Douglas prologue Essays

Douglas prologue Essays Douglas prologue Essay Douglas prologue Essay By contrast, the tension built up in the prologue to Turn of the Screw is in some ways very untypical of an opening to a ghost story because it also creates tension by using the delay technique. The main story is delayed many times; this builds up intrigue, suspense and adds to the tension. We would not expect to have tension created by the delay technique because we would expect to be dropped straight into the plot. The delay technique suggests that the story is too awful to tell instantly for example when Douglas is about to tell the story but then he says I cant begin. I shall have to send to town. This creates anticipation in the readers mind. The story is then delayed because Douglas says its in a locked drawer it has not been out for years. This intrigues the reader because you wonder why it is locked away. This also suggests that the story must be too dreadful to let out and so it must be kept hidden and locked away. Douglas then carries on to create more tension and raise more questions by saying I could write to my man and enclose the key; he could send down the packet as he finds it. This raises questions because the reader wonders what it is about this story which means Douglas servant must not opening the packet. The story is then delayed again because Douglas says it required for a proper intelligence a few word of prologue. This mirrors the story the reader is reading, which also needs a prologue. Henry James also uses a metaphor to describe the delay. He describes the telling of the story by Douglas as breaking a thickness of ice, the formation of many a winter; had had his reasons for a long silence. This makes the reader wonder what it is about the story that made Douglas keep it not only locked away inside a drawer but also locked away inside himself. The metaphor is also effective because it shows that the story will be in the same state as when it was first written because ice freezes the story in time. Not only is the story frozen but also his feelings. The prologue that Douglas gives us is also very untypical of a ghost story. We would expect to have the characters introduced and any other information that is needed to explain the story to come at the very beginning. Instead we dont hear about the characters that feature in the main story until the end of the prologue. Then at the end of the preface when Douglas is giving us his prologue the information pours out in a hurry. The Douglas prologue shows just why the governess falls in love with the uncle. It is because she is the youngest of several daughters and because she was an anxious girl out of a Hampshire vicarage. This explains why she is so nai ve and why she succumbed to the uncles charms. It is because she is not used to men like the uncle because she has been brought up in a village in Hampshire. The uncle is handsome and bold and pleasant, offhand and gay and kind and this makes the governess fall in love with the uncle. The prologue also tells us why the governess doesnt just leave Bly when she finds out about Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. It is because she doesnt want to let down the uncle because he put the whole thing to her as a kind of favour. This made the governess feel that if she did look after the children she would be doing a great favour for the uncle and then he would reward her. She also didnt leave the children because she is the daughter of a country parson. This means that she felt very strongly about good and evil and she wants to save the children. It also means that she doesnt like the idea of any innocent children in her care to be corrupted by evil. The information we are given in Douglas prologue also raises questions in the readers head. This is because at first the uncle gave the children the best people he could find to look after them and even went down to Bly whenever he might, to see how they were doing even though this was an inconvenience on his part. Then Douglas carries on to say that the uncles main condition to the governess was that she should never trouble him. This makes the reader wonder what it is that made the uncle change from wanting to do everything he could for the children to wanting nothing to do with them. The Turn of the Screw is also very untypical of an opening to a ghost story because it has three narrators: Douglas, I and the governess. One of the effects of the I narrator is to draw you into the story. For example it was to me in particular he appeared to propound this. This make you feel as though Douglas is aiming the story at you. This makes the reader feel privileged and special. We are also made to feel we are special because at first there are many old women but by the time Douglas actually comes to tell the story they have left. This makes his final auditory more compact and select, kept it, round the hearth subject to a common thrill. This makes the reader feel privileged because they are one of the few who get to hear the story. The group is also in keeping with the story because the story is not trivial or gossipy which is another reason why the old women did not hear the story. There are also reasons to suggest to us that Henry James is actually I. For example when Douglas says that he has not got a title for the story and I says, Oh, I have! . This makes us believe that I is Henry James because we know that Henry James does have a title for the story; Turn of the Screw. In this way a connection between the author and the reader is made because we are put in the position of I and Henry James could also be I. I think that overall Henry James preface is required. I think this because without no tension or atmosphere would have been created at the beginning. This is an important part of a ghost story and creates anticipation in the readers mind and it also creates a starting point for a ghost story. The delays in the preface and the delay of the prologue itself is needed because it makes the reader want to read on and gives the reader a sense of anticipation. This is necessary because the main story is very psychological and you need to be thinking about the story all the time when you are reading it. The prologue is also needed because of the use of narrators. The use of narrators draws you into the story. This makes you feel part of the story from the start. There is also a lot of useful information which comes out in the prologue which we need to understand the main story and the characters, their actions and their relationships.