Essay The Anxiety of Self-Presentation in Bridget Jones's Diary

Criticising others takes a great deal of courage, especially when this criticism could reflect upon one’s own work. However, in the introduction of her speech to the Women’s National Press Club, Clare Booth Luce utilizes changes in tone, humor, while appealing to ethos, and pathos to prepare her audience for the impending criticism.

Society is often seen to have different biases or perspectives on topics such as the role and perception of women. The short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, consists primarily of a catalog of commands and instructions, the purpose of which is to make sure that the mother’s daughter is constantly in check and not getting into any trouble. Jamaica Kincaid utilizes a wide range of techniques such as symbolism and diction in order to showcase the theme of how the depiction of women rely mainly on how they present themselves in the public and how they are so easily described as impure or filthy.

Although the daughter’s shame in her mother is evident, she is also prideful of her as well. The strong love that the mother and daughter share is pervasive throughout the story. The story is being told by the daughter after she is all grown up. The fact that Jones uses such vivid detail on the mother’s preparation for her daughters first day of school shows that the daughter loved her mom and all that she did for her. The daughter recalls that her mother spent a lot of time preparing her when she says, “My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, plaiting and replaiting so that now my scalp tingles.” (Jones) She also remembers that her “pale green slip and underwear are new, the underwear having come three to a plastic package with a little girl on the front who appears to be dancing.” (Jones) The daughter having remembered details like these illustrate that she has an immense love and takes pride

Furthermore, the woman was never recognised as an equal in the world; with a “mane” for hair she is immediately relatable to an animal. When this connection is made, the woman is perceived as some strange creature; a mere mimicry of a real human. Harwood’s description of is a taste of how society views women; not quiet human. Now equipped with darker views of the flower filled day; the contemporary day reader is pondering to whether or not this vile practice is still belittling women of today.

In Gwen Harwood’s poetry, the changes in an individual’s perspective and attitudes towards situations, surroundings and, therefore transformations in themselves, are brought on by external influences, usually in the form of a person or an event. These changes are either results of a dramatic realisation, as seen with shattering of a child’s hopes in The Glass Jar, or a melancholy and gradual process, where a series of not so obvious discoveries produces similar reformation. An example of the later case would be Nightfall, the second section of Father and Child, where the persona refers to her forty years of life causing “maturation”. For the most part these changes are not narrated directly but are represented by using dynamic language

To begin, Kincaid’s use of symbolism to strengthen how the girl’s image is very important is shown with the constant reiteration of the upkeep of clothes. “ this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut…” (320). In the past the type clothes worn and how they looked told a great deal about a person's social status. The girl's mother believes that if her clothes are not neatly kept people will look down on her and lose respect for her. Kincaid using clothes is a good symbol because she has the mother

Through a comparison of Bridget Jones’ Diary and Pride and prejudice, both of which represent their perspectives to an extreme within their era. It gradually shows the differences and similarities of 19th century and 20th century’s standpoints regarding gender issues. Jane Austen’s Pride and prejudice represents the mainstream viewpoints of British Society in the 19th century, as England was the empire on which the sun never sets; while Bridget Jones’ Diary symbolizes the opinions in the modern advanced-technology society during the 20th century. Pride and prejudice, “proved one of the most enduringly popular novels in the English language” , depicts specifically about a higher-class society where gender issues have been depicted cleverly by Jane Austen. In the 19th century England her imaginary land, she expanded her opinions of society through a subtle description of the plot, using a third-person perspective to explain her subjective viewpoint of genders and society. Helen Fielding, following the same footsteps of Jane Austen, express her opinion of the society using a strong, female character Bridget Jones in a similar way to Austen’s. Fielding’s point of view, however, explains the situation of genders issues in the 20th century, when awareness of pursuing equality between males and females are raised. Following the inspiration of Jane Austen,

People who live in a discriminative society constantly face the dangers of being placed in a certain category because of who they are. The trend of stereotypes is reflected among different characters in literature, such as Peter Houghton from Nineteen Minutes and Janie Crawford from Their Eyes Were Watching God. Peter and Janie both have to constantly face tough challenges as they are labeled by society’s expectations. From Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is defined as being the “woman” in the relationship from her ex-husbands, Logan Killicks and Joe Starks. Joe and Logan’s behavior towards Janie shows the struggle and disrespect women receive from men and society.

Sammy’s description of A&P (setting) gives a dull and conventional illustration. On the contrary, the description of the girls was sharp and bright, characterizing him as a typical hormone- driven teenager. He describes the first girl, Plaid (nickname), as a “chunky kid, with a good tan” dressed in a bright green plaid two-piece bathing suit (par. 1). The second girl, Big Tall

In addition, the feminist view of sexuality is evident throughout Rossetti’s poem. Laura and Lizzie’s magical experience portrays the pursuit for sensual awareness while struggling between physical identity and spiritual salvation. Furthermore, “She clipped a precious golden lock, she dropped a tear more rare than pearl, then sucked their fruit globes fair or red, sweeter than honey from the rock” (ll. 126-29) and “sucked until her lips were sore” (l. 136). With blatant sexual undertones, this pivotal moment signifies the character’s transition from maiden to woman or innocence to experience. Additionally, this exchange could be a metaphor for Laura’s relinquishment of her sacred virginity. As Laura falls sicker and slowly begins to deteriorate, Rossetti illustrates the consequences of succumbing to the temptation of men’s deceit and the importance of remaining pure. With use of vivid imagery, Rossetti further emphasizes the animalistic and uncanny

The subjects of the two novels, Edna Pontellier and the Narrator, undergo a similar change; at the onset of the novel they meet all societies expectations and standards for women of their time- Mrs. Pontellier is described as shy and reserved and neither protagonist ever disobey their husbands- but with each coming page, the women convert into someone unrecognizable to their antierior selves. Though their metamorphose are both ignited by a new environment, they had internally harbored yet suppressed their need for independence and freedom. Like these two, every woman holds creativity and free will; however during this time they were unable to practice them, as doing so was almost unheard of and rarely tolerated. The Narrator and Edna themselves serve to represent the healthy creative urges within women that have been suppressed.

An example of this notion is shown in Hope Leslie when Governor Winthrop, the landlord, reacts to Hope, the tenant, coming home late and refuses to reveal her reason why: “...Winthrop was not accustomed to have his inquisitorial rights resisted by those in his own household, and he was more struck than pleased by Hope’s moral courage” (184). Evidently, Winthrop’s reaction proves that women with “moral courage” are unladylike because moral courage is a manly trait. On the other hand, Esther Downing, another character in Hope Leslie, embodies the cult of true womanhood. Esther’s mere look at her love interest Everell is described as “a look of...pleased dependence, which is natural... and which men like to inspire, because --perhaps -- it seems to them an instinctive tribute to their natural superiority” (219). So, “Esther’s look … of dependence” confirms that the expectation that all women are supposed to have the same behavior, gestures and personality is meant to not only please men but to also hide their true form. Therefore, the cult of true womanhood presents an internal battle in female writers and Sedgwick presents this womanly struggle through the contrast between Hope and Esther. Society wants women to be quaint housewives but publishing a book defies the cult of true womanhood. Thus, defying the qualities rooted in the cult of true womanhood causes high risk of

“Aragay and Lopez find the late-twentieth-century cultural context, in which (they assert) female spectators no longer believe in romance yet need to do so, embedded in the Bridget Jones books and films. I take this to be a reference to the post-feminist world view, in which women's apparent freedom of choice implies that feminism is now redundant, but feminists argue that the position of women in this world is still "limited and unfair" and that this very freedom is complicit in constraining women to traditional roles and creating anxiety about achieving success in those roles” (Raitt).

In spite of it all, Cavendish published her thoughts.  She even used that "eccentricity" to her advantage by transforming it into a "virtue;" by doing so she carved out her own "niche" (Hutton 220).  She allowed others to know that she was unusual in order to gain positive attention.

Giving an Account of Oneself, a compelling piece of work written by Judith Butler, digs deep into what it means to give an account of oneself and how it is nearly, if not entirely, impossible to do such an activity without becoming “a social theorist” (Butler 8). Butler states “the story of my origin I tell is not one for which I am accountable, and it cannot establish my accountability,” (Butler 37) since the story is always changing. We are not able to give our accounts as the accounts we give will always be told in different lights and we, as beings, are always changing as the norms around us change. The sense of being ties into us not being the same person we were when we came into being, and nor are we the same being as when we begin to tell the story of our origin of being. However, other notable influences, such as Levinas, believe that fully exposing our origin of being would act as a sort of “surplus” (Levinas 79) meaning those we expose our origin of being to will be so overwhelmed with the situation that we would never be able to give an account of ourselves overall. Levinas’ views coincides with Butlers’ on the topic of norms and how we will never be able to act outside of norms when he states, “the moment I realize that the terms by which I confer recognition are not mine alone… I am, as it were, disposed by the language that I offer” (Levinas 26).