# XV explained — The Turn of the Screw > Chapter companion for The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. ## What happens The governess, overwhelmed by the pressure of Miles's probing questions and her own fears, considers fleeing Bly entirely. She imagines escaping without a scene, but as she sits at the foot of the staircase, she recalls seeing the ghost of Miss Jessel there. Entering the schoolroom, she finds Miss Jessel seated at her table, a tragic and accusing figure. The encounter strengthens her resolve to stay, though she remains tormented by the mystery of Miles's expulsion and his growing manipulation. ## Themes in this chapter ### Isolation and Entrapment The governess feels trapped by her circumstances, contemplating flight yet unable to escape the psychological hold of Bly and its ghosts. ### The Supernatural and Psychological Terror The apparition of Miss Jessel in the schoolroom blurs the line between external ghostly visitation and the governess's internal turmoil. ### Power and Control Miles's manipulation of the governess's fear and her struggle to assert authority over the children and the supernatural presences highlight the battle for control. ## Character check-ins ### The Governess Tormented by fear and indecision, she briefly considers fleeing Bly but is galvanized by the apparition of Miss Jessel. ### Miles His probing questions and implied challenge to the governess's authority have left her feeling exposed and manipulated. ### Miss Jessel Appears as a ghostly figure seated at the schoolroom table, embodying tragic despair and challenging the governess's sense of rightful presence. ### Mrs. Grose Mentioned indirectly as part of the household; her absence at church contributes to the governess's sense of isolation. ## Key lines > Tormented, in the hall, with difficulties and obstacles, I remember sinking down at the foot of the staircase⁠—suddenly collapsing there on the lowest step and then, with a revulsion, recalling that it was exactly where more than a month before, in the darkness of night and just so bowed with evil things, I had seen the specter of the most horrible of women. Overwhelmed by her troubles, the governess collapses at the bottom of the stairs, only to remember with horror that this is the same spot where she previously saw the ghost of Miss Jessel. _The governess's physical collapse mirrors her psychological breakdown, and the memory of the ghost reinforces her sense of being haunted._ > Seated at my own table in clear noonday light I saw a person whom, without my previous experience, I should have taken at the first blush for some housemaid... but at the moment I took this in I had already become aware that, in spite of my entrance, her attitude strangely persisted. Then it was⁠—with the very act of its announcing itself⁠—that her identity flared up in a change of posture. At first glance, the figure at the schoolroom table seems like a maid writing a letter, but her unnatural stillness and subsequent movement reveal her to be the ghost of Miss Jessel. _The governess's initial misidentification highlights the theme of appearance vs. reality, as the ordinary scene transforms into a supernatural confrontation._ > What was so unnatural for the particular boy I was concerned with was this sudden revelation of a consciousness and a plan. What disturbs the governess most is the realization that Miles is not merely a child but has a deliberate, knowing agenda. _This marks a turning point in the governess's perception of Miles, as she begins to see him as a conscious adversary rather than an innocent._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/xv - 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