Chapter 6

Helen Burns follows stoicism, and believes in "turning the other cheek" towards those who treat her badly, finding the good in everyone and believing her peace will be given to her in heaven. As observed by Jane, she repeatedly receives torment from Miss Scatcherd for no good reason, even though she continually gives the right answers during teaching. However, to Jane's amazement she refuses to call her cruel, as she believes the bible "bids us to return good for evil" and even accepts that she has her faults that Miss Scatcherd is right to question. Jane however is fiery in character and cannot understand why Helen would ever accept the humiliation and beating that is given to her, she disagrees with Helen's philosophy and believes that one should repay goodness with goodness and cruelty with cruelty; unlike Helen, Jane resents the teachers at Lowood for their abuse and is quick to regard them as "cruel". From the beginning it is clear that Helen's passive and submissive nature to authority bewilders her, stating "I felt that Helen Burns Considered things by a light invisible to my eyes" but equally clear that Helen will have a lasting influence on the way Jane thinks "I suspected she might be right and i wrong". 

While Helen believes in forgiveness and endurance, Jane believes in standing up for herself and fighting back. Jane tells Helen of her struggles at the Reed residence, yet Helen gives a long speech regarding how she must forgive her enemies. As Jane returns later in the book to forgive Mrs. Reed it is obvious that Helen's philosophy had an impact of Jane's thinking. While she never became a stoic like Helen, Jane had to learn to control her own temperament. 

We could argue that Bronte has given Helen Burns these traits simply because: Jane is coming to Lowood at the peak of her childhood, turning from a small child into a wiser young Lady. Lowood is a new environment for her, which represents her chance to learn and become the Governess she wishes to be, Lowood is the symbolism of Jane's learning. By placing a character like Helen Burns in Lowood it gives Jane the opportunity to experience moral philosophies radically different to her own, which she will learn from and enable Jane as a literary character to progress (part of the bildungsroman genre).