An unnamed narrator listens to a male friend reading a manuscript written by a former governess whom the latter claims to have known and who is now dead. The manuscript tells the story of how the young governess is hired by a man who has found himself responsible for his niece and nephew after the death of their parents. He lives in London and has no interest in raising the children. The boy, Miles, is attending a boarding school whilst his sister, Flora, is living at the country home in Essex. She is currently being cared for by the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose. The governess's new employer gives her full charge of the children and explicitly states that she is not to bother him with communications of any sort. The governess travels to her new employer's country house and begins her duties. Miles soon returns from school for the summer just after a letter from the headmaster stating that he has been expelled. Miles never speaks of the matter, and the governess is hesitant to raise the issue. She fears that there is some horrid secret behind the expulsion, but is too charmed by the adorable young boy to want to press the issue. Shortly thereafter, the governess begins to see around the grounds of the estate the figures of a man and woman whom she does not recognize. These figures come and go at will without ever being seen or challenged by other members of the household, and they seem to the governess to be supernatural. She learns from Mrs. Grose that her predecessor, Miss Jessel, and Miss Jessel's illicit lover Peter Quint both died under curious circumstances. Prior to their death, they spent most of their time with Flora and Miles, and this fact takes on grim significance for the governess when she becomes convinced that the two children are secretly aware of the presence of the ghosts. The Turn of the Screw, originally published in 1898, it is ostensibly a ghost story that has lent itself well to operatic and film adaptation. Due to its ambiguous content and narrative skill, The Turn of the Screw became a favorite text of New Criticism.

Product Description: This revisionary look at Charlotte Brontë's classic novel Jane Eyre offers a rigorous new reading and an interrogation of the reading process. Examining both literary historical contexts and contexts produced within the structure of the narrative itself (and incorporating a number of literary critical strands, including historical scholarship, reception aesthetics, Iserian phenomenology, Bakhtinian dialogism, and traditional formalism), Beaty resituates the common feminist reading of Jane Eyre...read more

A governess tries to shield two orphans from the strange and evil atmosphere of the old house

Product Description: Edited by Katie R. Peel, Assistant Professor of Victorian Literature at the University of North Carolina, this volume presents a variety of new essays on Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, considered by many to have revolutionized the art of fiction. Many agre

This classic story shows how a young woman can overcome adversity and find true happiness. It is a story of passionate love, travail, and final triumph. Orphaned at an early age, Jane Eyre leads a lonely life until she finds work as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she meets the mysterious Mr. Rochester and sees a ghostly woman who roams the halls by night. The relationship between the heroine and Mr. Rochester is only one episode, albeit the most important, in a detailed fictional autobiography in which the author transmuted her own experience into high art. In this work, the plucky heroine is outwardly of plain appearance but possesses an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit, and great courage. She is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer, and the rigid social order that circumscribes her life and position.

Product Description: Great literature resonates with us not only because of well-developed characters and plots, but also because it often reflects important social themes; these books explore a work of literature through the lens of the major issue reflected in it...read more

Product Description: Sara Lodge offers a lively introduction to the critical history of one of the most widely-studied nineteenth-century novels, from the first reviews through to present day responses. The Guide also includes sections devoted to feminist, Marxist and postcolonial criticism of Jane Eyre, as well as analysis of recent developments...read more

Product Description: Sara Lodge offers a lively introduction to the critical history of one of the most widely-studied nineteenth-century novels, from the first reviews through to present day responses. The Guide also includes sections devoted to feminist, Marxist and postcolonial criticism of Jane Eyre, as well as analysis of recent developments...read more

Product Description: Just when Alex thought his life was calming down into a routine of patients and therapy sessions, he finds himself back in the game--this time to catch a criminal mastermind like no other. A spate of elaborate murders in Washington D...read more

Comprehensive reading and study guides provide concise critical excerpts that offer a scholarly overview of each work, 'The Story Behind the Story' that details the conditions under which the work was written, a biographical sketch of the author, a descriptive list of characters, and more.

Product Description: Jane Eyre is one of the most well-loved and widely read works in the canon, popular at both the high school and university levels. The casebook provides a series of essays that are lucidly and passionately written, and carefully researched and argued while still being accessible to the general reading public...read more

Analyzes the novel in the context of its times, and examines its major themes of education for women, the role of governesses, madness and Victorian women, and inheritance and marriage law and custom. (view table of contents)

A thematic examination of Brontèe's novel offers a biographical overview of the author, critical essays by varied experts, and a discussion of concurrent historical events. (view table of contents)

Product Description: After 100 years, critical production on The Turn of the Screw shows no sign of abating. A long-standing controversy over the "reality" or otherwise of the ghosts has given way to a general recognition of textual ambiguity. This book gathers recent developments in criticism, including feminist, materialist and poststructuralist readings, which have brought out fundamental underlying issues of gender, class and sexuality...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Bloom's Reviews are a acclaimed advancement to the standard chapter-by-chapter plot summaries provided by most study guides. Each Review saves a student time by presenting the latest research, from noted literary scholars, in a practical and lucid format, enabling students to concentrate on improving their knowledge and understanding of the work in question...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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Romantic melodrama or feminist classic, Jane Eyre is one of the most enduringly popular and compelling novels in the literary canon. Overlooked or dismissed by critics in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it first began to attract serious critical attention in the 1970s as New Critical, formalist and feminist critics began to re-evaluate Charlotte Bronte's achievement. This New Casebook brings together essays by leading scholars over the past twenty years, mapping Jane Eyre's progress through the literary and theoretical establishment and encouraging the student to consider these different critical approaches and how they shape the novel and our reading of it.

Product Description: Now at seventy-three volumes, this popular MLA series (ISSN 1059-1133) addresses a broad range of literary texts. Each volume surveys teaching aids and critical material and brings together essays that apply a variety of perspectives to teaching the text...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: A lyrical analysis of Jane Eyre and a study of literature, feminism, and psychoanalysis.

Product Description: Pat MacPherson shows how "Jane Eyre" is the site for a women's exploration of a morality of desire and power, alternative to the material and sexual double-standard of middle class men. This book should be of interest to general readers and students and teachers in women's studies, literature and sociology...read more