Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones’s Diary is a satirized, contemporary version of Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice (1813). Fielding’s most direct allusion to her source of inspiration lies in her decision to name the main romantic interest Mark Darcy, for the character’s surname is a reference to Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the main romantic interest for the protagonist of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet. Additionally, Mark’s manner is almost identical to that of Austen’s Mr. Darcy. In Pride and Prejudice, the novel’s action is initiated with a ball held by the affable Mr. Bingley. Mr. Darcy, who is known for his wealth and high status, comes across as haughty and aloof, and Elizabeth decides that she dislikes him immediately. Fielding uses this initial interaction as a blueprint for Bridget and Mark’s first encounter, for in both novels, the protagonists’ interfering and slightly ridiculous mothers extol the high status of the respective Mr. Darcys. Just as Austen’s Mrs. Bennet hopes that one of her daughters might be married off to the wealthy Mr. Darcy, Fielding’s Pam urges Bridget to become acquainted with Mark, and Pam and her friend unsubtly push Bridget into his path at the Turkey Curry Buffet, hoping that a romantic relationship will develop between the two.