If you enjoyed Bridget Jones's Diary , which celebrates its 15th anniversary on April 13, 2016, you'll likely enjoy Pride and Prejudice , and vice versa. That's because the plot of "Bridget Jones's Diary" was inspired by "Pride and Prejudice." While the film, based on Helen Fielding's novel, is far crazier than Jane Austen's literary classic (which does have its own hilarious moments), Bridget Jones' romance with Mark Darcy mirrors Elizabeth's Bennet's romance with Fitzwilliam Darcy. Fans of any version of Darcy can't help but enjoy Fielding's Austen-influenced masterpiece.
Fielding, author of Bridget Jones's Diary, told the BBC in a video interview that when she began writing her first novel about Bridget, she had only The Independent to feature the character. A collection of original newspaper columns, but no plot. Meanwhile, the BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice , starring Bridget Jones actor Colin Firth, is airing and she is "fascinated" by it. Fielding said,
"So I just stole the plot...and then the book started to imitate and imitate things more and more from Pride and Prejudice . But it's a really good plot and I don't think Jane Austen would have minded, regardless. How come she's dead."
For those of you who love Pride and Prejudice , you already know the references to the novel, big and small, in Bridget Jones's Diary . In fact, Bridget worked at Pemberley, the name of Darcy's estate in Austen's classic novel, and Fielding stole the stoic hero's surname "Darcy."
Allusions aside, the people behind the Bridget Jones' Diary movie also have connections to Pride and Prejudice . Screenwriter Andrew Davies created the 1995 Austen miniseries and wrote the screenplay for the 2001 film Bridget Jones's Diary . The addition of Bridget Jones to the cast is enough to make any Austen fan jump with joy since Fitzwilliam Darcy actor Colin Firth took on the role of Mark Darcy. Not to mention, actor Crispin Bonham-Carter, who played Mr. Bingley in the Pride and Prejudice miniseries, also made a brief appearance in Bridget Jones as a Pemberley employee. You can see him in conversation with writer Salman Rushie at the launch of Kafka's Motorcycle and during Bridget's exit.
Now that Fielding unabashedly admits to plagiarizing Austen's favorite plot, let's get down to business and compare these two stories, written nearly 200 years apart. While Liz will never be as eccentric as Bridget, the similarities between the stories of two of my favorite heroines are hard to deny.
1. Bad first impression of Darcy
An early version of Pride and Prejudice was called First Impressions , and it really emphasized the importance of the first meeting between Elizabeth and Darcy, but also in relation to Bridget and Mark. Elizabeth and Darcy first met not at a turkey curry buffet, but at a ball, where Elizabeth overheard Darcy saying to her, "She's all right, but not pretty enough to seduce me, " among other put-downs. Sexual remarks. Although Mark and Bridget had known each other since they were children, when she played naked in his paddling pool, Bridget was shocked when she overheard Mark saying that he didn't need to be with "some incontinent old maid who smoked like a chimney, Drinks like a fish and dresses like her mother." It's surprising how much I love any version of Darcy because his character always starts off as a jerk.
2. George Wickham and Daniel Cleaver are villains
The details of George Wickham and Daniel Cleaver are very different, but the general premise is the same. In Pride and Prejudice , Elizabeth enjoys Mr. Wickham's company - even though a true romance never develops between the two - and Mr. Wickham tells her that Mr. Darcy won't let him continue at Pemberley Hall Serving as a pastor thus ruined him financially. Daniel told Bridget that he and Mark were friends from Cambridge and that Mark was having an affair with Daniel's fiancée. Of course, both Wickham and Daniel exploit Liz and Bridget's already less than favorable view of Darcy by telling these fictional stories. Wickham really broke Darcy's sister's heart, and Daniel really slept with Mark's wife. In addition to lying, both characters continue to be playboys in both stories, with Wickham eloping with Liz's sister Lydia and Daniel and Laura being unfaithful to Bridget.
3. "This is a truth universally recognized..."
This isn’t necessarily a plot point, but I can’t ignore Bridget’s direct reference to Pride and Prejudice . The first sentence of Pride and Prejudice is: "It is a universal truth that a wealthy single man needs a wife." (I once had this quote on a T-shirt, don't be jealous. ) Bridget repeated this statement when she went to meet her mother, saying: “It’s a universal truth that the moment everything goes well in one area of your life, another part of it falls apart spectacularly. "
4. Domineering mother and gentle father
Speaking of Bridget's moms, both Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Jones are insufferable, although they at least provide comic relief at times. Elizabeth had a good relationship with her father, and Bridget clearly got along better with her father than she did with her mother. Mrs. Bennet is bent on marrying off her five daughters, while Pam Jones is bent on marrying Bridget. Unlike Liz, Bridget does get a break from her mother (echoing Lydia Bennett's storyline) while Pam is sidelined by her crazy love life with Julian. Either way, you'll appreciate Mr. Bennet and Mr. Jones in both stories.
5. Wet shirt scene
Okay, this is a bit of a cheat, but can you really blame me? In the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice , the six-hour miniseries decides to have Darcy take a dip in the water at Pemberley even before he knows Liz is coming to his house. (This scene didn't happen in Austen's book, but most of us didn't complain.) In "Bridget Jones," Firth took a leave of absence from the shirt-soaking department and asked Hugh Grant to do the dirty work. work. During a brief break with Bridget, Daniel drunkenly attempts to board her rowboat and falls into the water. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but in the battle of the wet shirts, Grant won physically. But before my Jane Austen ladies freak out, don’t worry, Faith’s Bath is still a win overall.
6. Darcy’s turning point
When Darcy tells Liz and Bridget halfway through their story that he actually likes them despite how he's treated them in the past, they're both very confused. When Liz visits Charlotte and Collins, Fitzwilliam Darcy tells Liz how much he loves her. Mark Darcy tells Bridget after a dinner party filled with smug married couples. Neither female character is in trouble because of Darcy's change of heart, because in true Darcy form, he manages to insult both characters while professing his love, among other escapades.
7. Fantastic ending
In a simplification of both plots, Liz and Bridget eventually realize they care about Darcy when they discover that Darcy is the noble one in their interactions with Wickham/Daniel. While there are no swoon-worthy moments of intimacy in the book, the BBC miniseries and the 2005 Keira Knightley version do feature Lizzie and Darcy kissing. (The extra final kissing moment in Knightley's Pride and Prejudice was added specifically for American audiences, causing controversy as Austen purists disapproved.) Not after needlessly worrying about Mark discovering her diary After wanting her again, Mark and Bridget shared one of my posts about my favorite kiss in the snow from a movie of all time (I even wrote a blog post about it when I was about 16). Whether or not Austen would approve of Mark Darcy's language when she replies to Bridget by saying "Wait a minute. Good boys don't kiss like that", I know Bridget Jones' Diary purists absolutely will .
Image: Caitlin Gallagher/Bustle; Miramax (5); Focus Features (3); Jiffy (8)
