ListentoGenius.com, 2010
This twenty-minute-long podcast
offers what might be described as a taster to Henry James' classic short story. John Lescault does not recount the whole
tale, but concentrates instead on the introduction and the initial premise of the tale - a young, naïve governess visits the
house of a rich middle-aged man in the hope of obtaining employment. From this extract we understand just how innocent
the governess actually is; although she has been in love once before, she lacks any real-world experience. Thus
we should be wary of accepting her recollections of life at Bly House at face value.
Lescault's reading also concentrates on the preamble to the tale; how Douglas' friends
are eager to listen to what happens, yet treat the subject-matter with a certain degree of frivolity. Like the governess,
they are too much affected by the conventions of gothic horror to understand the implications of the tale. In
a sense they have to be "educated" - to learn that The Turn of the Screw is not simply a ghost-story, but an
account of a process of self-discovery.
Listeners
seeking to find out more about the story are advised to find one of the full-length readings, available for purchase as well
as on free download (for example, on librivox.org).
