Chapter 7

Summary

Immediately after returning home, the governess relates her experience to Mrs. Grose. She affirms that the children are aware of the ghosts and are influenced by it. She believes that Flora was aware of the apparition but had not mentioned it to her. As she describes the apparition to the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose guesses that the apparition was of Miss. JesselÂ’s. During her conversation with Mrs. Grose, the governess becomes aware that the former governess was molested by Peter Quint and that the lady had left the premises in disgrace. Later, she had died mysteriously. This piece of information disturbs the governess and she is afraid that, both Peter Quint and the former governess might have cast an evil influence on the children.

The governess is highly imaginative and opinionated. She surmises that Flora has seen the vision, but is pretending to be ignorant about it. When Mrs. Grose asks her to prove her belief, she is unable to give a convincing answer but she keeps insisting that, the child has knowledge of the ghost. Thus without being sure about her belief, she casts aspersions on the innocent child. Similarly, although she has never seen Miss Jessel, she insists that the apparition that she has seen, is that of the former governess. And when the housekeeper doubts her assertions, she forces her view on the poor lady. The meek Mrs. Grose can do nothing but agree.

The governess is a romantic person who sees herself as the wronged woman. She imagines that the children are fooling her and that the ghosts are taunting her. Therefore, in her story, she presents herself as a victim in the hands of evil forces. However, she also feels depressed that she is unable to protect the children from the evil influence of the ghosts.

This chapter reveals more about Peter Quint and Miss. Jessel. Peter Quint was a lecherous man who had lured many young women. He had taken advantage of the youth of Jessel and played around with her sentiments. Miss. Jessel also appears to be a woman of easy character. Instead of being a responsible guardian to the children and being a guide to them, she had flirted with Quint. Both these characters had influenced the children through their evil ways. This is the reason why the governess is afraid that the children are already corrupted by such evil influence.

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