Turn of the Screw Psychological Analysis

546 Words3 Pages
Isolation Living in the Arctic, confined to the Hospital. There are many different reasons for people to feel isolated, such as where you live, moving to new places with different customs, or simply not being around people. Loneliness can also affect your health. It can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, fear, anger, and even mental illness. The governess’ isolation at Bly psychologically affects her to the point of seeing ghosts. In the beginning of the story, the governess moves to a countryside house, far from other homes. “The governess's first notion of Bly is excellent, however, within a day she feels afraid of its isolation and magnitude.” Meanwhile she gets to know the children better and learns of Miles expulsion from school. “The tremendous pleasure she takes in the children is soon clouded, however, as she begins to see apparitions—a man with red hair and a woman in black.” The governess begins to become suspicious of everything about the children. She finds them too happy for children, too perfectly satisfied with their lives. She then takes it upon herself to protect the children from the ghosts. After seeing that the children have never seen the ghosts and that the governess herself the only one seeing things, we can only conclude that she is suffering from some kind of mental or psychological disorder, such as schizophrenia. “Characteristics of schizophrenia include: poor reasoning, memory, and judgment; high level anxiety; eating and sleeping disorders; hallucinations; and delusions that present a false belief of something.” Each of these characteristics can coincidentally be linked to the governess. She admits to the tendency of insomnia and mood swings in the first chapter. The signs of her anxiety are everywhere, such as she is constantly concerned about the children. However, anxiety
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