Summary
It is Christmas Eve, and
several London residents are spending the holiday in a country house together.�
They tell each other tales, which is common on Christmas Eve.� After a
particularly harrowing ghost story, a man named Douglas indicates that he has
an even more terrifying tale to tell about two children who saw a ghost.
The other people beg him to
tell the story, but he says he must send for the written document from London.�
The tale was told to him by his sister's governess many years ago, and she gave
him a copy in writing before she died.� She never told the story to anyone
else, and this is his first time telling it.
While they wait for the
manuscript, Douglas tells the assembled people that the governess got her first
job taking care of two children at a remote country home called Bly.� Their
uncle was their guardian, since his brother died in the service and his parents
then died, as well.� The former governess took care of both the boy and the
girl, but after she died Miles was sent to school.� This new governess had to
take care of Flora and watch after Miles on school breaks.� Mrs. Grose was the
housekeeper at Bly, and the governess was to have her help on household
matters.�
The governess was a little
upset by the uncle's one condition.� She was to handle all matters herself and
never contact him.� However, the pay was excellent and she was charmed by the
uncle.� In fact, she took the job just to please him.
Analysis
This prologue sets up a
story within a story.� The rest of the book is the governess's manuscript.� Why
does James feel the need to have a narrator telling the story of Douglas
telling a story that he reads from the governess's story?� This serves to make
the story sound more authentic: we can trust the narrator who can trust Douglas
who can trust the governess.� However, it also makes the story harder to
believe, as readers will be familiar with the fact that stories tend to get
garbled when retold.� Hence, James has adroitly created doubt about the
trustworthiness of the story at the same time that he seems to be claiming it
is a true story.
It is unclear exactly how
much the uncle charmed the governess.� The narrator of the prologue, who is not
to be confused with the narrator of the rest of the story (the governess)
assumes that the governess took the job because of "the seduction exercised by
the splendid young man.� She succumbed to it" (9).� Douglas does not confirm or
deny this analysis, nor is the word "seduction" ever defined.� As with the rest
of this text, there is an undercurrent of sexuality that is never stated
overtly.
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