Tanya Nesich

In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, fairies, goblins, elves and sprites are mentioned quite often. These superstitious elements of the novel play more than just a benign role. Bronte has an understanding of the differences between different types of fairies as well as some of their lore:

Jane Eyre, indeed, has some claim to be regarded as a supernaturalist novel, and evokes a complex interplay of other-worldly elements. . . Charlotte Bronte's peculiar imaginative gifts

so shape the element of narrative mystery that it spills over from the intricacies of plot into an evaluation of the plot's context. (Cavaliero 92)

Although not a believer in fairy lore herself, Bronte applies the fairy motif throughout Jane Eyre. This serves to help evaluate the novel and provides a means of studying some thematic truths about both the text and characters from the realm of superstition.

Fairies in general are mentioned often throughout the novel. Rochester refers to Jane as a fairy or fairy-like many times in the text. One of the first examples of Bronte using the fairy motif to describe a situation is when Rochester accuses Jane of "bewitching [his] horse" and he had wondered if he had "broken through one of [her fairy] rings" (153-54; ch. 13). Fairy rings are created because fairies are known to dance and sing while holding hands which may create worn-out rings usually on grassy ground. This practice creates a very mesmerizing and attractive mix to humans who are drawn by the music and may be held captive indefinitely if they step inside the ring (Froud and Lee 19). It is as if Rochester himself had been bewitched by Jane from the first moment of their meeting. Although both seem unable to mention their true feelings for some time afterwards, they are drawn to each other by a greater and magical force. After all that they have been through -- the initial prevention of their marriage, the pain caused to both by their separation, Rochester's deformities -- Rochester waits for his fairy who has had a hold on him from the beginning.

At one point, he goes so far as to tell Adele that Jane is indeed a fairy and that in order for them to be a happily married couple, they must go to the moon and live. A "fairyland" traditionally symbolizes a utopia (South 333). This wishful thinking on Rochester's part may stem from his secret problems involving Bertha and his desire for him and Jane to live happily without interruption. Toward the end of the novel Jane says, "My Edward and I . . . are happy"(477; ch. 12). Rochester and Jane have finally found the utopia that they have longed for.

Although not superstitious herself, when Jane hears Rochester's voice in the wind calling for her, she exclaims, "'Down Superstition!'"; she refers to Rochester as a brownie, which is, as previously mentioned, quite unattractive but at the same time loyal. He, like the brownie, seems to have attached himself to Thornfield and has left it for long periods without much notice, again just as the brownie who will leave if insulted. For instance, Rochester opens his heart to Jane after she saves him from the fire and he says, "'I saw it in your eyes when I first beheld you: their expression and smile did not. . . strike delight to my very inmost heart so for nothing'" (182; ch. 15). Jane, possibly from embarrassment, proceeds to leave the room to which he responds, "'What! you will go?'", as if shocked by her action after what he has revealed to her. Immediately afterwards, Rochester leaves Thornfield to go on a journey. Rochester can be described also as feeling "insulted" by the "lucid intervals of days . . . which [Bertha] filled up with abuse of [him]" before he hired Grace Poole to care for Bertha in her "goblin's cell" (336; ch. 1) which probably caused him to flee Thornfield often. Mrs. Fairfax tells the newly hired Jane that "'Mr Rochester's visits [to Thornfield] are rare [and are] always sudden and unexpected'"(136; ch. 11) because although Thornfield is his home, there is little reason for him to remain there often.

The fact that Rochester refers to Bertha as inhabiting a goblin's cell is also quite a fitting description. Although not a companion of the dead like the goblin, Bertha has death on her mind. She tries to kill her own brother in a bloody rage as well as Mr. Rochester who was almost a victim in the fire she set in his room.

The will-o'-the-wisp also plays an important part in the novel. After Jane escapes Thornfield upon finding out the truth about Rochester's current marriage to Bertha, she finds herself at a very low point in her life. She takes refuge in the marshes and begins to think about her beloved Rochester and says to herself, "Oh, Providence! sustain me a little longer! Aid - direct me!"(356; ch. 28). Suddenly, she sees a light among the marshes and believes that it is due to the phenomenon of ignis fatuus. However, as she follows this light which becomes her only source of possible help, she finds that it has indeed led her to a house and not into the middle of a marsh. This will-o'-the-wisp eventually leads her to Mr. Rochester, who she finds in a state which has deteriorated from her leaving Thornfield and from trying to save Bertha from the last fire she caused at Thornfield.

Towards the end of the novel, Jane seeks Mr. Rochester and finds that he is blind and without a hand. Jane continues to be Rochester's fairy as she still interacts with him playfully and teases him about her time spent with the Rivers and with St. John in particular. At one point she says to him, "'you talk of my being a fairy; but I am sure, you are more like a brownie'". To this he responds, "'Am I hideous, Jane?'". She says to this, '"Very, sir: you always were, you know'"(463; ch. 37). This, again, reveals that her fairy-like playful manner towards him has not changed during their separation. Because of his physical condition, Mr. Rochester does indeed resemble a brownie living in a house "deep buried in a wood"(455; ch. 37), shriveled and isolated from most direct human contact.