Both Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones’s Diary have similar themes but they are portrayed differently since they are written in two completely different time periods. The books share many themes but the most predominate one is love.
Love in Pride and Prejudice
Many people claim that Jane Austen was the inventor of chick lit by writing stories that would keep women swooning from the 19th century until now. Although some people get insulted when they loop Jane Austen into the same genre as less critically acclaimed books such as Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey. Austen ability to subtly hint at romance and her powerful character development skills make her love stories classics and a cut above the rest. So what makes Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s love story one for the ages? Well it’s the fact that two people who initially hate each other manage to work together and overcome their differences and realize they are meant to be. Darcy, one of literatures most beloved characters manages to steel the hearts of women everywhere when he starts falling for Elizabeth, “But no sooner had he (Darcy) made it clear to himself and his friends that she (Elizabeth) hardly had a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness. (Pride and Prejudice, Austen, chapter 6 paragraph 12). Readers swoon when they see Darcy falling in love with the woman he initially disregarded, not only for her beauty but also for her intelligence and personality. It’s clear that Jane Austen understood the female brain by manufacturing every woman’s dream man.
Love in Bridget Jones’s Diary
Bridget Jones’s Diary also puts a big emphasis on the theme of love but unlike Elizabeth Bennet who is happy staying single until she finds the right man, Bridget is desperate to find the man of her dreams. As much as most of us don’t want to admit it we are much more like the spastic and somewhat embarrassing (but always lovable) Bridget Jones when it comes to love. Throughout the book Bridget does everything she can think of to try to attract the opposite sex but fail miserably. What makes Bridget stand out among other chick lit protagonist is that she isn’t perfect and lady-like and she gives her honest opinion when it comes to love. One example is in a diary entry talking about her friend’s new relationship she states “But if you are single the last thing you want is your best friend forming a functional relationship with somebody else”(Bridget Jones Diary, Fielding, chapter 3 paragraph 17). In the end it’s Bridget’s sense of humor and honesty that makes Mark (and the readers) fall in love with her. Bridget’s honest reports on trying to find love prove to make her a very relatable character to women around the world.
Other major themes seen in both books
Femininity: Both protagonists have to deal with the issues of being a women and not being seen as equals. For Elizabeth that means she is pressured to get married so she will have someone to take care of her after the death of her father. In the case of Bridget she has the social pressures of being single and over 30 hanging on her shoulders and is judged constantly for her decision to spend her twenties working on her career instead of getting hitched and having babies.
Pride and Prejudice: These two themes go hand in hand when talking about these books and are the cause for the central conflict between the main characters. In both books it is the male protagonist pride that insults the leading lady causes her to make pre-judgments about his entire life. Although these themes are the main reasons for conflict in the books they also are what make the love story. There is nothing more romantic than two people realizing their hatred for one another was really love
Pride and Prejudice: These two themes go hand in hand when talking about these books and are the cause for the central conflict between the main characters. In both books it is the male protagonist pride that insults the leading lady causes her to make pre-judgments about his entire life. Although these themes are the main reasons for conflict in the books they also are what make the love story. There is nothing more romantic than two people realizing their hatred for one another was really love