The Turn of the Screw

by James, Henry; Beidler, Peter G.

• ISBN13: 9780312080839
• ISBN10: 0312080832
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-01-01
• Publisher: Bedford/st Martins

Summary

This volume presents the text of the New York Edition of James's classic 1898 short novel along with critical essays that read "The Turn of the Screw" from contemporary reader-response, psychoanalytic, gender, and Marxist perspectives. An additional essay demonstrates how several critical perspectives can be combined. As in the first edition, the text and essays are complemented by biographical and critical introductions, bibliographies, and a glossary of critical and theoretical terms. Two of the six essays are new to the second edition, as is a selection of cultural documents and illustrations.

Table of Contents

About the Series	v
About This Volume	vii
PART ONE The Turn of the Screw: The Complete Text
Introduction: Biographical and Historical Contexts	3	(18)
The Complete Text	21	(96)
From the Preface to Henry Jame's 1908 Edition	117	(10)
PART TWO The Turn of the Screw: A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism
A Critical History of The Turn of the Screw	127	(25)
Reader-Response Criticism and The Turn of the Screw	152	(27)
What Is Reader-Response Criticism?	152	(7)
Reader-Response Criticism: A Selected Bibliography	159	(4)
A Reader-Response Perspective:
``He began to read to our hushed little circle'': Are We Blessed or Cursed by Our Life with The Turn of the Screw?	163	(16)
Wayne C. Booth
Deconstruction and The Turn of the Screw	179	(28)
What Is Deconstruction?	179	(10)
Deconstruction: A Selected Bibliography	189	(4)
A Deconstructionist Perspective:
``The grasp with which I recovered him'': A Child Is Killed in The Turn of the Screw	193	(14)
Shoshana Felman
Psychoanalytic Criticism and The Turn of the Screw	207	(35)
What Is Psychoanalytic Criticism?	207	(11)
Psychoanalytic Criticism: A Selected Bibliography	218	(5)
A Psychoanalytic Perspective:
``Red hair, very red, close-curling'': Sexual Hysteria, Physiognomical Bogeymen, and the ``Ghosts'' in The Turn of the Screw	223	(19)
Stanley Renner
Feminist Criticism and The Turn of the Screw	242	(26)
What Is Feminist Criticism?	242	(7)
Feminist Criticism: A Selected Bibliography	249	(4)
A Feminist Perspective:
``What then on earth was I?'': Feminine Subjectivity and The Turn of the Screw	253	(15)
Priscilla L. Walton
Marxist Criticism and The Turn of the Screw	268	(29)
What Is Marxist Criticism?	268	(12)
Marxist Criticism: A Selected Bibliography	280	(3)
A Marxist Perspective:
``They don't much count, do they?'': The Unfinished History of The Turn of the Screw	283	(14)
Bruce Robbins
Glossary of Critical and Theoretical Terms	297	(14)
About the Contributors	311