In what way is the novel, The Turn of the Screw, an allegory?

The good versus evil theme follows a specific narrative technique, known as allegory. An allegory is a second level of meaning in the story, which affects every part of it. In this case, the allegory becomes one of God versus the Devil, with the governess representing Godlike or divine qualities, while the ghosts, and sometimes the children, represent Devillike or evil qualities. The governess invokes the name of God on many occasions. When she has first seen her main opponent, the ghost of Peter Quint, she remarks to Mrs. Grose: "God help me if I know what he is!" A few lines down from this comment, Mrs. Grose says, "It's time we should be at church." Church is a traditional symbol of God, and indeed the governess looks to her church for strength when she feels she is starting to lose the battle for Miles's soul. She is on her way to church with the boy and thinks "of the almost spiritual help of the hassock on which I might bend my knees."

She also notes of Miles that "I seemed literally to be running a race with some confusion to which he was about to reduce me." At times, the governess describes Miles with demon-like adjectives, saying that it was his "wickedness" that got him kicked out of school. For the ghosts, the allegorical meaning is also clear. The governess uses terms of evil to describe them throughout the story, but at the end, when Quint makes his final appearance to her, she notes "his white face of damnation." She also remarks that, when she pulls Miles close to her to protect him, "It was like fighting with a demon for a human soul," a clear reference to the classical fight between God and Satan for human souls. Finally, when the governess finally presses Miles to name who "he" is, Miles says, "Peter Quint—you Devil!"