Possible Pride and Prejudice sequels inspired by the Bridget Jones books.

Conceived as a modern day Elizabeth Bennet — or at least, another woman in love with an emotionally unavailable man — Bridget Jones made a massive splash when she hit the shelves in 1996. Her diary, written by Helen Fielding and alternately derided and praised for its depiction of a neurotic, happy-go-nutty modern “singleton,” sold more than fifteen million copies. It also spawned three sequels, which were adapted into two blockbuster films of sharply contrasting quality. Word on the street is that a fourth film is fast coming down the franchise pipeline. This latest movie is adapted from the final(?) and controversial 2013 novel, Mad About the Boy, which finds Bridget widowed…and looking. Though I still think of the original Diary as one of the more successful literary and film adaptations ever (fight me), both the book and film sequels have given me pause. Without the frankly perfect structure of Pride and Prejudice’s plot to scaffold her journey, Bridget’s antics have veered from cringey to bizarre. (Drug busts in Thailand!? Vegan condoms exploding?!) As part of my emotional preparation to watch yet another Bridget story on an airplane, I’ve been thinking about the sequels’ relationship to the source material. When and where did Bridget get so far from Lizzy? Her source ? This led to a thought experiment. What if Fielding’s inspiring text — aka, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice — also had sequels, inspired by Bridget Jones’ ? Might we gain something from reverse-engineering the wacky modern plots back into the circumscribed universe of nineteenth century England? Could following the original Darcys point us to a better denouement for these great characters? Reader, what follows is the fruit of my wondering. Or: three synopses for sequels to everyone’s ur-favorite romantic comedy. In Fielding’s first sequel, The Edge of Reason , Bridget is plagued with jealousy about her new boyfriend Mark (Colin Firth)’s Very Friendly relationship with a co-worker. Her friends persuade her to end things — a plot point Fielding actually borrowed from another Austen novel, Persuasion . After a stressful break-up, a heartbroken Bridge goes to Thailand […]

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