Bridget Jones Diary

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135 lbs., alcohol units 0 (v.g.), cigarettes 0 (would be difficult because I don't smoke), calories 2250 (must do better tomorrow!). These are the inner thoughts of some women on a daily basis and in Bridget Jones's Diary; Helen Fielding makes single women feel like they are not alone. Through incidents of self doubt, heartache, and the anxiety of being single forever, Fielding allows readers who have faced or are facing the same situations to take a break, sit back and have a laugh at Bridget's expense.

Bridget Jones's Diary is a story about the life of a girl determined to have it all. Bridget is the thirty-something we are all frightened of becoming or know that we have already become. She is every woman who has looked in the mirror and groaned because she has put on an extra 10 pounds by eating all the Christmas chocolate so it won't be lying around and resolved to do something about it whether it's getting a gym membership or counting calories.

Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy are the antagonists of the story. Both men send Bridget into a frenzy whenever they are around. Daniel is flirtatious and can be somewhat of a jerk when it comes to women. He is the type of man who will do anything to sleep with every woman and he's the type of man that every woman should be warned about by their mothers when they are growing up. Mark Darcy on the other hand is smart, cautious and rather smuggish. He is always dressed in preppy clothes such as a diamond sweater and always appears to act kind of shy when he is around Bridget. They carry on conversation, but sometimes the topics make Bridget flinch, such as the first time they met; Mark asked Bridget if she had read any good books lately, and Bridget couldn't answer because she was too worried about what Mr. Darcy was going to think of her. After her failed first attempt with Mr. Darcy, Bridget blames herself for not being able to fall in love; she feels that she isn't able to find true love because she is always going to find a way to flub it up.

Bridget's mother makes her feel guilty by overwhelming Bridget with a sense of her own unexplored possibilities, saying "you've simply got too much choice" (169). Mrs. Jones exemplifies the exercising of choice.

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