# XIII explained — The Turn of the Screw > Chapter companion for The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. ## What happens The governess describes a month of tense, silent standoff with Miles and Flora, during which she feels the children are aware of her predicament and deliberately avoid forbidden topics. She experiences no further apparitions but senses the presence of Quint and Miss Jessel, believing the children see more than she does. The chapter ends with a sudden, relieving change. ## Themes in this chapter ### Innocence and Corruption The governess suspects the children are aware of the ghosts and are complicit in a secret, corrupting knowledge, yet they maintain an outward show of innocence and tenderness. ### Isolation and Entrapment The governess feels trapped in a silent battle with the children, unable to speak openly, and the autumn setting of Bly with its 'gray sky and withered garlands' reinforces a sense of confinement. ### The Supernatural and Psychological Terror The governess's obsession with unseen presences and her belief that the children see more than she does heightens the psychological terror, even in the absence of direct apparitions. ## Character check-ins ### The Governess Describes her deepening obsession and the strain of the silent struggle with the children; she feels her power of perception has deepened but her eyes are 'sealed' to the ghosts. ### Miles Shares in the tacit arrangement of avoidance; his upward look reminds the governess of Quint's apparition; he and Flora kiss her with 'wild irrelevance' and ask about their uncle. ### Flora Participates in the same silent understanding and the ritual of asking about their uncle; the governess believes she sees more than is revealed. ### Mrs. Grose Mentioned in the governess's recollection of their talk after the lake scene; the governess had perplexed her by saying she would rather keep her power of seeing. ### Peter Quint Recalled as the apparition on the tower and at the window; the governess expects to come upon him around corners but does not see him during this period. ### Miss Jessel The governess anticipates her appearance in sinister situations but has no encounter; she is part of the 'outsiders' the governess senses. ## Key lines > the place, with its gray sky and withered garlands, its bared spaces and scattered dead leaves, was like a theater after the performance—all strewn with crumpled playbills. The estate looked abandoned and desolate, like an empty theater after a show, with dead leaves and faded decorations everywhere. _The governess uses a theatrical metaphor to describe the bleak, post-summer atmosphere at Bly._ > I had said in my talk with Mrs. Grose on that horrid scene of Flora’s by the lake—and had perplexed her by so saying—that it would from that moment distress me much more to lose my power than to keep it. I told Mrs. Grose after the disturbing incident at the lake that I would rather keep my ability to see the ghosts than lose it, even though it confused her. _The governess reflects on her earlier conversation with Mrs. Grose, emphasizing her preference for awareness over ignorance._ > The little wretches denied it with all the added volume of their sociability and their tenderness, in just the crystal depths of which—like the flash of a fish in a stream—the mockery of their advantage peeped up. The children denied any secret by being extra friendly and affectionate, but their mockery of their upper hand showed through, like a fish glinting in clear water. _The governess perceives the children's increased sociability as a cover for their hidden knowledge and power over her._ > It was as if, at moments, we were perpetually coming into sight of subjects before which we must stop short, turning suddenly out of alleys that we perceived to be blind, closing with a little bang that made us look at each other—for, like all bangs, it was something louder than we had intended—the doors we had indiscreetly opened. We often approached topics that we had to abruptly abandon, like turning down a dead-end alley, and the awkwardness of these moments made us exchange glances as if we had slammed a door too loudly. _The governess describes the unspoken agreement to avoid certain subjects, especially those related to death and the ghosts._ > There were days when I could have sworn that one of them had, with a small invisible nudge, said to the other: 'She thinks she’ll do it this time—but she won’t !' Sometimes I was sure one child silently signaled to the other that I was about to speak of the forbidden topic but would fail to do so. _The governess imagines the children silently mocking her inability to confront them about the ghosts._ > It was at least change, and it came with a rush. Whatever happened next was a relief simply because it broke the tension, and it arrived suddenly. _The governess anticipates a dramatic shift in the stalemate, which she welcomes as a release._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/xiii - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters