Midterm Essay
Helen Burns as Jane Eyre’s Guardian Angel
Charlotte Brontë spends a considerable amount of time in developing her characters throughout her novels. Most of them seem to change as she manipulates the story. Along with individual character development, Brontë offers a rich exposure to the unique relationships between female characters. Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre portrays a large amount of female connection, however the most important relationship is that of Jane Eyre and Helen Burns. The impact and lessons that Helen leaves with Jane is the catalyst that propels her into growth and emotional maturity throughout the rest of her life.
Helen displays signs of extreme obedience and submission which force Jane to question her own ways of reaction. Due to the lack of love and detached conditions in which Jane was brought up, she expresses that she doesn’t understand the nature of Helen’s submission. “If [Miss Scatcherd] struck me with a rod, I should get it from her hand; I should break it under her nose,” (Brontë 67). Jane’s childhood was filled with emotional neglect. It is for this reason that she is unable to understand why Helen willingly accepts the constant punishment that she is entirely undeserving of. In response to Jane’s exclamation of retaliation, Helen explains to her that “it would be [Jane’s] duty to bear it, if [she] could not avoid it: it is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what is your fate to be required to bear,” (Brontë 67). This statement is a key turning point for Jane. Until Helen, she has never met anyone with such a passive and obedient outlook on life. This example of obedience and patience remains with Jane throughout her time at Lowood and beyond, both as a student and an educator. “At Lowood [Helen] is Jane’s guide, providing her not only with information about the school and it’s teachers but, more important, with alternative explanations that change Jane’s understanding of the world, that make her suspect that Helen might be right and she wrong,” (Reger 214). The lessons that Helen taught Jane merely by being herself and leading by example open Jane’s eyes to a world larger than she knew before. A world that possess patient and obedience and a willingness to do so. Had Jane never learned this teaching from Helen Burns, she would have never succeeded scholastically or as an individual, leading her down an entirely different journey than the one that Jane chooses.
Similar to her teachings of self-control, Helen advises Jane to show sympathy and kindness to those who mistreat her. Jeffrey Franklin argues that “Helen is the emblem in the novel of a Christ-like love and forgiveness that takes its paradigmatic form in many Victorian novels as the figure of sympathy,” (465). The use of the term Christ-like implies that Helen’s love for Jane is not only unconditional, but remains unwavering even in death. Jane has never experienced a love as pure and genuine as the mutual fondness of her and Helen. Mrs. Reed, Jane’s aunt, raises her while constantly reminding her that she is unwanted and unremarkable. It is because of these loveless memories that Jane feels she will never love nor forgive her aunt and cousins who treated her with such malice and disrespect. “Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you and despitefully use you,” (Brontë 69) Helen explains. Jane believes in her heart that she will never be truly capable of loving Mrs. Reed, but Helen’s emphasis on imitating Christ does eventually manifest itself within Jane. Helen teaches Jane what true kindness is and “it is this sympathy that Jane will draw on to forgive her Aunt Reed,”(Franklin 465). Even after Helen dies, Jane remembers the importance of sympathy according to her. It is this lesson of sympathy that propels Jane to go to the dying bedside of her
aunt. “She recalls Helen at this moment not to confirm an earlier rejection but to strengthen herself, as she reflects upon the mystery of death and the fate of souls,” (Regerd 214). While at her Aunt Reed’s side, Jane is able to overcome the spite and harsh feelings she has toward her aunt and express full forgiveness. This is because she never forgot the teachings of Helen and couldn’t help but think of Helen’s death in this moment. With death comes the question of where the dead go after leaving earth. By remembering the faith of Helen, Jane is able to find it in herself to forgive the aunt who was so cruel to her in order to aid her soul in finding true eternal peace.
Through Helen’s maturity, Jane finds herself able to recognize the internal struggle she feels with her own immaturities. Bernard J. Paris, author of Imagined Human Beings, argues that “although she cannot accept Helen’s philosophy, Jane is uneasy about her rage and vindictiveness. The explosions of anger with which the novel begins give her an exhilarating sense of freedom and triumph, but they also fill her with self-hate and anxiety,” (150). When Jane finds herself under the scrutiny of Mr. Brocklehurst after being considered a liar Lowood, the disapproval fills her with rage. She even admits in the moment that she is “no Helen Burns,” (Brontë 76). However, when she is able to talk through the situation later on with Helen, she worries that no one will like her due to the events. Jane feels strong emotions of anger in the moment, but falls to insecurity when she is able to think about them with a clear mind. “[Jane] finds that she must define her own character and actions in relation to Helen’s idea,” (Regerd 213). Even though Jane cannot entirely accept all of Helen’s basis of reaction, she realizes the need to find a balance between the individual she wants to become and the individual she sees in Helen. Jane even admits to the reader that she “could not comprehend this doctrine of endurance,” (Brontë 67), but she finds herself questioning whether or not she has been in the wrong, and if Helen is able to see a greater purpose beyond life and death. This lesson regarding self-control and obedience stays with Jane throughout the rest of the novel. Her ability to remain patient and away from temptation is what allows her to finish her education, and what eventually aids her in her profession as a school teacher.
Helen’s unwavering faith in God and dedication to live by his example encourages Jane to reflect upon her own foundational beliefs, and eventually leads her to a faith of her own. “Helen provides an alternative to the only Christianity Jane has known…she shows her a more merciful and loving Christianity as well, a Christianity marked by tentative, yet hopeful, universalism,” (Regerd 214). Jane has had exposure to religion before, but never a relationship that Helen seems to truly have with God. Other examples of religion have been shown to Jane through the means of fearing God and doing exactly as his commandments say or you will be condemned to hell. Helen’s approach to religion is something entirely separate as she truly believes in the wisdom and healing of Christianity. Jane has never had anyone expose her to their own form of Christianity through example. Helen embodies the word and guidance of Christ, allowing Jane to understand the foundation of faith. When Bertha Mason is discovered and Jane admits to Rochester that she can no longer marry him as he is already married, “Jane’s advice to Rochester ‘trust in God and yourself’, reflects Helen’s teachings,” (Solomon 215). Something in Jane stops her from being able to go through with her marriage to Rochester despite how much she does genuinely love him. This internal battle leads her to make sense of the situation in the best way she has ever known how. In this moment, she looks to the example of Helen Burns. Helen would have guided her toward Christ and reminded her to remain obedient, even when Jane doesn’t want to be. It is now Jane’s turn to be that example not only for Rochester, but also for herself. Similarly, “…it is Helen’s ‘creed’ that Jane will activate in order to ‘discriminate the
Christian from the man’ in St. John Rivers,” (Franklin 358). Jane is never truly able to love St. John Rivers because fait does not directly correlate with goodness. Without Helen’s teachings, Jane would have never been able to understand religion enough to see that just because he is a Christian doesn’t mean he is a good man or the man for her to be wed to. Helen makes a deliberate choice to follow God and live a life that glorifies him each new day. With this repetition comes the acceptance of artificial relationships with God that claim to be the same as hers. This distinction between what is traditional and what is intentional leads Jane to realize she does not want to marry St. John because she does that love him and that is reason enough. St. John’s inability to take no as her answer emphasizes a selfish truth within him.
Charlotte Brontë’s dedication to character development offers readers an incredible example of friend and mentorship in the relationship of Jane Eyre and Helen Burns. Had Brontë created Helen to be a character with little impact on Jane, Jane surely would have never fully developed into the individual that she become. The emotional maturity that readers can see Jane possess even after a childhood of sternness and internal rage is directly related to the lessons that Helen teaches Jane in their short amount of time together. Helen is the sole reason that Jane is able to grow such a noticeable amount from the beginning girl we are introduced to, and the ending woman that Jane becomes.