The Maspalomas dunes, located on the island of Gran Canaria, in the Province of Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands is the filming location for the desert scene at the beginning of the 2006 BBC adaptation of “Jane Eyre” as directed by Susanna White. According to Wikipedia, the dunes “were formed by sand from the now subdued marine shelf, when it was laid dry during the last ice age and the wind blew the sand towards the coast of the island” (Wiki). The significance of the inclusion of these dunes and the desert scene in the beginning of “Jane Eyre” is not at first clear. It is likely, however, that it was intended to symbolize Jane’s feelings of emptiness and loneliness, as we see Jane sitting alone, looking out over the dunes. This could also symbolize her bleak view of her own future, as she is young in this scene, and she looks out over an expanse of nothingness. Jane is wearing red, and the sand looks hot and dry, so this could symbolize an absence of love or a craving for warmth and affection. In the next scene, we see that Jane is reading a book on foreign locations and travel destinations. Another allusion is that this scene could create a parallel between Jane and Mr. Rochester, as this would roughly be about the time that Rochester was in or leaving the West Indies. According to a post by a user named M, on bronteblog.blogspot.com, the Maspalomas dunes I likely also the filming location for West Indies scenes as well. This adaptation of “Jane Eyre” has no voice over effects which makes it difficult to get inside the character’s mind. This desert scene is one of the most abstract scenes in that it is far from reality, and being the first scene, is heavily weighted to show us a peek into Jane’s mind and her inner life. It is made clear that Jane struggles with feeling close to the people surrounding her, throughout her younger life, and this follows her into her later years as well. At the beginning of the film, Jane’s inner state is portrayed to the viewer as desolate, like the desert she is in, which, she is reading about in a book. It speaks volumes to her character’s disposition that she identifies so heavily with that travel location, rather than the lush jungles she flips through on the next few pages. The dunes are a barren place where life does not grow because the soil is too loose and arid for most plants to dig in their roots. Jane is no different, the Reeds are her desert.

Works Cited

Maspalomas Dunes, Wikipedia, Accessed 3/14/22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maspalomas_Dunes

M, Locations and Some Additional Information for the New BBC’s Jane Eyre, Accessed 3/14/22. http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/locations-and-some-additional.html

Santer, Diederick, et al. Jane Eyre, Episode 1. British Broadcasting Corporation, 2006.

Image by Himarerme - Own work

Dunas de Mapalomas. Public Domain