Top Ten Quotes

1. "If the child gives the effect another turn of the screw, what do you say to two children-?"
p. 3
Douglas to the crowd before he promises to tell his story.

2. "There were plenty of people to help, but of course the young lady who should go down as governess would be in supreme authority."
p. 8
The master's promise to the governess.

3. "I'm rather easily carried away."
p. 14
The governess to Mrs. Grose.

4. "It was all the romance of the nursery and the poetry of the schoolroom."
p. 26
The governess about her relationship with the children.

5. "'But how do you know?'"
'I know, I know, I know!' My exaltation grew. 'And you know, my dear."
p. 35
The governess telling Mrs. Grose that Quint wants Miles.

6. "Then again I shifted my eyes-I faced what I had to face." (40)
p. 40
The governess the first time she sees Miss Jessel.

7. "They're not mine-they're not ours. They're his and they're hers!"
p. 64
The governess talking of the children to Mrs. Grose.

8. "How can I retrace to-day the strange steps of my obsession?" (68)
p. 68
The governess musing on her relationship with the children.

9. "And should you like him to write our story?" (80)
p. 80
The governess to Mrs. Grose about having the bailiff write to the master.

10. "We were alone with the quiet day, and his little heart, dispossessed, had stopped."
p. 113
The governess about Miles's death.