Physical Placement: The Key to Power in "All Souls" and Turn of the Screw

Edith Wharton and Henry James, two great friends and writers of the late nineteenth century, challenge society by inverting the power structures in their literary works "All Soul’s" and The Turn of the Screw, respectively. Edith Wharton and Henry James both defy the stereotypes and place unlikely characters at the top of the societal ladder. Wharton reverses the roles of the mistress and the servants in her story "All Souls’," while James places a ten-year-old boy as the master of a house in the novella Turn of the Screw. By strategically positioning the servants and Miles in symbolic settings, Wharton and James illustrate the power shift to these characters who theoretically should be subject to Mrs. Clayburn and the governess, respectively. The characters who take control of the house exercise more freedom of movement than those characters who lose control; this increased mobility provides the servants and Miles with the ability to exercise more power than their superiors, thereby questioning the existence of the stereotypical power structure in the real world.

In "All Soul’s" and Turn of the Screw certain characters should exercise control, according to society’s standards. Typically, adults and people of upper class reign above children and the lower class. However, in Edith Wharton’s "All Souls," the mistress of the house, Sara Clayburn, actually exercises very little power. She lives on the upper floors of the house, and as a widow, lives alone and dwells in isolation. Mrs. Clayburn possesses material wealth, inhabiting a house in the country rather than moving to a relative’s home after her husband’s passing. The town views her as "a good influence," representing strength and devotion (Wharton 254). Based on outward appearances, one cannot reasonably doubt Mrs. Clayburn’s ability to control her home. Likewise, the governess in Henry James’s Turn of the Screw appears in control of Bly, having arrived at the house, under her master’s orders, "in supreme authority" (James 5). She has a mission: to educate and to take care of the children, Miles and Flora. In society’s view, the governess should be in charge of not only the children, but also the house servants; her occupation as a governess, according to society, entitles her to a higher social status than that of the common house servant. The governess maintains a certain distance from the servants more appropriate to a mistress than a governess. Under society’s stereotypes, Mrs. Clayburn and the governess appear in charge of their homes.

Despite their potentially powerful positions, Sara Clayburn and the governess exercise limited control due to their restricted access to different areas of their homes. The servants in "All Soul’s" can travel through the house uninhibited, from the upper floors to their own personal quarters on the lower floors. Mrs. Clayburn, on the other hand, is wary about crossing the class lines and moving down into the servants’ quarters. For example, she attempts to contact the servants by ringing her bell and waiting for them to arrive at her room; this ringing of the bell signifies the distance that lies between the servants and the mistress. However, after several futile attempts to summon the servants, Mrs. Clayburn begins walking through the house, searching for the servants.

Mrs. Clayburn’s choices while exploring the house reflect her hesitation to exercise free reign in her own home, and thus elude to a discrepancy between how she appears in control and how she exercises control. She chooses to use the front stairs instead of the back stairs to move down from the upper floors to the lower floors (Wharton 261). She goes out of her way to avoid using the stairs that the servants would most likely use. Even when she is dependent on others, Mrs. Clayburn cannot push the boundaries of class and break free from societal standards. Instead, her limited movement illustrates her limited power within the house. As she explores the lower floors of Whitegate, Mrs. Clayburn begins to feel more timid and inhibited. In the pantry, she feels confined by the silence, "as though she were its prisoner and it might throw itself upon her if she attempted to escape"(263). The pantry is not the only room in which Mrs. Clayburn feels uncomfortable; she knows that she must search the kitchen, but she goes to the scullery to "peep into the kitchen without being seen" (263). If Mrs. Clayburn cannot enter into the servants’ rooms without feeling restricted, then how can she serve as the mistress of the house? Mrs. Clayburn is actually slave to her own servants; ironically, the lower social status of the servants permits them to cross the class boundaries and to occupy more spaces within the house.

Just as the mistress of Whitegate can occupy only the upper floors of the house, the governess in Turn of the Screw only lives in certain rooms at Bly. She never ventures into the area of the other servants; instead she chooses to reside in the upper floors with the children, signifying her higher status. The governess remains only in the upper floor and the formal rooms, like a houseguest, and does not venture into the spaces that are occupied by servants, such as the kitchen and servants’ quarters. Even when talking with Mrs. Grose, the governess refuses to enter the realm of the servants; choosing to go outside, for "there Mrs. Grose could join [her]" (James 24). Likewise, after the governess writes the letter to the master, she simply places it on "the great hall-table" saying confidently, "Luke will take it" (65). She maintains a distance from all the servants except for Mrs. Grose, never interacting with them in their rooms on the estate. She allows these class boundaries between herself and the servants to impede her abilities to exercise her "supreme authority" over the house (5).

While the Sara Clayburn limits her control by remaining only in certain rooms of the house, the servants in "All Soul’s" move freely about the house. Unlike their mistress, the servants’ unlimited mobility from the lower floors to the upper floors gives them a sense of ownership and control. Sara Clayburn hesitates about moving from her private quarters into the world of the servants; however, the servants move out of their personal world into the domain of their mistress every single day. Agnes, for example, gains entry not only to the servant areas, but also to the family areas; she carries the food from the kitchen to her mistress’s bedroom (Wharton 256). The servants’ literal upward mobility reflects their upward motion in the power struggle in "All Souls." The servants do not allow themselves to be inhibited by a standard; they roam throughout the house, able to occupy more spaces than their mistress. Agnes even dares to defy her mistress by not taking the food back down into the kitchen, placing the food behind the screen (256). Agnes more explicitly demonstrates her boldness and authority when she later refuses to acknowledge the servants’ absence, simply dismissing her mistress, saying, "Perhaps the pain’s made you a little confused, madam" (266). Without Mrs. Clayburn’s recognizing it, the servants have taken control of her home; their lower social status allows them to cross into the realm of the upper class, whereas Mrs. Clayburn’s higher status confines her.

The servants of Whitegate literally occupy more space, allowing them to physically observe from every angle. Miles, however, in Turn of the Screw, provides a new perspective of the action by entering into the narrative when he returns from school. Miles pushes the narrative forward and changes the way the governess views him. When the reader first encounters Miles, he appears to the governess as "wistfully" waiting for her, implying a sense of powerlessness and dependence on others (James 13). However, as the story progresses, Miles transcends from appearing powerless to exercising power. One night, the governess looks out the window, and she sees Miles outside at midnight. At this point in the novella, the governess still views Miles as a child, calling him "poor little Miles" (43). However, in this scene, James subtly presents Miles as a man by having him view the situation in its entirety, seeing both the governess and the figure above her. Comparatively, the governess can only see Miles on the lawn and remains ignorant of the figure above her at which Miles stares. James contrasts the governess’s viewpoint with that of Miles, suggesting that the character with the most complete vision holds the most power.

James illustrates a major change when the governess enters Miles’s bedroom, and the physical space between the governess and Miles eludes to a change in the power structure. At the beginning of the conversation, Miles looks up at the governess standing beside his bed; she still exudes a sense of authority and respect. Soon, the governess changes position to settle down at his side, holding his hand. By placing the governess face-to-face with Miles, James acknowledges Miles as appearing more powerful than he has previously to the governess. As the conversation continues, Miles rises above the governess in authority because she loses all control by his side, "throwing herself upon him" (62). By embracing and then kissing Miles, the governess crosses the boundaries between pupil and teacher. At the same time, Miles crosses the boundary between child and master, taking control of the governess and thus, taking control of Bly. At the conclusion of this conversation, Miles forces the governess to recognize their change in authority; he possesses "a strange little dignity about him" that "made [the governess] release him" (62). He ends the conversation by blowing out the candle and addressing the governess simply as "dear" (62), implying a condescending attitude. This scene clearly exemplifies the changing of authority taking place at Bly; the relative space between Miles and the governess illustrates her weakening and his strengthening of power.

Wharton and James both turn the power structure upside down in their literature through the setting and placement of their characters. Exploring the reality of the social hierarchy, they challenge society’s system. Does an upper class woman really hold the power in her household, or is she really subject to her servants? Wharton and James both assert that the stereotypical social ladder does not exist in reality; rather, a master is still subject to his or her servants. The taking control of the servants and Miles hints at the underlying influence of the lower class, exposing a hidden truth. Both Edith Wharton and Henry James make a statement against society’s traditionally aristocratic view of the classes.

Works Cited