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But we need not look as far as her childhood to find evidence of her mental instability. Her strange behavior at Bly is conclusive enough. She is frequently sleepless, she wanders the house and grounds alone at night, she is always nervously unstrung. Many of the passages show evidence that the governess was suffering from a form of manic depression. She mentions her wild "flights and drops," her incredibly huge mood swings (James 337). At one point she discusses being happy and content with her new position while driving to Bly, then turning a corner and suddenly becoming irrationally afraid of continuing. She is then once again intent on finishing the journey to Bly and her new employment (James 337). "This section seems to be real evidence of manic depression, or perhaps a panic attack" (Mirin). In short, "To say [the governess is stable] is to mistake a see-saw for the rock of Gibraltar" (Cranfill and Clark 33).

The likelihood of James writing a novel about madness is great. His own sister suffered from hallucinations and general mental illness, and for this reason he kept himself constantly informed about new theories of psychology and science (Michalski 2). One especially interesting theory of the purpose of this novel can be found in the content of an essay published by Edmund Parish just before James wrote The Turn of the Screw. Parish wrote of the four major symptoms of hallucinational tendencies (Cranfill and Clark 36-41). These symptoms can be easily discovered in the governess' behavior at Bly. Parish's first symptom is listed as a "morbid emotional state" (Cranfill and Clark 37). We have already discussed the emotional state of the governess, she is constantly in what can definitely be described as a "morbid state."

The Flying Porqupine