SOURCE: Murfin, Ross C. “Reader-Response Criticism and The Turn of the Screw.” In Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism: Henry James, ‘The Turn of the Screw,’ edited by Peter G. Beidler, pp. 152-59. Boston Mass.: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1995.

In the following essay, Murfin explains the basics of reader-response criticism, applying these theories to a reading of Henry James' Turn of the Screw.

What Is Reader-response Criticism?

Students are routinely asked in English courses for their reactions to texts they are reading. Sometimes there are so many different reactions that we may wonder whether everyone has read the same text. And some students respond so idiosyncratically to what they read that we say their responses are “totally off the wall.”

Reader-response critics are interested in the variety of our responses. Reader-response criticism raises theoretical questions about whether our responses to a work are the same as its...