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Helen Fielding has opening admitted the she took the plot and characters from Pride and Prejudice for Bridget Jones’s Diary and after reading both you can definitely see the parallels between the two.
Just from reading the plot summaries of both books you can tell that the essential plot is the same. In both stories the female protagonist undergoes pressure from her friends and family to get married before they run out of “time”. For Elizabeth this means she must get married before her father dies and the estate is given away but for Bridget it is more of a race against her biological clock and the need to keep up with the social norms. Throughout both books Elizabeth and Bridget deal with very similar problems. They are both considered too “old” to be single and are constantly reminded of this by their overbearing mothers who continuously try to set their daughters up with rich gentlemen. They also both deal with family issues. Neither Elizabeth nor Bridget’s parents have solid relationships and their matrimonial problems affected their daughters’ relationship. In Bridget’s case her parents have recently split up and despite the fact that she is a grown adult and already living alone she is devastated to see her parents once strong relationship crumble to the ground. Watching her parents split up makes Bridget question the idea marriage all together, but it also teaches her not to put all her eggs in one basket and make sure she finds someone who is in it for the long hall. The Bennet family however, has a slightly different situation. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are still together, since getting a divorce was very rare in the 1800 (not to mention a disgrace for the family) but are in a loveless relationship. The two got married young and out of convince and have spent the past 23 years annoying each other. After growing up in a loveless household Elizabeth saw how unhappy both parties become and it what led her to commit her self to finding true love.
Just from reading the plot summaries of both books you can tell that the essential plot is the same. In both stories the female protagonist undergoes pressure from her friends and family to get married before they run out of “time”. For Elizabeth this means she must get married before her father dies and the estate is given away but for Bridget it is more of a race against her biological clock and the need to keep up with the social norms. Throughout both books Elizabeth and Bridget deal with very similar problems. They are both considered too “old” to be single and are constantly reminded of this by their overbearing mothers who continuously try to set their daughters up with rich gentlemen. They also both deal with family issues. Neither Elizabeth nor Bridget’s parents have solid relationships and their matrimonial problems affected their daughters’ relationship. In Bridget’s case her parents have recently split up and despite the fact that she is a grown adult and already living alone she is devastated to see her parents once strong relationship crumble to the ground. Watching her parents split up makes Bridget question the idea marriage all together, but it also teaches her not to put all her eggs in one basket and make sure she finds someone who is in it for the long hall. The Bennet family however, has a slightly different situation. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are still together, since getting a divorce was very rare in the 1800 (not to mention a disgrace for the family) but are in a loveless relationship. The two got married young and out of convince and have spent the past 23 years annoying each other. After growing up in a loveless household Elizabeth saw how unhappy both parties become and it what led her to commit her self to finding true love.
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Even though the two books have pretty much have the same plot line the writing styles are very different. Needless to say Bridget Jones’s Diary is much more modern than Pride and Prejudice (considering it was written almost 200 years later). This makes Fielding’s book a lot more risqué. Bridget talks openly throughout the book about her weight, her sex-life and her alcohol consumption all of which would be seen as sin (especially for a woman) in Austenian days. In fact Elizabeth and Darcy have absolutely no physical relationship until the very end of the book. The language is also a big difference between the two books. Since Bridget and her friends use profanities right, left and center it makes Elizabeth look like the ideal British lady (even though she would have been quite a bad-ass in her day). Besides the swearing Bridget Jones’s Diary is all together less proper than the classic Pride and Prejudice, which is written, in old English. Jane Austen would most likely be turning in her grave if she were read Bridget Jones’s Diary, which is full of modern day British slang and abbreviations (v. = very or vg. = very good etc). The final difference between the two writing styles is the perspective in which the story is written. Pride and Prejudice is written in third person, and although it most sticks with the point of view of Elizabeth, it does give the readers incite into other characters thoughts and emotions. Bridget Jones’s Diary however is obviously written in first person narrative (as it is a diary). Although a diary style book only explores one point of view it allows the reader to connect on a much more personal level.
As for which book I prefer, it’s a toss up. On one hand I think Bridget Jones’s Diary is a much lighter read and because it’s more recent it will resonate more with our generation. On the other hand Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice has stood the test of time and even though it’s over 200 years old it is still read and loved all over the world today. If you were to pick just one of these novels to read I personally would recommend Pride and Prejudice because I believe that Elizabeth Bennet is a much more complex and three-dimensional character, and even though both protagonist deal with the same types of situation Jane Austen manages write about them without the angsty fluff found in Helen Fielding’s novel. However I do believe that if Bridget Jones’s Diary can stand the test of time it will easily become a classic since it (very much like Pride and Prejudice) is a perfect snap shot of the struggles a woman faces in the 21st century.
As for which book I prefer, it’s a toss up. On one hand I think Bridget Jones’s Diary is a much lighter read and because it’s more recent it will resonate more with our generation. On the other hand Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice has stood the test of time and even though it’s over 200 years old it is still read and loved all over the world today. If you were to pick just one of these novels to read I personally would recommend Pride and Prejudice because I believe that Elizabeth Bennet is a much more complex and three-dimensional character, and even though both protagonist deal with the same types of situation Jane Austen manages write about them without the angsty fluff found in Helen Fielding’s novel. However I do believe that if Bridget Jones’s Diary can stand the test of time it will easily become a classic since it (very much like Pride and Prejudice) is a perfect snap shot of the struggles a woman faces in the 21st century.