# Peter Quint — The Turn of the Screw character guide

> Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Quint, Mr. Quint, Peter

**First appearance:** 0003-iii

## Snapshot

The master's former valet, handsome, impudent, and dead, whose lingering presence at Bly the governess comes to see as a corruption aimed at Miles.

## Who they are

Quint was the master's own man — clever, spoiled, and, by Mrs. Grose's account, 'too free' with everyone in the house. He took a peculiar fancy to Miles, and the boy has never once spoken his name. His face at the tower window is the governess's first sight of the uncanny, and his hold on Miles becomes the thing she believes she was hired, unknowingly, to break.

## In the story

### [Chapter III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/iii)

The mysterious man on the tower is not yet identified as Quint, but the governess notes he is a stranger, not anyone she has seen before.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/iv)

Appears again at the dining room window, staring at the governess and then looking at other things, suggesting he is there for someone else.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/v)

Identified by Mrs. Grose as the master's former valet, now dead; described as wearing the master's clothes and having a striking, actor-like appearance.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/vi)

Described as 'definitely and admittedly bad', 'much too free', and his death is recounted as a fall on an icy slope.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/vii)

Referenced as the depraved former servant who had an infamous relationship with Miss Jessel and did what he wished with them all.

### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/viii)

Referenced as having a close relationship with Miles, spending hours with him, and being described as a 'base menial' by Mrs. Grose.

### [Chapter IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/ix)

Appears on the staircase at night; the governess faces him without terror and watches him disappear.

### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/xi)

Referenced indirectly as the figure who 'hungrily hovered' on the staircase, haunting the governess's memory.

### [Chapter XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/xii)

Referenced as one of the 'tempters' who, along with Miss Jessel, is trying to draw the children to destruction.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/xiii)

Recalled as the apparition on the tower and at the window; the governess expects to come upon him around corners but does not see him during this period.

### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/xviii)

Implied to be with Miles in the schoolroom while Flora is with Miss Jessel.

### [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/chapters/xxiv)

Appears at the window multiple times during the confrontation, finally seen by Miles before his death.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/characters/peter_quint
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turn_of_the_screw_se/characters