BY CHIAMAKA MUONEKE
When Ruby Stokes was replaced with Hannah Dodd as Francesca Bridgerton in season three of Bridgerton, it wasn’t the only noticeable change that occurred with the character. Francesca shifted into a more prominent character as opposed to acting in the background as in earlier seasons.
Not only did the third season mark the beginning of her love story, but it also revealed more of her personality, allowing the audience to better understand her and how she stands out from the rest of her seven siblings.
Even though it hasn’t been publicly confirmed that Francesca is on the spectrum, her newly added traits make her an easily identifiable autistic character.
Even though it hasn’t been publicly confirmed that Francesca is on the spectrum, her newly added traits make her an easily identifiable autistic character.
In our first introduction to Francesca in season three, she’s shown so deeply immersed in playing the piano that she doesn’t notice her family in the room until Violet calls her name twice. This was the first depiction of autism showing her hyperfixation on the piano. It is also emphasized in a later scene at a ball where a group of bachelors ask about her other hobbies and she confesses that the piano forte takes a great deal of her time.
She doesn’t enjoy socializing, so she masks to fit in. But later, she describes the feeling to Penelope as like being inspected like a rare insect under a microscope. She also repeatedly taps her fingers at social gatherings — which can be seen as an act of stimming, or often tries to escape to quieter, less crowded places when she’s overstimulated.
For a TV show set in the early 19th century, Francesca’s character shows us what it’s like being neurodivergent in an era when social gatherings were a norm, and so being sociable was expected. Her autistic traits are unmistakeably noticeable despite her and others lack of understanding of it.
She is aware that she’s different and doesn’t relate with anyone, even her own family, as she confesses to a suitor when she says, “I love my family dearly, but it can be rather lonely to be around them all at once.”
It’s not until she meets John Stirling that she finally feels understood. In one of many occasions that she tries to escape society by slipping away from a ball, she meets him standing outside, seemingly from a desire to find solitude as well. He immediately recognizes and understands her need for some quiet and asks that they both enjoy the silence together. She welcomes the idea, happy to finally meet someone that was just like her.
She struggles to articulate the man of her desires and simply says “someone kind” when asked by a group of fellow young ladies, to which one of them criticizes her response as rather plain, but with John, she feels a connection in their sameness and unlikeness with the rest of ton, a feeling that didn’t need words to be explained.
John also shows autism-coded traits. Like Francesca, he’s socially withdrawn, musically inclined and enjoys quiet places. He visits the Bridgerton home to call on Francesca and they simply sit in silence, staring ahead and smiling, rather than having a conversation, much to the surprise of her family.
When they meet during a walk, she comments on his abrupt exit the other day while physically expressing her fondness for him, but he completely misses her cue. He asks if she finds the music in the background enjoyable and she critiques the pace for being too fickle and therefore hard to comprehend, stating that she would rather enjoy it if it were played in three-four so that she could feel the music. Her critique was also a commentary on her feelings for John: its slowness compared to the typical fast-paced relationships.
Like many autistic people, Francesca has difficulty understanding metaphors. We see this in season four when she consults Penelope about “the pinnacle” and requests literal answers over similes. However, with John, she’s able to communicate it in the language they both understand — music. John also finally gets her cue as, later on, he presents her with the music rearranged to her preferred pace to express his feelings.
Seeing these traits represented matters — because a wide range of women who may feel misunderstood can see themselves in her.
Francesca’s personality has been perceived as anything other than autistic, such as introverted or anxious, despite the telling signs pointing to neurodivergence — a reality of many neurodivergent women who are often misdiagnosed.
While the author of the Bridgerton books, Julia Quinn, has admitted to not writing Francesca or John as neurodivergent, Hannah Dodd revealed the show’s writers had discussed something related to the characters’ autism, even though neither she nor Victor Alli, who plays John Stirling, were made aware.
But just like the show’s plot, many characters are written differently from the books. The Bridgerton series is also known for its diversity and inclusion, so it’s not far-fetched that they were deliberate efforts to make Francesca and John neurodivergent.
Francesca is particularly important for the representation of autistic women, especially for a show whose major audience is women. Her character doesn’t lean on glaring autism-specific tropes but on traits that could be confused as neurotypical, especially when presented by women. But seeing these traits represented matters — because a wide range of women who may feel misunderstood can see themselves in her.
