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Originally Posted by issybird
LOL! I also wondered about the name of "Helen," if in the Brontė juvenalia it was always applied to a saintly character. I kept thinking of the saintly Helen Burns in Jane Eyre. It is obvious that Anne didn't have a lot of originality when it came to names!
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I wonder if that is why Anne chose the name Helen for little Arthur's wife. Helen is the daughter of friend Millicent (a good person who also made a poor marriage choice) and Mr. Hattersley (the degenerate who made a true reformation from his bad behavior to decent husband and father). The tidy ending means that little Arthur has to marry someone worthy and have the happy and loving marriage that his parents didn't have. (Besides the obvious Millicent selected the name in honor of her friend.)