“I will not have crushes on men, but instead for relationships based on mature assessment of character.”

In this passage, Bridget almost immediately breaks her resolution when she falls for the handsome but deceitful Daniel. Her disastrous relationship with Daniel is foreshadowed in her New Year’s resolutions, as most of them are portrayed as being lofty and unrealistic. The Sexist Attitudes in Contemporary Dating are also indicated in her largely unsuccessful attempts to find men of good character.

“I will reduce circumference of thighs by 3 inches.”

Bridget’s toxic relationship with her own body is established quite early in the novel as maintains an unhealthy fixation upon decreasing her weight. Her misguided belief that she is overweight fuels her ongoing self-esteem issues, and rather than critiquing the poor behavior of the men around her, she comes to believe that her own physical appearance is to blame for her unsuccessful attempts to build a long-term romantic relationship. In this way, Fielding indicates that Bridget’s actions will be governed by The Desire for Self-Improvement, often at the expense of the protagonist’s well-being.

“‘Bridget! What are we going to do with you!’ said Una. ‘You career girls! I don’t know! Can’t put it off forever, you know. Tick-tock-tick-tock.’”

Ticking clocks are a recurring motif that allude to the societal pressure on women to marry and mother children during their fertile years. With her unfeeling comment, Una reinforces the broader social expectation that single women exert their ingenuity and effort to secure a viable match with a likely romantic partner.