Superstitions in "Jane Eyre": How the Supernatural Affects the Rational

When reading literature from different cultures around the world, most readers become familiar with certain aspects of each region's folklore. Every tribe or nation has heroes and villains, mythical or historical, which figure into its everyday conversation. As powerful as heroic men and women may be, often the more potent characters are the mysterious ones: the ghosts, the vampires, the banshees. These beasts are the visions dreamed in darkness, when people are less sensible of their surroundings and more emotionally anxious; they have a more supernatural feel about them. …