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[Jane is put in form four. After lunch, Miss. Miller asks the girls to go to the garden. Miss. Miller and Miss. Temple exit and Helen enters, sits and reads a book.]
Jane: Is your book interesting?
Helen: I like it. [Hands it to her.] You may look at it.
Jane: [Jane looks at the book.] I think it is too difficult for me. [Returns it.]
Helen: You read one of your age.
Jane: My name is Jane Eyre. What is your name?
Helen: Helen Burns.
Jane: Can you tell me, what the writing on the stone over the door means? What is Lowood Institution?
Jane: Helen, are you awake?
Helen: [Face is pale but composed.] Why have you come here, Jane? It is past 11 O’ clock.
[Helen dies that night. The school improves. Jane spends eight years in the school, six years as pupil and two years as teacher. Jane wants liberty and becomes half desperate. She advertises in ‘The Herald’ for situations. A week later, she has received a letter from Mrs. Fairfax, Thornfield. Jane leaves Lowood and goes to Thornfield.]
Jane: Is your book interesting?
Helen: I like it. [Hands it to her.] You may look at it.
Jane: [Jane looks at the book.] I think it is too difficult for me. [Returns it.]
Helen: You read one of your age.
Jane: My name is Jane Eyre. What is your name?
Helen: Helen Burns.
Jane: Can you tell me, what the writing on the stone over the door means? What is Lowood Institution?
Helen: This house where you have come to live.
Jane: And why do they call it institution? Is it anyway different from other schools.
Jane: And why do they call it institution? Is it anyway different from other schools.
Helen: It is partly a charity school. You and I, and all the rest of us are charity children. I suppose you are an orphan. Aren’t either your father or your mother dead?
Jane: Both died before I can remember.
Helen: Well, all the girls here have lost either one or both parents. This is called an institution for educating orphans.
Helen: Well, all the girls here have lost either one or both parents. This is called an institution for educating orphans.
Jane: Are you happy here?
Helen: You ask rather too many questions. I have given you answers enough for the present. Now I want to read. [Jane leaves Helen.]
Helen: You ask rather too many questions. I have given you answers enough for the present. Now I want to read. [Jane leaves Helen.]
[Spring has started. Semi-starvation and neglected colds had predisposed most of the students to receive infection. Forty five out of the eighty girls lay ill at one time. Helen is also ill. Jane goes to meet Helen in Miss. Temple’s room.]
Jane: Helen, are you awake?
Helen: [Face is pale but composed.] Why have you come here, Jane? It is past 11 O’ clock.
Jane: I have come to see you Helen. I have heard you are ill and I cannot sleep until I speak to you.
Helen: You have come to bid me good-bye. You are just in time probably.
Jane: Are you going home?
Helen: Yes, to my long home – last home.
Jane: Are you going home?
Helen: Yes, to my long home – last home.
Jane: No! No! Helen! But where are you going Helen? Do you know?
Helen: I believe, I have faith. I am going to God. How comfortable I am. The cough has tired me. I feel as if I could sleep.
Helen: I believe, I have faith. I am going to God. How comfortable I am. The cough has tired me. I feel as if I could sleep.
Jane: Good night, Helen.
Helen: Good night, Jane.
Helen: Good night, Jane.
[Helen dies that night. The school improves. Jane spends eight years in the school, six years as pupil and two years as teacher. Jane wants liberty and becomes half desperate. She advertises in ‘The Herald’ for situations. A week later, she has received a letter from Mrs. Fairfax, Thornfield. Jane leaves Lowood and goes to Thornfield.]
Explanation:
Jane is put in fourth form because of her clarity in reading and writing. She analyses the first few days in Lowood. After the class, Miss Miller asks everyone to go and take a break in the garden. A new character named Helen is introduced into the play. Helen is also one of the students in Lowood, but she is from a higher grade as she is older than Jane. Jane enters into a conversation with her, possibly because she has a book with her. She enquires about the book and Helen offers it to her. Jane is considerably younger than her and therefore the book is not understandable to her. She returns the book saying that she found it confusing. Helen explains that it was because the book was meant for a particular age and she would understand it when she reaches her age. Helen Burns introduces herself to Jane.
Helen reading a book in the garden
Jane, who is half happy that she had escaped her aunt's house, is still unsure as to what the place she is in. She finds Helen as a kind soul and asks her what did the sign Lowood, engraved on a stone next to the door, meant. Helen explains that Lowood institution was a charity based institution, which meant that they were not provided for by their family because they were orphans. Some people or government offers money to charity homes and schools to take care of such children. When Jane asks Helen if she was happy in the charity school, Helen avoids answering her, showing that there was something wrong.
As spring breaks out, the entire town is infected by an epidemic. Since it is only a charity home, the girls are not taken proper care of. Nearly half of the strength was infected because of not eating properly and being exposed to the cold water and weather. Helen was one of the students who got infected. Jane visits her and Helen is on her death bed. She says that being an orphan, God is her parent and she is going to him- her long last home. Jane bids her good night, but Helen dies the next morning. But as years pass, the school gets better and Janes finishes her education and works in the same school as a teacher. But she becomes lonely and yearns for freedom. She therefore applies in the newspaper 'The Herald Times' and gets a call from Mrs. Fairfax from Thornfield. Jane therefore leaves to Thornfield to work there as a teacher.
Helen is very sick and is in bed
Meaning of difficult words:
| S.No | Words | Meaning |
1 | Institution | A place where people with special needs live |
2 | Charity | Helping people in need |
3 | Orphan | People who do not have a family |
4 | Starvation | Hungry without food |
5 | Neglected | Not taken care of |
6 | Pre disposal | Given beforehand |
7 | Composed | Very calm |
8 | Pale | Lacking colour |
9 | Liberty | Freedom |
Reference:
State Council of Educational Research and Training (2019). Term-3 English Standard-7. Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte (pp. 136-154). Published by the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.
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