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+--- Thread: turn of the screw (/showthread.php?tid=710)
turn of the screw - bronte - 05-06-2010
I know this topic has been "done to death" through the years, but lets talk about "Turn of the Screw." I have read a theory that Quint was a child molester. If you read it again keeping that in mind it makes a lot of sense. The reason that Miles was expelled from school might by related to this. I know that back then child molestation did appear in books, but perhaps it was hidden meaning. Go back and read it again with this idea about Quint. And any theories on the Governess, she mad? Any thoughts or am I mad.
RE: turn of the screw - Miranda - 10-16-2010
I always thought he was probably a child molester. There was all that talk about 'corrupting' and Miles continued the behavior 'corrupting' the boys at school. I think it's pretty standard behavior. At the very least, I'm sure Quint and the first governess were sexual in front of the kids.
RE: turn of the screw - The Governess - 01-03-2011
I think so too (about Quint being that sort of predator). Though it goes unstated just exactly what Peter and Jessel did, one could easily assume that they behaved inappropriately in front of the children and perhaps worse. It's impossible not to read into it more than what is shown despite the fact that Henry James just meant it as a little ghost story. Scholars have been picking it apart for years and I can't blame them for that.