Solomons The Return of the Screw :: Solomon Return of the Screw

Solomon's The Return of the Screw Mrs. Grose, playing cleverly on the governess' visions, convinces her she is seeing Peter Quint and Ms. Jessel in an effort to drive her mad. At least, that is according to Eric Solomon's "The Return of the Screw." Mrs. Grose tries to remove the governess to get to Flora. Mrs. Grose will do anything to gain control of Flora, as she proved when she murdered Peter Quint. He, along with Ms. Jessel, was too much of an influence on the children. Quint died somewhat mysteriously, on a path between town and Bly. He died from a blow on the head, supposedly from falling upon a rock in the road. The reader's only impression of the death is through Mrs. Grose's story, though, and so, Solomon hypothesizes, she filters the information to make it seem less extraordinary a demise. Perhaps Mrs. Grose killed him out of jealously. The reader can infer from this point of view that Mrs. Grose somehow also had a hand in Ms. Jessel's death. Mrs. Grose then proceeds, after the murders, to twist the new governess' visions of ghosts into visions of Quint and Jessel. Solomon does not address the issue of whether or not what the governess sees is actually there. His explanation is logical either way. If the governess sees real ghosts, or if she is imagining it all, does not matter. What matters is that Mrs. Grose tailors Quint and Jessel to the governess' descriptions. She listens to the descriptions and tells the governess' she is seeing Quint and Jessel. Mrs. Grose does not herself create the visions that the governess sees, instead, she bends them to her purpose. The governess' visions of ghosts are twisted by Mrs. Grose. When the governess reports seeing a ghost, Mrs. Grose seizes the opportunity, exclaiming that the ghost she sees must be Peter Quint. She also labels the other apparition as the ghost of Ms. Jessel. In this way, she can give the ghosts an evil quality, imparted to them because of the evil lives of Quint and Jessel. Making the ghosts evil forces the governess' Victorian mind to attempt to shield the children from the evil. Mrs. Grose knows the governess will read too far into the children's actions, and