Comparison between Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones Diary - Essay Example

Hollywood has been churning out several movies in recent years that are remakes of old classics.  Sometimes these are labeled as such.  Odysseus comes to mind or even the 1990s film O, which was a modern telling of Shakespeare’s Othello.  Others aren’t so blatant about their inspiration.  Movies like The Matrix, a modern retelling of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, or O Brother Where Art Thou, which utilizes many of the ideas found in Homer’s Odysseus.  Another recent movie that bears some similarity to an old classic is the film Bridget Jones’ Diary.  Throughout the film, there are several traces of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. 

One of the most obvious similarities between the two stories is the character named Darcy.  In Pride and Prejudice, this character is Fitzwilliam Darcy and he is one of the wealthiest and most sought-after bachelors of the area.  His country estate is called Pemberley and this is one of the places where Darcy and Elizabeth meet.  In Bridget Jones’ Diary, this character is given the more modern name of Mark Darcy and, while wealthy and with parents living in a nice home in the country, he does not own Pemberley.  Instead, this becomes the name of the publishing house where Bridget works at the time she meets Darcy.  Both characters are thus placed socially and economically at a level above the female lead and are characterized by a strong sense of restraint in emotional expression. 

This character is placed in competition for the female’s attention with someone they have tangled with before.  In Pride and Prejudice, Fitzwilliam Darcy must contend with Mr. Wickham for Elizabeth’s interest while Mark must compete with Danial for Bridget.  In both cases, the Darcy character is not much interested in fighting against someone he feels he cannot win against even though this other character is far inferior.  Mr. Wickham is a lascivious fortune seeker and gambler and Daniel is a womanizer.  Despite their significant character flaws, both Mr. Wickham and Daniel manage to distract Elizabeth/Bridget from her true match. 

However, Elizabeth/Bridget also has a tendency to get in her own way regarding her love life.  Both of them are quick to judge other people based only on their exterior appearances and quickly formed character assumptions.  Elizabeth assumes Darcy is snobbish and elitist based on his attitude toward her sister, who is restrained in showing her affection toward Mr. Bingley.  Bridget assumes Mark is ridiculous because of the silly sweater he’s wearing when they meet and remembers him as something of a snob.  In both cases as well, the female character cannot keep her mouth shut on her strong emotions, often managing to blurt out more than she’d intended or otherwise hurtful. 

Both Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones’ Diary contain many of the same themes, characters, and events perhaps to much the same effect.  In the Victorian era, Pride and Prejudice presented an almost shockingly modern woman, bold and outspoken, educated in logic rather than entertainment, and beginning to make her own decisions regardless of the wishes of her parents.  In more recent times, Bridget Jones is surprisingly accepting of her less-than-perfect figure, remains light-hearted about her foibles, and is capable of achieving both a career and a boyfriend by the end of the film.  That she doesn’t immediately get married and ride off into the sunset is further evidence of a more liberated woman.