answersLogoWhite

0

Helen Burns was a character in Charlotte Bronte's novel 'Jane Eyre'. The school that she attended was called 'Lowood' and was a strict religious boarding school for girls. Such schools, during the period of history in which the story is set, being the late Georgian/Regency era, would have used corporal punishment in the form of birching. The story gives an account of Helen being birched 'on her neck', but most commentators agree that 'neck' is almost undoubtedly a euphemism for 'bottom', the euphemism being used to avoid Victorian sensibilities about reference to that part of a girl's anatomy.

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

What else can I help you with?