Bridget Jones's Diary

The opening chapters of Bridget Jones’s Diary focus extensively on The Desire for Self-Improvement, for when Bridget makes it a point to establish her many goals for the year, it is clear that she is operating on the assumption that self-actualization can be attained through a series of concrete behaviors, such as curbing her drinking and smoking. Her ambitious list of New Year’s resolutions paints a picture of a confident, healthy woman who is firmly resolved to “stop smoking” and “go to gym three times a week” (3), and she seasons these concrete goals with the more abstract decision to “be more assertive,” “make better use of time,” and “form [a] functional relationship with [a] responsible adult” (3). In the abbreviated shorthand of the diary entry, she further vows to “develop inner poise and authority and sense of self as woman of substance, complete without boyfriend, as best way to attain boyfriend” (2). In many ways, this exhaustive laundry list of New Year’s resolutions reveals the deep insecurities that plague the protagonist, and her driven need to improve herself merely emphasizes her internalized sense of inadequacy. Ironically, her desire to establish herself as being complete on her own is driven by a desire to become more appealing to a hypothetical future boyfriend, and this paradoxical strategy ultimately undermines her abortive attempt at independence.

These early chapters also illustrate Sexist Attitudes in Contemporary Dating, for Fielding’s protagonist and her friends face an impossible dilemma of contradictory standards. They know that independent women are often seen as more sexually appealing (as opposed to those who are perceived as “needy” or “desperate”). However, they are simultaneously pressured to conform to the social construct of marrying a man and raising children, and in service of this goal, they find themselves fixating on finding a man even as they use a disingenuous façade of indifference to maintain the appearance of being “independent.” Fielding presents this conflict through Bridget’s tortured inner monologue as she waits for Daniel to arrive at the office; the protagonist resolves to remain “poised and cool” and to “remember that [she is] a woman of substance and [does] not need men in order to be complete, especially not him” (43). Ironically, this high-sounding ideal is soon undermined as she finds herself incessantly wondering where Daniel is, and her anxiety is humorously illustrated by time stamps that reveal her thoughts to be only five minutes apart. Thus, even as she attempts to project an air of independence, her inner thoughts reveal the contradiction of apparent “neediness.”

The danger of appearing too “needy” is further explored through the antics of Bridget’s friends. For example, when Richard breaks up with Jude after she asks him if they can go on holidays together, she blames herself for repelling him, believing that she is “codependent” and has “asked for too much to satisfy [her] own neediness” (19). However, unlike Bridget’s anxious thoughts about Daniel, which are clearly excessive, the narrative indicates that Jude’s desire for a holiday after a full 18 months of dating is an entirely reasonable request, not a show of neediness. As a result, the author condemns Richard, whom Bridget aptly describes as a “self-indulgent commitment phobic” (19). Through the differing experiences of the two friends, the author advances a more nuanced view of Sexist Attitudes in Contemporary Dating, analyzing the full range of behavior in dating scenarios and passing judgment on which approaches are logical and that indicate a serious imbalance. Ultimately, Fielding suggests that women are under such intense societal pressure to find men that they find themselves willing to tolerate cruel and unacceptable behavior merely because they fear being single more than they fear mistreatment.

Fielding continues to examine the societal condemnation of single women through the comments of the “smug marrieds” at the dinner party, who refer to the phenomenon of unmarried women as though it is a baffling problem. These stereotyped characters describe the office as being “full of […] single gals over thirty” and marvel that these “[f]ine physical specimens” simply “[c]an’t get a chap” (41). The underlying issue in this perspective is the unspoken assumption that all such women should automatically be seeking a man to pursue as a romantic interest, rather than simply going about their workday. When these women are cavalierly described as “fine physical specimens” (41), this scene establishes Fielding’s observation that society undervalues women’s full array of intangible talents and characteristics; as a result, women succumb to the social trap of undervaluing themselves as well.

Throughout the novel, Fielding repeatedly infuses her story with elements of intertextuality. This is immediately apparent in the novel’s engineered similarities to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, for just as the original Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy do not take to each other during their first meeting at a party, Bridget also finds Mark arrogant when she meets him at the Turkey Curry Buffet. In addition to this allusion, Fielding also leverages details from Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations when Bridget compares herself to the famously jilted Miss Havisham, who languished for years amongst the tattered remains of her ruined wedding day. As Bridget wryly observes, “When they are together with their married friends I feel as if I have turned into Miss Havisham” (40). This literary reference further highlights the long-established societal condemnation of the single woman and illustrates the fact that single women have been historically demeaned as something at once monstrous and pitiable. Fielding therefore suggests that the historical, demeaning depiction of the single woman as “lesser” persists despite the apparent progress in women’s rights and options.

In further support of this idea, the couples’ smug demeanor illustrates their perception of having achieved a much-coveted marker of social success. However, Fielding subtly undermines their confidence by contrasting it with the unhappiness of Bridget’s mother, Pam, for her situation reveals the pitfalls of choosing to fulfill the traditional female role of marriage. As Pam reflects, “I feel like the grasshopper who sang all summer, and now it’s the winter of my life and I haven’t stored up anything of my own” (71). This simile illustrates Pam’s resentment at having dedicated her life to the well-being of her husband and her children at the expense of her own hopes and ambitions. Because of this life of spiritual deprivation, she now feels compelled to indulge in numerous affairs and pursue a career of her own later in life. Significantly, Fielding’s male characters enjoy single life and married life, but it is always at the expense of their female counterparts.