Metanarrative in Turn of the Screw Essay Example
METANARRATIVE IN THE TURN OF THE SCREW
By
Toni R. Martin
In postmodernism, a metanarrative is an abstract idea that is thought to be a comprehensive explanation of historical experience or knowledge. The prefix meta means “beyond” or “about”, and a narrative is a story. So a metanarrative is a story about a story encompassing and explaining other “little stories” within the total scheme of things. The concept of metanarratives was criticized by Jean-Francois Lyotard in his work The Postmodern Condition: A Report of Knowledge (1979). Lyotard refers to what he describes as the postmodern condition, which he characterized as increasing skepticism toward the totalizing nature of “metanarratives” (or grand narratives) typically characterized by some form of ‘transcendent and universal truth’. In The Turn of the Screw the story within the story is about power. The novella is a pseudo ghost story that involves two children who are sent to live with their uncle when their parents die. The Uncle in turn leaves the children in the care of the governess, who is also the narrator. The power plays come in three ways that are woven into the bigger picture. First, the Uncle is the ultimate power within the story. The governess meets him one time and is then and there smitten with him. He leaves the governess ‘in charge’ of the children while he is off doing whatever. He does not inquire about the well-being of the children and he does not care to be bothered by complaints of any sort. Although he is not present at Bly, he seems to know everything that goes on at Bly as if he has an all seeing eye. The governess is very careful not to even reply when he writes a letter letting her know that the boy child, Miles, cannot return to school – she doesn’t even question why. To say that the Uncle has been left as guardian of the children, he takes very little interest in them. Today that would be called neglect. Second, the governess exerts power over the
By
Toni R. Martin
In postmodernism, a metanarrative is an abstract idea that is thought to be a comprehensive explanation of historical experience or knowledge. The prefix meta means “beyond” or “about”, and a narrative is a story. So a metanarrative is a story about a story encompassing and explaining other “little stories” within the total scheme of things. The concept of metanarratives was criticized by Jean-Francois Lyotard in his work The Postmodern Condition: A Report of Knowledge (1979). Lyotard refers to what he describes as the postmodern condition, which he characterized as increasing skepticism toward the totalizing nature of “metanarratives” (or grand narratives) typically characterized by some form of ‘transcendent and universal truth’. In The Turn of the Screw the story within the story is about power. The novella is a pseudo ghost story that involves two children who are sent to live with their uncle when their parents die. The Uncle in turn leaves the children in the care of the governess, who is also the narrator. The power plays come in three ways that are woven into the bigger picture. First, the Uncle is the ultimate power within the story. The governess meets him one time and is then and there smitten with him. He leaves the governess ‘in charge’ of the children while he is off doing whatever. He does not inquire about the well-being of the children and he does not care to be bothered by complaints of any sort. Although he is not present at Bly, he seems to know everything that goes on at Bly as if he has an all seeing eye. The governess is very careful not to even reply when he writes a letter letting her know that the boy child, Miles, cannot return to school – she doesn’t even question why. To say that the Uncle has been left as guardian of the children, he takes very little interest in them. Today that would be called neglect. Second, the governess exerts power over the