“Pride and Prejudice” and “Bridget Jones’ Diary”, Essay Example

In the book “Bridget Jones’ Diary,” author Helen Fielding tells the story of a young woman in her thirties who is unmarried and becomes involved with two very different men. A central theme of the book involves Bridget coming to terms with her true feelings for each of these men and making a choice about which one she really loves. The book was adapted into a film of the same name, in which the character of Bridget is played by actress Renee Zellwegger. The film is a traditional translation of the book, and has many scenes and characters cut down or removed entirely in order to fit into a few hours. The book “Bridget Jones’ Diary” is also a translation of a previous work, though it is a more radical translation. The modern book by Fielding is loosely based on the Jane Austen book “Pride and Prejudice,” and though there are numerous differences, the main theme of a woman who feels caught between two romantic interests is more or less the same.

The most notable difference between “Pride and Prejudice” and “Bridget Jones’ Diary” is that they take place in two very different time periods. By updating the original story into the modern day, the film is able to develop a main character that has some different concerns than the main character in the book. Bridget Jones is a single woman with a career, while Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice lives in a time when the main goal in life of a woman is to get married. Despite this, however, Bridget still feels pressure from her family members and her married friends to find a husband and settle down.

There are also similarities between other characters, with the most obvious of them being that the book has the character of Mr. Darcy, and the film has the character of Mark Darcy. In both versions of the story, Elizabeth and Bridget dislike Darcy when they first meet, as he comes across as rather arrogant. In the book the character of Wickham is seen by Elizabeth and the other young women as being charming and attractive, and the film has a similar character in the form of Daniel Cleaver. In both versions of the story the characters of Darcy and Wickham/Cleaver have a past that has led them to dislike each other, and in both versions of the story the main female character eventually learns that she did not know the real secret of their past. Also featured in both stories is a scene where the female lead character overhears the Darcy character speak about her in a negative way, and it is only later that she realizes there are deeper reasons why Darcy is not immediately interested in a relationship with her.

Because “Bridget Jones’ Diary” is set in modern times, the main female character behaves quite differently than Elizabeth and the other women in Pride and Prejudice. Bridget smokes cigarettes, drinks alcohol, and even uses occasional profanity, all of which would have been unacceptable in Austen’s time. Despite these changes, the women in each of the stories seem to be somewhat realistic portrayals of how real women in each time would behave, so it would be unusual if a young single woman of Bridget’s time, who had a career and a full social life, did not enjoy visiting bars and restaurants and dating different men. The most notable changes to the main character from the book to the film are made simply to ensure that Bridget’s concerns about her career and her romantic life seem as real as possible in the context of a comedy film.

There are many differences between the book and the film, and the subplots and additional characters in “Pride and Prejudice” are more complex and detailed than they are in “Bridget Jones’ Diary.” At their core, however, each story features a young woman who becomes involved with a man she originally dislikes before coming to realize that she is falling in love with him. Both women face similar social pressures, although Bridget has the additional pressure of dealing with building a career. She does not need a husband to take care of her; she just wants someone to love her. This is, perhaps the most significant difference between the two main characters in the book and the film. On the surface, “Bridget Jones’ Diary” is a radical translation of “Pride and Prejudice,” but at the core of each story there are timeless themes about the social pressures young women face regarding love, marriage, and facing the future.

References

Bridget Jones’ Diary. (2001). [film] Surrey, England: Sharon Maguire.

James, E., abble, M. and Austen, J. (2014). Pride and prejudice. New York: Signet Classic.