Changing feelings about the heroine in the books Bridget Jones's Diary and Tess of the D'Urbervilles

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Changing feelings about the heroine in the books Bridget Jones's Diary and Tess of the D'Urbervilles

I will be comparing how feelings and views on the main character change in two books, Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding. The main characters in each of the books are female.

The characters seem lead contrasting lives. Other characters in the books view them entirely differently, and the reader will distinguish between them in various ways. This could be due to a number of reasons, for example the books were written in different times, and views and roles of women have changed significantly since the time when 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' was written. A woman wrote 'Bridget Jones Diary' and 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' was written by a man, which may affect the way that the characters are portrayed.

At the beginning of the book, Tess Durbeyfield is introduced as a simple, rustic girl. She lives with her parents and younger siblings, and is sixteen years old. She is also described as quite pretty, in fact, at the beginning of the book '...To almost everybody she was a fine and picturesque country girl, and no more...'.

Tess appears to be quite caring at the start of the story, when she defends her father whilst the other girls in the group are mocking him, and she is quite confused and anxious when this happens. She helps her mother to care for her siblings and the house, and her siblings seem to look up to her. This is especially evident when her younger brother, Abraham is talking to her. I think that Tess is slightly idealised at the beginning of the book, as no negative views about Tess's character are expressed.

'...Her mobile peony mouth and large innocent eyes added eloquence to colour and shape...'

Bridget Jones is presented as a more realistic character at the beginning of the book. She is more independant than Tess, as she lives alone and is older. She sounds more genuine as Fielding has written the book in diary form, so that the reader knows what Bridget is feeling. Bridget is not at all idealised in the beginning of the book, and this makes her character more believable and easier to relate to. She appears to have a relatively negative view about herself, and is not described as pretty or out of the ordinary. I think that Bridget Jones is quite a likeable character, as she is more authentic than Tess, as she is put in more similar situations to us and is less idealised than Tess. It is quite hard to decide whether Tess is a likeable character in the first chapters of the book, as her character is not really shown in enough detail.

In chapter four, Tess's parents are in Rollivers inn, and they are contemplating sending Tess to meet with the Durbeyfield's rich 'relations', which makes the reader feel some sympathy for Tess, as she is not told of her parents plan until later. Her parents are discussing Tess's 'good prospects' of getting married to a gentleman if they send her to meet with the D'Urbervilles. Tess later finds out that the whole of her family have been talking about it when her brother mentions it to her. The reader feels even more sympathy for Tess when the Durbeyfields horse is killed in an accident whilst in her care. Although Tess is reluctant to visit the D'Urbervilles at first, she feels so guilty about killing the horse that she agrees to the plan. Sympathy is again felt by the reader as Tess gets increasingly embarrassed and uncomfortable whilst talking to Alec Stoke D'Urberville. The reader is on a higher level than Tess in this part of the book and can see that Alec is tricking Tess, as he knows that he is not in any way related to the Durbeyfields. Tess seems to be half aware of his intentions, as she acts cautiously around him at all times, but is too innocent to prevent him from tricking and seducing her.
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The reader also feels some sympathy for Bridget Jones at the beginning of the book, although her situation is much more humorous than Tess's. Bridget is made to visit her mother and fathers friends, and is constantly being put on the spot in front of everybody. Even though the event is mainly comical, sympathy is felt for Bridget, as she is embarrassed by her parents' friend. You feel sympathy for Bridget throughout the book, as many of the incidents in the book are embarrassing for her, and she does a lot of things which she regrets.

'...Am ...

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