Lydia Bennet was born a ‘changeling’, silent, strange and utterly dependant on her older sister, Jane. Afraid to leave the house for more than a few hours, unwilling to expose her sister to society’s harsh condemnation, Jane is destined for a life of tender care and isolation. Mrs. Bennet resentfully places all of the family’s hopes on Elizabeth, reminding her at every rejection that Jane would have succeeded. When Netherfield Park is let to two gentlemen who have no idea what the Bennet family are trying to conceal, Jane and Elizabeth must reconcile their growing hopes to the fate of their beloved sister. E/D, J/B, HEA. NOTE: This work explores autism and how it was perceived in the early 1800s.
This work explores autism and how it was perceived in the early 1800s. It has been meticulously researched, but please note that our modern understanding is FAR from how the people in Austen's time would have thought of it.
I have avoided using some of their terminology as it is offensive, but other than that I have tried to be accurate to the setting, historical context and the characters.
Please note that some of the characters' viewpoints are ignorant. These do NOT reflect my own views, and I intend to write them in a way that makes it clear that they are the perspectives of those characters, not of Austen/P&P.
In any discussion of autism and its place in history, it is important to show both sides of the coin - even when one side is very badly tarnished.
During her fifth and final pregnancy, the sickness was different.
All of Mrs. Bennet's other babies had caused it in the morning - as they were supposed to do. The fifth summoned it in the evening instead.
It was unseemly. In a world full of rules and customs, to be so contrary was almost rude.
The midwife told Mrs. Bennet that the child would be just as unusual.
She was right.
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