Bridget Jones and Pride and Prejudice: Timeless Expectations

     In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, we are shown a romance story wherein the heroine is forced under societal expectations that continuously obstruct her end goal of falling in love. This concept, and much of the story itself, is timeless. Even in modern adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, the fundamentals of the story translate so well into our current lives and culture. One such movie that has achieved this remarkably well is Bridget Jones's Diary (2001). This age-old story of romantic struggle under society's expectations of what is "normal" or acceptable carries on Austen's proverbial torch in a masterclass of cinema. 

Darcy and Elizabeth... Or Bridget in this case. 

    In Austen's original text, we are shown an oftentimes tense and emotional back and forth between Elizabeth and Darcy, portraying a relationship that seems like it's ready to explode at any moment but certain societal chains are holding them back and creating the driving tension of the story. This holds true all the same in Sharon Maguire's 2001 film Bridget Jones's Diary. Bridget is now the representative of Elizabeth's character-- a single woman in her thirties struggling to find love amongst the constant reminders and expectations of everyone around her. This is the modern equivalent of what we are shown in Pride and Prejudice, wherein Elizabeth is at the age where marriage is socially upon her and the pressure of her peers' expectations are only growing.

    Darcy's name stays the same in Bridget Jones's Diary, and his personality shows little change, either. We are shown a very similar man to the original: uptight, heavily filtered, working exclusively under social expectations, and seemingly bound to his family and job. For us American audiences, I'm sure his being exceedingly British helped heaps with the "posh" image the character of Darcy is meant to portray. He works as a lawyer in the film, constantly bouncing back into Bridget's life at gatherings and being pressured into marriage himself with his female colleague. The two work perfectly as a believable and likely far more relatable modern take on the original two characters. 

How Gendered Expectations Haven't Changed

     In Pride and Prejudice, the gendered expectations of the time are everywhere to be found and end up largely driving the story. Elizabeth is expected to marry, Darcy is expected to marry, but due to their difference in social class, it simply isn't meant to be in society's eyes and the two must fight for it and break social norms. This may sound complicated or overly dramatic, leading some modern audiences to think things like, "Why worry? Just get together." In reality, things haven't changed all too much, and Bridget Jones's Diary brings it back into modern times in a beautiful display of how gendered norms are hardly different nowadays, merely under a different guise. In the modern retelling, Bridget is faced with the pressure to find a husband from her family, her coworkers, her friends, and her peers. Through more than one awkward gathering, the pressure builds on Bridget more and more, echoing Elizabeth's nearly two hundred year-old struggles. One such scene wherein the tension is literally palpable is during the dinner scene (0:52:45), wherein every single person at the dinner table intently stares at Bridget, using physical and visual humor to represent the very real expectations they have. 

    

Clip begins at 0:51:45

    Bridget Jones's Diary's main gendered focus is on how the pressures of peers and society have remained consistent over the course of two hundred years, even though their face appearances may have changed. Despite the movie's humorous story and atmosphere, it does bring to surface some very real issues regarding the expectations placed on women in today's society.

Conclusion and Personal Thoughts

    

    I really, really liked this movie! It had been recommended to me before, but I'd never gotten around to watching it. It was also very funny to see Colin Firth as Darcy with him having played Darcy in the limited TV series. I'm honestly quite happy I hadn't watched the movie until after I'd experienced Pride and Prejudice, as the experience was bettered by getting the original experience that Austen delivers and seeing the parallels with today's society. 

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. T. Egerton, Whitehall, 1813.

Bridget Jones's Diary. Directed by Sharon Maguire, Miramax House Entertainment, 2001.

Reimagining Austen's Work in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies 
Film poster

    Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813) marries dystopian zombie reality in Burr Steers' Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016). Similar to the novel, the film is set in nineteenth-century England, but with twenty-first-century dystopian world-building. In this film, a virus has infected the world, turning people into brain-eating zombies. While navigating the complicated marriage market and societal expectations, the Bennet family also battles against zombies. Unlike the original novel, however, the Bennet sisters were taught martial arts at a Shaolin temple in China. Although the undead plot elements change the story, much of the beloved courtship narrative remains intact. The Bennet family rushes against the clock to get all of the sisters married. When a wealthy young man, Mr. Bingley, moves into town, Mrs. Bennet is determined to see one of her daughters become his wife. During the family's first meeting with Mr. Bingley, his friend, Darcy, gravely insults Elizabeth's pride, starting a tension-filled feud between the two. As they navigate their growing feelings for one another, they must fight against the zombies that threaten everyone they love. The added element of Zombies raises the stakes of the narrative, building the tension to a life-and-death reality.

The Story Reimagined

Elizabeth drops Carrion flies into Darcy's hand

The addition of zombies to Austen's original story gives Elizabeth's character a more active role in the plot. This deviation allows for more creative liberties to be taken, especially in the case of female characters. If the female characters played the same role that they do in the novel, they would not survive the apocalypse. This is why Elizabeth can be the assertive, combative character that she takes on in this film. An example of this is in one of the first extended conversations Elizabeth and Darcy have, which is at Jane's sickbed. During her walk to the Bingley's estate, she was injured and became ill. Darcy, because of his position in the military, attempts to ensure she is not infected with the virus, so he uses Carrion flies as detection. In the defense of her sister, Elizabeth catches all of them in one hand before dropping them into Darcy's palm, saying, "I believe that these belong to you." The added tension of Darcy threatening Jane's life increases the stakes for Elizabeth, but the way she responds is perfect. Instead of lashing out at Darcy, she handles the situation efficiently with no spectacle. She does not let Darcy's status in society or in the military intimidate her into submission. This element of physical capability changes the dynamic between the original story and this one. 

Elizabeth saves Mr. Darcy from zombie Wickham

Another element of the film that changes the dynamics of the original plot is its resolution. When Lydia and Wickham run away with one another to zombie territory, Darcy follows to save her before the bridge is destroyed. He can free Lydia but finds himself fighting Wickham in a final showdown. Just as Wickham gains the upper hand and prepares to kill Darcy, Elizabeth swoops in and kills him. This scene adds to the adaptation by maintaining her active role in its end. Instead of Darcy saving Lydia from Wickham's plot, Elizabeth takes control of the situation. This alteration reinforces the strength of female characters that has persisted throughout the plot.

Treatment of Gender

    In this film, many of the female characters are portrayed as capable, deadly women. Even though they can take care of themselves, their male counterparts still impose gender expectations on them. For example, during the fight scene at the town's ball, the Bennet sisters heroically slaughter a horde of zombies in front of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. 

The Bennet sisters walking into the hall on their way to fight zombies. 

    The scene opens with the Bennet sisters strutting into the hall with a heroic score introducing them. In this entrance, the sisters take up a majority of the screen, placing the focus on them and their actions. Wearing evening dresses adds to the complicated nature of this scene. Not only are these dresses incredibly long, but they have corsets. This restricts movement and breathing for all of the women. For them to be capable of fighting in these dresses reveals the extensive training the sisters have taken to get to this point.

    Both Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy watch them without lifting a finger to help, seemingly in awe of their fighting prowess. Instead of being grateful and impressed by Elizabeth's impeccable fighting skills, Mr. Darcy only comments, "I am forced to acknowledge her figure is both light and pleasing and that her arms are surprisingly muscular yet not so much as to be unfeminine." Not only does this undermine Elizabeth's physical capabilities as a warrior, but it highlights the importance of remaining feminine even in a life-or-death situation. Instead of acknowledging Elizabeth as a skilled fighter, let alone an equal, Darcy focuses on her physical appearance and whether she is too masculine. This speaks to a larger theme throughout the film. Even though many of the women are trained extensively in martial arts and are just as capable as the men, Darcy's comment reveals that society still holds women to certain physical beauty standards.

    This scene also speaks to the male gaze. Instead of focusing on the heroic nature of this scene, the men choose instead to sexualize the sisters. Darcy and Bingley do not see these women as capable fighters; they see them as a release for their sexual desires. Even the weapons the women hold are used to satisfy the male gaze. In the hands of a man, the sword is a tool, but in the hands of a woman, it is symbolic of a penis. Instead of gripping a sword to save lives, the two men see it as a symbol of the women's sexual vigor. To these men, the women are only objects of male pleasure, not talented women who have saved their lives. The film's deviation from many traditional gender roles, the female characters' strength is still diminished by their male counterparts because of the male gaze and societal pressures.

Mr. Collins asking Elizabeth to marry him.

    Another scene that speaks to gender roles in the film is the scene where Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth. Similar to the novel, Mr. Collins asks Elizabeth to marry him by listing all of the reasons they would be a great match. Many of those reasons do not deviate from the original dialogue, but Mr. Collins adds a stipulation: Elizabeth must give up fighting as "marital submission." In a world in which fighting and being capable of defending oneself is a necessity, Mr. Collins focus on Elizabeth being the docile wife reveals how this society thinks women should behave. The focus on being a proper woman over survival reinforces the restrictions that society places on women, despite the world's current climate. His stipulation reveals that a woman's place in a marriage is submission to her husband, relinquishing her autonomy and independence. 

Conclusion

    One of the many reasons Pride and Prejudice has remained timeless is Elizabeth's character. Her intelligence and outspokenness resonate with audiences across history. The film's addition of physicality to her character makes her even more compelling to modern audiences. In this film, she can not only speak for herself, but she can back it up through her actions. Around the time that this film was created, multiple female characters with similar skill sets in dystopian films wowed audiences. The addition of martial artist Elizabeth Bennet fit right in with her peers. Her character fills a niche that existed in that specific set of years but has remained endearing in the subsequent decade. Even with the modern twist, the film draws attention to problematic societal standards and male behaviors that have persisted for centuries, addressing these in often comical ways.

Romantic Comedy Meets Horror

     Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice has been adapted many times over, but only Pride and Prejudice and Zombies directed by Burr Steers based off of Seth Grahame-Smith's book can boast introducing the classic romance to horror. The film takes the regency era story and places it into an alternate history of a zombie plagued Great Britain. It's additive in nature, the same story we know and love just add zombies and follow the logical conclusions of what the world would then look like. 

Colonel Darcy at Mrs. Featherstone's Party

    Mr. Darcy, or Colonel Darcy in this film, plays a
larger role in the crowns attempt to fight back against the zombies. He acts almost like a one-man inquisition searching for zombies amongst the nobles, leading men, and being one of the first in the fight at any opportunity. We first meet him doing just this at Mrs. Featherstone's party where he quickly finds and dispatches a zombie despite the distrust and dislike he is shown. Then again, a zombie hunter at your door is never a good sign no matter how rude he comes across. He is shown to be both intelligent and strong with a loyalty that pushes beyond the original text of not just threatening embarrassment or social ostracism but outright death at the hands of a zombie hoard to help the woman he loves family.

Elizabeth and her sisters at the Meryton Ball

    Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the second Benet daughter, is still the outspoken young woman we know, but with a deadly twist. She, like her sisters in this adaptation, have been taught the deadly arts to defend themselves and fight against the undead that plagues their world. This physical power leads further into a more direct way of speaking out seen best in the adaptation of the proposal scene at 1:06turning into a brawl between the two. Elizabeth is still allowing her emotions to rule her even leaving the Meryton Ball to cry after being humiliated. Of course, her humiliation is soon forgotten thanks to the approaching zombies at which point she makes full use of her training, but the underlying
rule of emotionality still reigns over her in this adaptation.

    The main changes to the story follow the zombie's involvement. Each party and ball end with an invasion of zombies. Each travel scene involves at least seeing if not fighting zombies. Mr. Wickham is a zombie sympathizer who eventually is revealed to be the zombie antichrist. Instead of Lydia marrying Mr. Wickham she is saved from him after being held captive in a zombie church. Lady Catherine is the deadliest swordswoman in Britian who eventually safeguards the Bennet's in the final act. Even the changes in violence and physicality are made because a zombie apocalypse should be a good enough reason to let even the women violate the rules of proper conduct to not fight in public.

Darcy VS. Wickham & Lady Catherine De Bourgh 

    The gender rules and roles in this adaptation are a strange mix of modern, and conservative. The women are still expected to be the accomplished and poised girls that were valued in the regency era. This is still a patriarchal society that follows those norms. However, the women are much more outspoken in this adaptation than the original leaning into more modern views of women speaking their minds. The alternate history of the zombie apocalypse allows for another modern view to come up, allowing the women to fight. Regency women would not have been allowed to learn martial arts to fight even in a state of emergency. Not to mention the racism that would have prevented them from learning traditional Chinese and Japanese fighting styles. Instead, these women are not just taught to fight and excel at it but fight alongside the men. The Bennet sisters prove to be better warriors than even some of the male characters like Mr. Collins and Mr. Bingley who are quite useless in a fight, which is a bad thing to be in a zombie apocalypse. 

188 Years Later, Have Things Changed?

Mark, Bridget, and Daniel from Bridget Jones Diary 

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has been adapted in many different ways. From stories following Austen's complete plot, to stories that venture out and add to the plot. An example of this would be Bridget Jones Diary directed by Sharon Maguire. 

Bridget Jones Diary summary 

Bridget Jones, who plays the part of Elizabeth Bennet in Bridget Jones Diary is a 32 year old woman, Much like Elizabeth she feels she is fighting against time to find a husband. With outside pressure from her mother and peers, it seems almost like her biological clock is running out. She is also outspoken and bold, much like Elizabeth. Mark Darcy, who is our Mr. Darcy of Bridget Jones Diary is an odd character who seems to strongly dislike Bridget from the moment he meets her. Much like Darcy with Elizabeth. 

Our two main characters, Darcy and Bridget, dislike each other very much. Mark Darcy does not like how Bridget drinks, smokes and much about her outspokenness. While Bridget finds Darcy to be arrogant. When Bridget falls for Daniel Cleaver, Darcy is quick to warn her family about how Cleaver is not a good enough man for Bridget. This later does prove correct when Cleaver cheats on Bridget with another woman at work. 

Similar to Darcy and Elizabeth, when Mark Darcy confesses his feelings to Bridget she shuts him down immediately. Though this happens, Darcy goes out of his way to get Bridget a big interview at her new job which gets her lots of notice. Darcy and Bridget spend the night cooking for her friends and birthday, getting to know each other. Eventually Cleaver shows up, confessing that he cannot stop thinking about Bridget, which causes Darcy to get upset and leave. Just like in Pride & Prejudice, Darcy and Cleaver fight, leaving Bridget mad at Darcy. After some time, at the Darcy's family party, Bridget finally confesses that she feels the same for Darcy. It is then announced that Darcy is to leave for New York, though he doesn't go because he forgot to give Bridget her "goodbye kiss."

Bridget Jones Diary book cover

Discussion of Gender

With our main character Bridget being 32 years old, she faces the societal pressures of being unmarried. We see this through out the movie with Bridgets mother pushing her to meet men at every social gathering. 

Another pressure of marriage and children we see throughout the movie is the dinner scene. Bridget gets asked why it is so many women in their 30's are unmarried, she responds with, "Oh, I don't know, I suppose it doesn't help that underneath our clothes our entire bodies are covered in scales." To which no one at the table laughs at her joke and moves on with their own conversations. Another part from this scene, when Bridget is getting nagged about not being married she replies with, "Tell me, is it one in four marriages that end in divorce now, or is it one in three." 

When people are discussing Bridget running out of time for marriage and children they will often make a "Tick Tock" sound at her to insinuate her age. Through out the movie, Bridget refers to herself as a spinster. I believe this is due to all the outside pressure being placed on her. 

Conclusion 

These two stories may be in very different time periods but they still show that societal normals have not changed. Woman are still given a biological clock, being seen as "spinsters" is not finding a husband. Woman are judged for their outspokenness and personality while it is normalized in men. While these stories may have differences due to the modernization of Bridget Jones Diary, the story still shows that it seems to be a woman's goal in life to find a husband, no matter the age.