If Helen Burns is such an important character in the first part of Jane Eyre why does Charlotte Bronte have her fall ill and die?Charlotte Bronte's...

Modeled after her sister Emily, who died of tuberculosis in
1825, Helen Burns provides both the reader and Jane Eyre a model of saintliness. While Jane is
somewhat hardened by the world, in Chapter 5 after she meets Helen, Jane is taught the virtues of
forebearance, patience, charity, humility, and love and forgiveness. For instance, when Jane
tells Helen,

But I
feel this, Helen: I must dislike those who, whatever I do to please them, persist in disliking
me; I must resist those who punish me unjustly. It is as natural as that I should love those who
show me affection, or submit to punishment when I feel it is
deserved.”

Helen instructs
Jane,

“Heathens and
savage tribes hold that doctrine; but Christians and civilized nations disown
it.”

“How? I don't
understand.”

Helen teaches Jane the
precepts found in the New Testament of the Bible, explaining to her new friend that hatred will
only harm Jane. In short, Helen is Jane's religious instructor, but just as Jane has learned from
her dear friend, poor Helen passes away. Nevertheless, some of the goodness from Helen has been
imparted to little Jane Eyre, and she is the better for it. Always, Jane carries the memory of
the charitable Helen within her; and, perhaps, because Helen dies, Jane remembers these lessons
all the more.