The doctor will see you now, Mr. Collins
Alert Janeites Lisa and Cathy sent us a link to an article in the Telegraph with more information about So Odd a Mixture, the book that claims several characters in Pride and Prejudice suffer from various psychological conditions. We’ve already had quite a discussion on this book in the previous post about it.
Phyllis Ferguson Bottomer, a speech pathologist in Canada, analyses eight characters from Austen’s classic novel, in a book that teachers are being encouraged to use to liven up GCSE English lessons.
She argues that five characters from the Bennet family, and three from the Fitzwilliam clan, have fundamental difficulties with communication and empathy. It provides an explanation for some characters’ awkward behaviour at crowded balls, their frequent silences or the tendency to lapse into monologues rather than truly converse with others, she said.
Mr Darcy’s “unaccountable rudeness” can be blamed on “high-functioning autism or Asperger’s syndrome”, which Austen wrote about without knowing what it was, it is claimed.
In her book, So Odd a Mixture, Miss Bottomer quotes Austen’s description of Mr Collins - “awkward and solemn, apologising instead of attending, and often moving wrong without being aware of it”.
The author says it epitomises “some of the co-ordination problems those on the autistic spectrum can have”. Mr and Mrs Bennet, the squabbling couple, are also said to be sufferers. Lydia, the heroine’s younger sister, is also described as having attention deficit disorder after she runs off with Mr Wickham.
However, the campaign to use the book for GCSEs seems to have hit a bit of a snag.
The book, which the publishers hope will be used to provoke debate in schools, was dismissed by the National Association for the Teaching of English as “wonderfully absurd”.
Oops!
April 9th, 2007 at 1:34 am
OK, as much as this pains me to admit it, Lydia certainly does show ADHD symptoms — impulsivity certainly. Else she’s just completely spoilt and allowed to run wild.
So five Bennets have Asperger’s? Mr. and Mrs. Bennet (not likely), Mary, Collins — who else? Jane? That’s really nuts.
And Darcy having Asperger’s is of course ridiculous. He’s just a snob.
April 9th, 2007 at 2:16 am
Phyllis came and spoke to my Jane Austen group. From what I can recall Mr Bennet, Mary, Lydia, Mr Collins and Mr Darcy all had some form of Asperger’s. However, based on this talk I think every person I know has Asperger’s. People aren’t shy or socially awkard they have Aperger’s.
April 9th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
I missed the last discussion on this so here I go:
My oldest has Asperger’s and he’s not remotely shy. He has trouble reading other people, fixates on certain topics, has poor impulse control, and is extremely literal when it comes to language. Mr. Bennet an aspie? No way. He’s far too able to appreciate the abstract and double meanings.
My second oldest has high-functioning Autism, and while I don’t mind the idea of his growing up to be “second proposal Darcy” I don’t think Darcy was autistic or had Asperger’s.
Jane Austen provides very good explanations for most of the characters’ eccentricities, especially for Darcy’s own behavior.
Lydia’s behavior is very well explained by lack of discipline, weak will, and her age. ADHD is not necessary.
These disorders are neuro-biological. Though they are diagnosed based on behavior patterns, they are not responsible for every quirk of human nature. While it would be nice to blame every socially inept behavior on some underlying condition, some people are just fools.
April 9th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
The Asperger’s diagnosis for various Austen characters seems forced to me. Darcy has a lot at stake in choosing a wife–which is what I believe Elizabeth comes to understand when upon seeing Pemberley, she recognizes that to be mistress of Pemberley would really be “something.” When Darcy goes to the Meryton Assembly he is quite full of himself at this country assembly; remember, however, it was just a few months back that his sister almost went off with Wickham, whom she trusted. So I propose that Darcy is watching out for Isabella Thorpe-types. Of course, Darcy has to learn how to behave himself better in a world largely composed of his social and economic inferiors. Hence, Elizabeth’s wonderful reprimand about his not behaving like a gentleman–a reprimand that shocks Darcy when he first hears it, and he later admits that E’s reprimand did him a lot of good. Sixteen-year-old Lydia is spoiled by her mother and ignored by her father, who has withdrawn from parenting and who has–as he admits to Elizabeth–married a woman for whom he has no respect, having fallen some 23 years or so earlier for Mrs. B’s youthful beauty and apparently good humored demeanor. And this reminds me to say that Lydia’s high “animal spirits” must come from both of her parents: while it is hard to think of Mr. Bennet as anywhere besides his library, I like to think he was a lively young man whose own “animal spirits” were aroused when he first met the pretty and apparently congenial Miss Gardiner! He withdraws into cynicism. As for Mary, I think she just suffers from being the only really plain Bennet daughter, and so she has to find things where she can (or thinks she can) excel. And Collins is an idiot–though he also suffered from bad parenting or mal-nurturing. All of this does not seem like Asperger’s to me. (I have taught recently two very fine students at the University level who have Asperger’s; consequently, I read up on it and also talked to the Univ’s director of counseling, who is a Ph.D. in Psychology. This is the basis of any knowledge I have of Asperger’s. Neither of my students behaved in any way like Austen’s characters.)
April 10th, 2007 at 12:43 am
Please, I mean this as no offense to anyone who suffers with, or has family members with autism or Aspergers, but my opinion is that Ms. Bottomer is either opportunistic (i.e. trying to cash in on Jane Austen’s name and popularity) or she is completely off the wall.
The people depicted in all of Jane Austen’s novels are fictional characters, nothing more, nothing less. They cannot have any psychological syndrome or problem, they are not real. Jane made them up; they are figments of her imagination. The characters only said and did what Jane wanted them to say and do. They were not cognizant, sentient beings.
Quite frankly I think we might be safe in assuming Ms Bottomer to be suffering from a form of intellectual poverty.
April 10th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Darcy is not mentally deranged, he just dislikes blabbering to people he does not know. He is verbose and jocular enough in his own small society.
April 10th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
HA!
“Wonderfully absurd” indeed! If Darcy wore a green coat, would Bottomer say he had a leprechaun complex? Or maybe he aspires to be a tree?
This is the most amusing think I’ve heard about Jane Austen since Becoming Jane decided to remake P&P with some wishful/deluded flourishes.
April 11th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
I think the tree is more likely. After all he is described by Mr. Bingley as a “great, tall fellow.” What kind of tree would Darcy be?
April 12th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Something dark and brooding. And incredibly handsome.
Oh, and we can’t forget how rich the tree would be. The loveliest blooms in the grove, well-respected by all the other trees, and Miss Bingley is crossing her fingers that her tree’s pollen will get lucky.
… I’m not sure if that last bit was too bawdy, but it’s a tree.