To Meet Ones Pride, Then Succumb To A Prejudice

To Meet Ones Pride, Then Succumb To A Prejudice

Bridget Jones Diary Film Poster.

In a novel written with such social critique and sharp satire characteristics, Jane Austen sets up the title of "Pride And Prejudice,” to resemble a physical reason to why one might hide behind their pride while another succumbs to their prejudice. With the techniques that she uses, including her heavy sarcasm and extreme exaggeration, she crafts a dynamic blueprint between the two characters of Elizabeth and Darcy. This dynamic blueprint creates a continuum that for me, carries on into one of "Pride And Prejudice's,”own adaptations. This adaption being “Bridget Jones Diary,” staring actress Renee Zellwegler as Bridget Jones (Elizabeth) and Colin Firth as Mark Darcy (Mr. Darcy). Both works mirror the foundation for the concept of a Heroine, in which societal pressure is caving in on a single woman to find her one true love and create a future, along with a family. With the inclusion of love interests in both the novel and adaptation I chose, similarly they include various examples of gender representation that are alike and different, that served for the purpose of the time period they were apart of. With this, creates a complexity between both times periods but similarities with gender and how the adaption represents Jane Austen’s characters. 

Elizabeth And Darcy’s Story/Character Parallels

With, “Bridget Jones Diary,” director, Sharon Maguire wanted the story between Bridget and Mark to unfold similarly to the original character’s story of “Pride and Prejudice.” She kept it mind that the end would always be a “happily ever after” prototype. However, even with the evolution of the times, the film still kept the characters the same to adapt the story of Elizabeth and Darcy. In the adaptation, the disastrous, first encounter between Bridget and Mark occurs during Pam’s (Bridget’s mother) New Years Day Turkey Curry Buffet Party. Pam makes the attempt to try and fix her daughter up with Mark Darcy, who is a wealthy human rights barrister. Bridget then overhears a conversation between Mark and his mother patronizingly speaking about her. He had said that she is a “verbally incontinent spinster who smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish and dresses like her mother.”

Bridget And Mark's Awkward Interaction At New Year's Day Party.

This part of the film opens the door to the beginning to their romantic journey. Throughout the film, Elizabeth and Darcy’s on an off storyline is aligned with the situations going on between Bridget and Mark. Another instance to their situational storyline in the film was through the infamous birthday dinner party that Bridget had hosted. During the scene in this portion of the movie, Bridget tries to cook a sophisticated, five-star meal to serve to her guests at her party (53.00 mins). However, the “high end” meal that she planned to serve, wasn’t the outcome that she had gotten. One of her dishes included celery, in which she had tied together with blue string to keep the stalks together.

Mark Helping Bridget Fix Her Mess In The Kitchen During 
The Dinner Party.

With this, she had turned her whole pot blue, making blue soup with the strings. And that was just one of many problems with her meal she was cooking. In the end, Mark had unexpectedly arrived at her home and helped her make a new “makeshift” meal, which ended up working out. And by the end of the night, he had told her that he had liked her “just the way she was.” Both of these in mind, they steer toward keeping Elizabeth and Darcy’s story alive by showing the audience a modernized version of both the good and bad side of a relationship that was forming between both characters. Especially in the dinner scene, you can tell that the difference in body language from their first encounter to now, takes shape for their on going relationship. (Bridget and Mark standing shoulder to shoulder). It particular, the dinner party is a pivotal moment that shows Bridget beginning to let her guard down in regard to Mark. This is similar to part of a scene in the novel “Pride And Prejudice,” where Elizabeth begins to let her guard down and release some of her prejudice against Mr. Dary when witnessing how Mrs. Reynolds speaks about him and his actions when she visited Pemberley (p.241). 

Gender Treatment Within Film

For the film itself, the difference between gender is shown through the actions of the characters, with Bridget in particular. It is noticeable that throughout the film, she faced her own internalized pressures. These pressures ranged from anything regarding her current weight, to her appearance, even aging had looked to become a factor for her. During the time period in which the film had been made in (during the early 2000s) the appropriation during that time for females was to confine themselves to the beauty standards that were being executed by the public. Now, 25 years later, there are still those societal pressures that are put onto women regarding these standards, but they have progressed more rapidly and have differentially evolved. With that being said, the film also showcases the effect of maternal figures and how they push towards women in traditional family roles. In this case Pam, (Bridget’s mother), had been pushing Bridget towards finding that romantic relationship with someone and encouraging her to have a family. Which started from when her mother tried to set her up with Mark. The film also shows how the male characters are exempted from those different treatments/roles. Instead, they were put in more dominant roles that gave them a much higher status with the hierarchy. For instance, Bridget Jones was the assistant at a publishing company.

Bridget As The Assistant In The Publications Office.

Her boss being Daniel Cleaver (a male) and her being placed in low status roles within that company that consists of male individuals being placed or already were above her like, Mark Darcy, represent how males were seen to be more put into leadership roles than women were during that period of time in which the movie was made.

Conclusion 

In my perspective, the film itself had done an astonishing job at accurately shaping the story, along with the plot dynamic of Elizabeth and Darcy. It offered a very different and revolutionized story but was still within the same context of how it had been told through Jane Austen’s novel. The film offered various modernized and situational plots and included an amazing blueprint between the dynamic of the characters as well. The gender treatment that was shown through-out the film can be seen as a similar reflection to Austen’s novel as well. But, as stated earlier, it’s a modernized version of how gender treatment varied among both genders between the era’s in which both works were written in.