Abstract

DIAZ-LUCENA, Antonio. Detective Miss Giddens and the Importance of the Concept of Imagination in The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961). Acta poét [online]. 2023, vol.44, n.1, pp.163-177.  Epub Mar 10, 2023. ISSN 2448-735X.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.ap.2023.44.1.005735x26.

In this study of The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961) the figure of the detective is examined as a character with the ability to move freely within and outside the Law, ethics and morals. From this acquired rebelliousness, the skill that pushed him to persist in his efforts to reveal the mystery of what is happening is elucidated, since this uncertainty that he longs for grips his existence. In this sense, two working hypotheses are formulated to conduct this research: H1) Both, Henry James in The Turn of The Screw (1898) but mainly Jack Clayton in The Innocents (1961) due to the emphasis he puts on it, expose in both works that the imagination is the necessary vehicle to go beyond the limits of what is established; H2) this process of self-knowledge that enhances isolation and misunderstanding involves pain, a wound, which triggers the irruption of madness. Thus, a textual analysis methodology was established to try to confirm or refute the exposed hypotheses.

Keywords : James; Clayton; Imagination; Detective; The Innocents; Textual Analysis.