[Chapter 5]'How can she bear it so quietly, so firmly?' I asked of myself.' Were I in her place, it seems to me I should wish the earth to open and swallow me up. She looks as if she ere thinking of something beyond her puishment-beyond her situation: of something not around her nor before her. I have heard of day-dreams-is she in a day-dream now? Her eyes are fixed on the floor, but I am sure they do not see it-her sight seems turned in, gone down into her heart: she is looking at what she can remember, I believe; nor at what is really present. I wonder what of sort of a girl she is-whether good or naughty?'
It seems that Helen Burns is a typical girl, who is forbearing, obedient and quiet, in Victotian times. However, there are some details which may raise doubts. Helen loves books and knowledge. She learns those knowledge out of her own interest and will rather than the desire for attention and compliment. She is the first person who teaches Jane Eyre to love herself and even love her enemies. The heart of little Jane was once full of hatred, however, Helen manages to infuse forgiveness into it. Although Helen is still confined by some traditional rules, she has a comparatively free soul.
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