Emily Brontë, Charlotte Brontë, and Daphne du Maurier: Moors, Peat, and Haunting in Three of their Novels

This article examines the theme of haunting in three English novels: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, and Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier. The novels analyzed are regional narratives, focusing on the counties of Yorkshire and Cornwall respectively. Much of literary criticism has centered, within the Gothic genre, on the Female Gothic, the domestic space, locks and keys, and claustrophobia. However, this article proposes a different approach to the novels within the area of EcoGothic. Rather than focusing on the interior spaces, it focuses on the outside spaces within this domestic Gothic, in particular the moorlands that characterize their novels. These exterior spaces are ambivalent. On the one hand, they are sublime, and on the other hand, they represent a place of freedom. The article argues that landscape shapes the characters, in particular Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, and it highlights the importance of moorland and peatland in the landscape. Peat has preserving qualities and bodies lain to rest in this kind of soil do not decompose, leading to speculation as to their age. Are they thousands of years old, or victims of a recent crime? I argue that the ghosts of the past, whether real or imaginary, rise up to destabilize notions of the known.