For example, eye contact between men and women who did not know each other and were of different classes was considered indecent. This helps the reader understand the discomfort of the governess in The Turn of the Screw when she sees the figure of a man atop a tower. The man stares at her, and disconcerted by this she reflects on how propriety could have been restored to the moment: "Some challenge between us, breaking the hush, would have been the right result of our straight mutual stare" (James, Turn of the Screw, pp. 311-12). Another major breach of social decorum stems from the man's lack of a hat in the presence of a stranger. The governess says of this: "and there was a touch of the strange freedom, as I remember, in the sign of familiarity of his wearing no hat" (Turn of the Screw, p. 311). In real life, this last breach might also be considered an insult because of the difference in their social classes since she has been bred as a member of the upper class and he is a lowly servant.
Any romantic relationship between men and women of different social standing was considered indecent.
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