Week 6 – The Turn of the Screw

The big question – are there real ghosts or is the governess simply going mad?

In Joe’s presentation he sought to answer the question whether the illustrations debase the writing. Are illustrations an interpretation? I think yes, because when reading you imagine in your mind what is occurring, whereas if illustrations are provided they provide you with some sort of guideline.

Some illustrations detailed the character’s faces, others use just silhouettes. The more detailed the illustration, the more it can limit a reader’s interpretation. In Joe’s version he presented, the author himself was not a fan of illustrations but allowed them to be included for the sake of money.

Second presentation – film adaptation of the Turn of the Screw: “The Innocents”

Kathleen’s presentation focused on the film adaptation of Turn of the Screw, and specifically how the ambiguity present in the novel is converted to the screen. She dissects different techniques that are used.

For example, the window scene in the novel when the governess is startled by a figure in the window was set in daylight, but in movie it is in the dark. Climatic events generally happen in darker scenes to make the film scarier.

I had difficulty separating the novel/movie from the movie the Others with Nicole Kidmen. I found many similarities, such as the guardian and two creepy children, the fact that they were stuck in a house, and how the woman is seeing ghosts. This particular movie is resolved by everyone in the house discovering that they are dead, and that the ghosts they are seeing are alive. The novel/movie do not provide a resolution, but this could very well also be the ending.