pencil / Copybook

Core Concepts

Class, authority, and forbidden intimacy disturb the householdInnocence under suspicionProtection becomes possessionSeeing is not the same as knowingStorytelling itself becomes a hauntingThe absent master creates the closed systemThe haunting may be supernatural, psychological, or bothThe violence of silence

The Author's Pen

The Locked DrawerHis One ConditionA Pleasant First ImpressionThey Absolutely DeclineTaken to My HeartThe Figure on the TowerThe Same Man AgainMrs Grose Names QuintThey Were Both InfamousMeeting Quint Without DreadThe Identity Flared UpShe’s There AgainMaster Miles Took ItWhat I Truly Held

Plot point 01

The governess arrives at Bly - and sees the stranger on the tower

A young governess accepts an isolated posting at a beautiful country house, charmed by her absent employer and enchanted by the children - then sees a strange man on the tower who shouldn't be there.

Objects of Note

The Manuscript

A story locked in a drawer for years, read aloud before anyone can question it.

The Cast

Miles

Main · Bly children

A beautiful boy returns from school under an unexplained sentence of expulsion.

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The Turn of the Screw

Henry James

The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.

One of 128 classics in the Literah library

The Turn of the Screw feed, as it appears in your mobile

The plot of The Turn of the Screw

The story beat by beat, as Literah maps it.

The governess arrives at Bly - and sees the stranger on the tower
The governess decides the ghosts are after the children - and seals them in
Flora denies everything and rejects the governess - Mrs. Grose takes her away
Miles names Peter Quint - and dies in the governess's arms

The author's pen in The Turn of the Screw

The passages themselves, Henry James's own words, as Literah maps it.

Two Turns of the Screw
The Locked Drawer
His One Condition
A Pleasant First Impressionch. 1
They Absolutely Declinech. 2
Taken to My Heartch. 2
The Figure on the Towerch. 3
The Same Man Againch. 4
Mrs Grose Names Quintch. 5
They Were Both Infamousch. 7
Meeting Quint Without Dreadch. 9
The Identity Flared Upch. 15
She’s There Againch. 20
Master Miles Took Itch. 22
What I Truly Heldch. 24

The characters of The Turn of the Screw

Who is who, as Literah maps it.

The Governessmajor
Milesmajor
Floramajor
Mrs. Grosemajor
Peter Quintmajor
Miss Jesselmajor
The Unclesupporting
Douglassupporting
The Frame Narratorsupporting
School Authorities / Headmastersupporting
Lukeminor
Griffinminor
Mrs. Griffinminor
Fireside Listenersmentioned

The locations in The Turn of the Screw

Where it happens, as Literah maps it.

Blycountry house estate
The Frame House / Fireside Hallcountry house hall
Harley Streetlondon house
Douglas’s London Apartments / Locked Drawer Locationapartment
Bly Avenue and Lawnestate approach
Bly Grounds and Gardengrounds
The Governess’s Roombedroom
The Towertower
The Schoolroomschoolroom
The Dining Room / Window Roomdining room
The Staircase / Landingstaircase
The Lake / Pondlake
The Churchyardchurchyard
The Final Roomroom

The core concepts in The Turn of the Screw

What the book keeps returning to, as Literah maps it.

The haunting may be supernatural, psychological, or both
Innocence under suspicion
Seeing is not the same as knowing
Protection becomes possession
The violence of silence
Class, authority, and forbidden intimacy disturb the household
The absent master creates the closed system
Storytelling itself becomes a haunting

The objects of note in The Turn of the Screw

The things that carry meaning, as Literah maps it.

The Manuscript
The Locked Drawer, Key, and Packet
The School Letter
The Letter to the Uncle
The Window
The Boat
The Withered Fern
The Schoolroom Table
Master’s Clothes
Candles / Extinguished Light
Writing Materials / Paper / Pencil / Copybook
Flora’s Little Bed
Books and Lessons

The offer

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How you explore The Turn of the Screw on Literah

The plot of The Turn of the Screw

The author's pen in The Turn of the Screw

The characters of The Turn of the Screw

The locations in The Turn of the Screw

The core concepts in The Turn of the Screw

The objects of note in The Turn of the Screw

Explore The Turn of the Screw. And 127 more.

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