Jane Eyre and the Unearthly: Elves, Ghouls & Goblins

Jane Eyre, which is set in the bleak moorlands of West Yorkshire, is often thought of as a realist novel. In actuality, it occupies two realms; the aforementioned moorlands and another otherworldly domain, populated with elves, ghouls and goblins.

This latter realm — which is coterminous with the first — is chthonian, meaning underworldly. It refers not to a geographic location, but to nature’s unseen darkside. It is ‘raw, brute earth-power’, full of unbound energy and unknown spirits. It is what I imagine the ‘unconscious’ is; ‘a world of wild production and explosive desire’ (Deleuze & Guattari).

The plot of Jane Eyre centers on Jane’s tumultuous relationship with Edward Rochester. From the moment they meet, they are enveloped in the chthonian: ‘When Jane encounters Rochester’s dog Pilot in Hay Lane, just before she meets Rochester himself, her first thought is of the ‘Gytrash’, a mythical black dog said to haunt the deserted roads of northern England’ (Atherton).