Cranfill and Clark focus on the psychopathology of the governess.
Cranfill and Clark believe that the governess’s madness comes from a great
desire to be a hero in the eyes of the employer.
By protecting the kids against supernatural forces, she may conquer the employer’s
heart.
Cranfill and Clark also mention the governess’s sexual
repression that may come from Calvinist´principles. She is constantly thinking that
everybody is committing sins. She sees perversion everywhere.
Cranfill and Clark also believe that the housekeeper agrees
with the governess only because Mrs Grose does not understand what the governess
says. She has a very basic vocabulary, and in order not to show she is inferior
she may prefer to agree.
Cranfill and Clark also state that the governess’s
allusions has to do with lack of sleep, so much reading and the expectation of seeing a ghost.
I find these critics very suitable. I totally agree
with Cranfill and Clark´s critics. The governess is mad, and her desires to
conquer the employer made her imagine things that had never existed in real
life, they had only existed in her mind.
Thorough review with personal comment. Good!
ReplyDeleteNB: allusion vs hallucination; critic vs criticism. Remember you can choose the font colour you want instead of highlighting.
Great review! How interesting the concept of the governess as hero and her sexual repression.
ReplyDeleteThis analysis is interesting and I mostly agree with it. But I sometimes feel pity for the governess, especially at the beginning of the story. Her desire to impress her master stem from her youth and inexperience, and she is not to blame for that, I mean, she is in a way a victim as well, since she is not conscious of what is going on inside her.
ReplyDeleteMaría Isabel: Although I don't agree with the idea that the governess is mentally ill. I like the image of the governess as hero in the eyes of Douglas when she protects his niece and nephew from the phantoms depicted by your author.
ReplyDeleteInteresting analysis! I have never thought that the governess wanted to be the hero in the eyes of the employer.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting interpretation!!!! I have never thought about this analysis.
ReplyDelete