Bridget Jones's Diary

Pam Jones is Bridget’s mother. Through Pam, Fielding presents the pitfalls that await women who follow a more traditional life path of marriage and motherhood. When Pam reaches middle age, she feels empty and dissatisfied because she has always sacrificed her own needs for those of her family. As she admits, “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. Left with the dregs of her former existence as a homemaker, she now feels resentful over her lack of hobbies, money, or vocational interests.

It is significant that although Pam is unhappy in her marriage, her husband Colin is perfectly satisfied and is shocked at his wife’s decision to return to work and to engage in an affair. This development mirrors Fielding’s portrayal of all the male characters in the novel, for while the women agonize over many restrictive social expectations, the men always enjoy their lives, whether they are single or romantically involved. With the exception of Mark, they all enjoy their current circumstances at the expense of their female counterparts’ well-being. Thus, the clear evidence of Pam’s own unhappiness with married life undermines her constant insistence that Bridget should find someone to marry.

Pam’s dissatisfaction with her life leads to her decision to indulge in numerous affairs, as when she dallies with Julio and the unnamed “tax man.” She also pursues a career of her own as a television presenter. However, when Pam absconds to Portugal with Julio, necessitating Mark’s attempt to “rescue” her, she becomes a satirical, modern interpretation of Jane Austen’s Lydia Bennet, an immature and flirtatious girl who falls under the spell of the treacherous Mr. Wickham. Like Austen’s Lydia, Pam does not understand the seriousness of her actions and dismisses the gravity of the situation. She also remains coquettish and flirtatious with Julio even after she is almost charged with the fraud that he has instigated for his own gain. Pam’s immaturity and propensity for chaos, which causes Bridget immense stress, is contrasted with Mark’s sober sense of responsibility. Ultimately, Pam’s poor decision-making contrasts with Mark’s calm competence as he takes charge of the situation and proves himself to be the ideal match for Bridget.

A prominent member of Bridget’s friend group. Sharon stridently critiques Sexist Attitudes in Contemporary Dating during the friends’ nights out. She also becomes a particularly important avatar of The Importance of Friendship in Challenging Times, for her openness provides her friends with a safe space to air their dissatisfaction and frustration with the inconsistency and cruelty of the men in their lives. Through Sharon, Fielding expresses her own views on men’s exploitation of women’s culturally engendered fears. At one point, she delivers a stinging critique of these dynamics:

As women glide from their twenties to their thirties, […] the balance of power subtly shifts. Even the most outrageous minxes lose their nerve, wrestling with the fist twinges of existential angst […]. Stereotypical notions of shelves, spinning wheels and sexual scrapheaps conspire to make you feel stupid (20).

In this passage, Sharon references several degrading metaphors about unmarried women in an attempt to expose society’s long-established condemnation of the “spinster” figure. Her comments emphasize the fact that this unfair societal bias leads women like Jude and Bridget to tolerate cruel and inconsistent behavior from men because they have been taught to fear being single more than being mistreated by a romantic partner.

Jude, another of Bridget’s friends, epitomizes the intense stress that single women experience in their quest for romantic attachment, especially when they prioritize that quest over all other concerns. Jude is both personally and professionally successful but constantly battles her own insecurities and succumbs to the unfair stresses that pervade her unequal romantic relationship with her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Richard. The more toxic aspects of this relationship are designed to illustrate the widespread Sexist Attitudes in Contemporary Dating, for she willingly endures Richard’s callous behavior simply because she values having a relationship higher than the quality of that relationship. Jude’s perspective persists even when Richard breaks up with her after she suggests going on holiday together, and she endures further mistreatment when he fails to attend their scheduled relationship counseling session and then breaks up with her again on Christmas Eve.

Tellingly, Jude’s conversation with her therapist reveals that the only problems in her life stem from Richard’s bad behavior. With this detail, Fielding suggests that despite her compulsion to consult therapists and buy multiple self-help books, Jude does not need therapy; she just needs to break up with Richard. Her desperation to stay with Richard despite his inconsistency and casual cruelty reveals the depths to which she remains shackled by the chains of social expectation, and Fielding uses Jude’s ongoing struggle to illustrate the cultural pressures experienced by those women who believe that marriage and motherhood are the only acceptable indicators of success. Fielding ultimately suggests that such women have been unfairly taught that women who remain single are failures and are devalued accordingly.

Mark Darcy is a dynamic character whose portrayal shifts dramatically over the course of the novel. Initially, Mark is described as aloof and rude. Later, however, at the literary launch party, Mark refuses to engage with Perpetua’s cruel mockery of Bridget and defends the protagonist instead, employing a form of verbal judo that reframes Bridget’s enjoyment of the low-brow show, Blind Date, as something far more intellectual in nature. The scene itself demonstrates the sharp contrast between Perpetua’s cruel comments and Mark’s support of Bridget:

‘Bridget is one of those people who thinks the moment when the screen goes black on Blind Date is on par with Othello’s “hurl my soul from heaven” soliloquy,’ [Perpetua] said, hooting with laughter.

‘Ah. Then Bridget is clearly a top post-modernist,’ said Mark Darcy (101).

By reframing Bridget’s enjoyment of Blind Date through the academic lens of postmodernism, Mark thwarts Perpetua’s attempt to accuse Bridget of being shallow and stupid in contrast with the other group members’ more cultured and academic preferences. As the novel unfolds, Fielding’s portrayal of Mark continues to improve, and even Bridget’s friends remark upon his appealing attributes, as when Jude makes a positive comment and asserts that he is “incredibly nice and attractive” (104).

With this new context, Fielding implies that Bridget’s initially unfavorable impression of Mark was a gross misjudgment, and as Mark continues to rise in her estimation, the course of their relationship is designed to mirror the broader plot points of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. In the classic novel, Mr. Darcy initially seems aloof and rude but is actually genuine and kind-hearted, and the parallels between Austen’s Mr. Darcy and Fielding’s Mark are confirmed when Mark selflessly rescues Pam from Julio’s fraud scheme in Portugal. Mark and Bridget’s burgeoning relationship, which changes so completely through the course of the novel, adheres to the “enemies-to-lovers” trope and therefore ends with the conventional “happily ever after” conclusion.

Daniel is the story’s main antagonist and actively demonstrates the many Sexist Attitudes in Contemporary Dating. Even his early behavior suggests his unreliability and foreshadows that he is an unsuitable long-term partner for Bridget. His undesirable traits include his disregard for the women in his life and his blatantly misogynistic views. Additionally, his habitual promiscuity is revealed when he introduces himself to a woman named Vanessa at a party, only for her to tartly remind him that he has slept with her in the past. His utter lack of recognition for a previous sexual partner indicates that he has very little regard for the women he pursues. By extension, the narrative suggests that he holds just as little regard for Bridget and is not worth the time and energy that she has dedicated to pursuing him.

Through his seductive mannerisms and frequent attempts at flirtation, Daniel exudes the inner certainty that he is irresistibly charming and sexually appealing, but his callous disregard for Bridget on many occasions proves that he is essentially untrustworthy. Furthermore, Daniel’s flirtation with Bridget at work presents problems on multiple levels, for the fact that he holds a senior position within the company complicates the power dynamics between him and Bridget. Daniel is also revealed to be deeply misogynistic when he makes inappropriate jokes that reveal his perception of women as sexual objects, and he even goes so far as to call Bridget a “frigid cow” (44) after she refuses to have sex with him. Additionally, his higher position in the company makes it nearly impossible for Bridget to take him to task for his callous behavior. Having very little recourse in her attempts to improve their relationship, Bridget eventually takes the only solution left open to her. Upon the discovery that he is cheating on her, she leaves both the relationship and her job. Ultimately, Daniel’s dishonest and disrespectful dealings with women make him a modern-day reinterpretation of Jane Austen’s villain, Mr. Wickham, and he also stands as a foil to Mark.