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The Turn of the Screw Study Guide

by Henry James

Turn of the Screw study guide contains a biography of Henry James, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

The novel opens as a group of friends sit around the fireplace of an old house in 1890s England, telling ghost stories. A man named Griffin tells a ghost story featuring a little boy, and a man named Douglas proposes to tell a true story about two children. He keeps the manuscript of the story locked in a drawer at home in London. It was written by a woman, now dead, who was once his younger sister's governess and with whom he was in love. Three days later, the manuscript arrives by the post, and Douglas begins his story.

Before reading the manuscript, Douglas explains that the young woman had interviewed for her first governess job with a gentleman on London's Harley Street. She was quite smitten with him, and he was able to convince her to…

Read the full The Turn of the Screw Summary

• The Turn of the Screw Summary
• About The Turn of the Screw
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis of Prologue and Chapters 1-4
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 5-8
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 9-12
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 13-16
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 17-20
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 21-24
• Related Links on The Turn of the Screw
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• The Turn of the Screw: Essays
• The Turn of the Screw: E-Text
• The Turn of the Screw: Questions
• The Turn of the Screw: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• Henry James: Biography