#although Ma Costa came close she still hit Lyra so hard she got dizzy *twice* before

[sage-nebula]

Having reread The Golden Compass, it really is apparent how much of Lyra's behavior stems from her being an abused and neglected child.

I don't think that Pullman really intended for her to be seen as abused, at least not when it comes to how much she was beaten as a child. Lyra's beatings are mentioned casually, and Pullman is 78 years old; he would have grown up in a time where corporal punishment was seen as normal, and it wouldn't be surprising to learn he was one of those who thinks "I was spanked and I turned out just fine." (Plus, given how he treated her in the following two books, I'm sure he would similarly think she deserved the abuse she got.)

But there have been countless studies showing how psychologically damaging corporal punishment is, and more than that, people who are abused will come up with defense mechanisms to try to prevent further abuse. These defense mechanisms can vary, but Lyra's primary one seems to be lying, along running away and hiding. To explore this, lets first look at the times it's mentioned that Lyra is beaten as a child, and how this teaches her to fear the adults around her:

The visitor mentioned by the Master, Lord Asriel, was her uncle, a man whom she admired and feared greatly [. . .] He was fierce: if he caught her in here she'd be severely punished [. . .] (TGC, 6).

. . .

Lyra was afraid of the Steward, who had twice beaten her (TGC, 7).

. . .

She couldn't help herself. She tumbled out of the wardrobe and scrambled up to snatch the glass from his hand. The wine flew out, splashing on the edge of the table and the carpet, and then the glass fell and smashed. He seized her wrist and twisted hard. "Lyra! What the hell are you doing?" "Let me go and I'll tell you!" "I'll break your arm first. How dare you come in here?" "I've just saved your life!" They were still for a moment, the girl twisted in pain but grimacing to prevent herself from crying out louder, the man bent over her frowning like thunder. [. . .] Her uncle looked down with a restrained fury, and she didn't dare meet his eyes. [. . .] There was a knock on the door. 'That'll be the Porter,' said Lord Asriel. "Back in the wardrobe. If I hear the slightest noise, I'll make you wish you were dead" (TGC, 14 - 15).

. . .

". . . Don't argue anymore or I shall be angry." And his daemon growled with a deep savage rumble that made Lyra suddenly aware of what it would be like to have teeth meeting in her throat (TGC, 28).

. . .

It was a mighty voice, a woman's voice, but a woman with lungs of brass and leather. Lyra looked around for her at once, because this was Ma Costa, who had clouted Lyra dizzy on two occasions [. . .] Lyra admired Ma costa greatly, but she intended to be wary of her for some time yet, for theirs was the boat she had hijacked" (TGC, 54)

. . .

"Don't want to look at nothing," Lyra muttered. Mrs Lonsdale smacked her leg. "Wash," she said ferociously. "You get all that dirt off." "Why?" Lyra said at last. "I never wash my knees usually. No one's going to look at my knees. What've I got to do all this for? You don't care about Roger, neither, any more than Chef does. I'm the only one that --" Another smack, on the other leg (TGC, 64).

. . .

She didn't finish the sentence, because Mrs. Coulter's daemon sprang off the sofa in a blur of golden fur and pinned Pantalaimon to the carpet before he could move. Lyra cried out in alarm, and then in fear and pain, as Pantalaimon twisted this way and that, shrieking and snarling, unable to loosen the golden monkey's grip. Only a few seconds, and the monkey had overmastered him: with one fierce black paw around his throat and his black paws gripping the polecat's lower limbs, he took one of Pantalaimon's ears in his other paw and pulled as if he intended to tear it off. Not angrily, either, but with a cold curious force that was horrifying to see and even worse to feel. Lyra sobbed in terror. "Don't! Please! Stop hurting us!" Mrs Coulter looked up from her flowers. "Do as I tell you, then," she said. "I promise!" [. . .] "What do you think off the flowers, dear?" said Mrs Coulter as sweetly as if nothing had happened. "I suppose one can't go wrong with roses, but you can have too much of a good thing . . . Have the caterers brought enough ice? Be a dear and go and ask. Warm drinks are horrid . . ." Lyra found it was quite easy to pretend to be lighthearted and charming [. . .] (TGC, 86 - 87).

There are probably more examples, but all of these are only in the first hundred chapters of the first book of the novel. It is mentioned that Lyra is beaten, that she is smacked; her own father (whom she believes to be her uncle) twists her arm and threatens to break it because she dared to be in a room she wasn't supposed to be, and spilled some wine. Her mother (whom she doesn't know is her mother) has her daemon almost twist the ear off Lyra's daemon for daring to talk back, and then makes Lyra kiss her cheek in apology and pretend like nothing happened. And all of this treatment -- all of this abuse -- is treated like perfectly normal for Lyra's upbringing.

So considering this, is it any wonder she learned to lie so well? That she calls herself a practiced liar? We see throughout the first book especially that Lyra lies to get herself out of danger, with the most iconic moment being when she lies to Iofur Raknison in order to survive being captured by his bears (and restore Iorek to the throne). When she can't lie, she avoids eye contact, runs away, and/or hides. She admires some of the adults who scare her (Asriel, Ma Costa), but she also fears them because they've physically assaulted her in the past and could do so again. Later books especially try to treat her lying as a genetic trait inherited from her mother, but it's clear to me that Lyra learned to lie precisely to protect herself from the way the adults around her would beat her without a second thought.

(It's also worth noting that the first book makes it clear that while Lyra has the charm of Mrs Coulter, she also has the ferocity of Asriel. The latter two books took the Asriel comparisons and gave them to Will instead, but that's a rant for another time.)

As for the neglect -- later books mention how Lyra was never held or cuddled as a baby or child. She has no memories of ever being shown any warmth. So not only was Lyra beaten by the adults at Jordan College (and Lord Asriel, and Ma Costa, and later Mrs Coulter), but she was never given any warmth, either. Is it any wonder that she turned out to be a mistrustful little liar? She wasn't bad; she was trying to protect herself given that the adults in her life never did. Her practiced lying is something to sympathize with her over, not look down on her for.