Bridget Jones's Diary

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1996

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-7

Chapters 8-10

Chapters 11-13

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Themes

The Desire for Self-Improvement

Bridget, the protagonist and narrator, uses her diary to track her progress toward her many New Year’s resolutions and focuses specifically upon her hopes for a slimmer physique, an increase in professional and social success and personal composure, and most importantly, a stable romantic partner. However, because she is inordinately focused on improving herself, she inevitably finds herself focusing on her perceived flaws, and this mindset causes her to devalue herself rather than gaining a healthier perspective on her life. For example, her negative relationship with her own body is established in her unrealistic goal to “reduce [the] circumference of [her] thighs by 3 inches” (3). Fielding uses many key details to critique the protagonist’s unhealthy fixation on her weight, for most daily entries begin with a listing of Bridget’s current weight, along with a recitation of the calories, cigarettes, and alcohol units that she has consumed. This unique narrative structure stresses the fact that weight and eating habits remain a central factor in the fluctuating levels of Bridget’s self-esteem. Rather than inspiring her to feel better about herself, these measurement usually provide fuel her self-loathing, for she frames herself as flawed and inept and frequently chastises herself for her failure to live up to impossible standards. Fielding uses Bridget’s tortured self-criticism to examine the harmful effects of unrealistic societal beauty standards.

As a product of her environment, Bridget perpetually hopes to reach self-actualization through a series of new habits and measurable, concrete behaviors, such as curbing her eating, drinking, and smoking. Instead of meeting her own standards for improvement, however, she always ends up overindulging in food and alcohol, committing humiliating social gaffes, and making poor choices that lead to increased distress. Although her diary is intended to chronicle her growth, her self-centered entries instead capture her deep insecurities and worsening self-esteem as she agonizes over her problematic love life and stagnant career. Likewise, the hour-by-hour entries create the impression that her life is so empty that even the most inconsequential decisions become worthy of comment:

2 p.m. […] I am going to quietly read a book all weekend and listen to classical music. Maybe will read The Famished Road.

8:30 p.m. Blind Date was [very good]. Just going for another bottle of wine (290).

Additionally, Bridget’s entertainment choices are intended to highlight the discrepancy between her desire to appear cultured and refined—as when she mentions The Famished Road and classical music—and her more natural inclination to indulge in low-brow forms of entertainment like Blind Date. Thus, even these offhand diary entries reflect Bridget’s tendency to make self-indulgent choices based on short-term comfort, and her tendency to self-medicate and numb her nagging sense of inadequacy is indicated when she finishes one bottle of wine and goes back for more. Just as these indulgences in food and alcohol sabotage her attempts to embrace a healthier lifestyle, her relationship with Daniel brings short-term sexual satisfaction but leaves her feeling insecure and heartbroken in the long run.

Through the ongoing contradictions revealed in Bridget’s diary entries, Fielding explores the full extent and origins of Bridget’s insecurity, suggesting that many of her anxieties are caused by sexist norms and unreasonable societal standards. Despite the constant pressure of these external factors, Bridget is positioned to view herself as the problem, and as a result, she and Jude fixate on the latest r self-help book trends and consistently fail to recognize that the men in their romantic lives are the main sources of their stagnation and unhappiness. Through her satirical approach, Fielding suggests that Bridget’s grand plans for self-improvement are stymied by her obsession over inappropriate romantic partners. These romantic failures exacerbate Bridget’s other problematic choices, as her dissatisfaction with herself compels her to self-soothe by eating and drinking excessively, and these habits only exacerbate her feelings of self-loathing.

Sexist Attitudes in Contemporary Dating

The women in Bridget Jones’s Diary (as well as Tom, who dates men) are constantly exhausted, frustrated, and depressed by the poor behavior of their problematic romantic partners. For example, Jude’s on-again-off-again boyfriend, Richard, epitomizes self-centeredness and inconsistency, for he wants to access the positive aspects of dating Jude but is unwilling to commit to her in any real way. Although Jude is discerning and intelligent, she excuses Richard’s emotionally abusive behavior and misguidedly blames herself for his blatant mistreatment of her. This unhealthy dynamic is demonstrated when Richard breaks up with Jude for suggesting that they go on holidays together. Taken aback by his response, she blames herself for repelling him and says, “I’m codependent. I asked for too much to satisfy my own neediness” (19). In this scene, Richard is established as immature and inconsistent, and Bridget provides a harsh but accurate summation of his character when she labels him a “self-indulgent commitment phobic” (19).

Ironically, the women find it easier to perceive the shortcomings of their friends’ paramours than they do to recognize the flaws in their own approach to romantic relationships. For example, Bridget too quickly forgives Daniel’s inconsistency when he initiates flirtatious messages at work, and she also disregards the misogynistic nature of his communication, as when he calls her a “frigid cow” for refusing to sleep with him after he establishes that their relationship will be purely sexual. Although she is initially assertive in expressing her outrage and accurately accuses Daniel of being, “fraudulently flirtatious, cowardly, and dysfunctional” (33), her resolve soon crumbles into desultory acquiescence, and she ends up sleeping with a drunken Daniel when he invites himself over to her apartment to use the restroom one evening.

While many of Bridget’s life choices reflect women’s frequent acceptance of the misogynistic elements in their lives, Fielding advances her feminist critique of such dynamics through the character of Sharon, who argues that immature men exploit stereotypical expectations of femininity and the social stigmatization of single women to exploit their sexual partners and “wriggle out of commitment, maturity, and honour” (20). Critiquing the degrading metaphors comparing unmarried women to joyless “spinsters” and highlighting the willingness of women like Jude and Bridget to tolerate cruel and inconsistent behavior, Sharon draws attention to the fact that women have often been indoctrinated to fear being single more than they fear being mistreated by a romantic partner.

The unhealthy dynamic between the protagonist and her current love interest is further illustrated when Daniel doesn’t call Bridget back after they have sex. Bridget has been trained to believe that women have value in society if they possess certain physical characteristics. Her deep insecurities are highlighted when she fails to blame Daniel for his bad behavior and instead wonders, “Oh God, why am I so unattractive?” (27). She interprets Daniel’s rudeness as a reflection of her own unattractiveness rather than recognizing it as a sign of his self-centered and inconsiderate nature.

The Importance of Friendship in Challenging Times

As Bridget endures multiple disappointments in both the romantic and professional aspects of her life, she overcomes these frustrations with the support of her group of friends: Jude, Sharon, and Tom. In turn, Bridget supports her friends in their respective disappointments, as when Jude calls Bridget to tell her that Richard has broken up with her yet again. As Bridget says in her diary, “I immediately called Sharon and an emergency summit has been scheduled for 6:30 in Cafe Rouge” (19). The whimsical use of the phrase “emergency summit” likens the meeting to an event of worldwide political import and therefore denotes the critical role that romantic successes and failures play in the lives of these particular women.

The friends’ mutual support is also illustrated in the flamboyant indulgence that characterizes their nights out, which are usually accompanied by copious wine and raucous conversation as they all air their frustration with the inconsistency and cruelty of the men in their lives. Throughout their bouts of “drunken feminist ranting” (125), the women parse their frustrations with men and become more united in their mutual observations of their partners’ shortcomings. In this way, even their romantic troubles become a route to increased solidarity and support, and they benefit from sharing their troubles rather than remaining isolated in their respective frustrations. Furthermore, from her single friends, Bridget receives validation that her life is not a failure merely because she lacks a viable romantic partner. However, the support of Bridget’s single friends is contrasted sharply with the condescending judgments of the so-called “smug marrieds,” who insist upon telling her, “You really ought to hurry up and get sprogged up, you know, old girl. Time’s running out” (41). In this interaction, Bridget is made to feel self-conscious and inadequate for being single, and she is also given the false impression that the matter is urgent. These harmful comments only exacerbate her poor dating choices as she feels increasingly insecure and panicked.

While Bridget conforms to societal expectations, Sharon bucks the normalized and harmful societal condemnation of the single woman by helping Bridget to feel independent and satisfied on her own. Sharon empowers Bridget by mocking the “smug marrieds,” thereby rejecting the assumption that marriage and motherhood constitute the desirable and appropriate path for all women. As Sharon rants, “You should have said ‘I’m not married because I’m a Singleton, you smug, prematurely aging, narrow-minded morons’” (42). In many ways, Jude also provides Bridget with much-needed encouragement, as when she visits and drastically improves the protagonist’s mood with her talk about “being more positive about things” (227). As in the case of Sharon’s encouragement, the shift in Bridget’s tone after Jude’s visit improves significantly, and Jude’s support helps Bridget to feel confident about attending the party at Mark’s house despite her lingering sense of intimidation.