Bridget Vreeland

Bridget "Bee" Vreeland is a main character in the 2001 novel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She is portrayed by Blake Lively in the 2005 film adaptation of the first book, and the 2008 sequel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

Overview

Bridget "Bee" Vreeland is the second-born among her best friends. (In the film, she is the first.) She and her friends grew up in Washington D.C. Her mother, Marlene, a debutante from Alabama committed suicide when Bridget was 11 years old. Her death creates a strain in the relationship between Bridget, her father, and her twin brother Perry. She is closer to her friends than her immediate family. Bridget excels in soccer and is known as the superstar of the group. She is also the most daring and courageous, often acting on impulse rather than reason. She usually does not think twice before doing something no matter how dangerous it is. Despite seeming to be the strongest of the four, she is actually the most vulnerable, often making self-destructive decisions when the consequences of her actions prove to be too much. Bridget's most notable physical characteristic is the long, pale blonde hair that she inherited from her mother and grandmother. People often assume that the blonde is fake, as proven in Forever in Blue when Julia says to Carmen, "Bridget must be dying her hair behind your back."

Carmen, Lena and Tibby, Bridget's childhood best friends, often worry about Bridget because of her impulsive decisions. Bridget is also hardworking. In the Second Summer of the Sisterhood she arrives at her grandmother, Greta's home in Alabama and works tirelessly in the attic transforming it into a bedroom. Marly and Bridget have many things in common like their intensity and beauty but Marly is described by Greta as giving up too easily.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

The day after she and her friends discover the magic of the pants, Bridget leaves for soccer camp in Baja California, Mexico. Upon arriving there, a soccer coach, Eric Richman, immediately catches Bridget's attention and she relentlessly pursues him, despite the camp's anti-fraternizing policy. She shamelessly flirts with him even to the point of lying about her age and following Eric to a bar. She beat Eric in racing twice. Bridget becomes popular among her fellow campers for her great soccer skills and often shows off in the field, particularly in Eric's presence. These actions earn her the scorn of her soccer coach, Molly, who wants to transform Bridget from a show-off into a real player. Meanwhile, Eric continues to shun her advances until she passes by his cabin one night and the two are intimate on the beach. This encounter proves to be too much for Bridget and she ends up staying in bed and avoiding everyone. Eventually, Eric asks Bridget to walk with him and tells her that their encounter was his fault and that if they met under different circumstances, he would worship her the way she deserves. Despite this, she still feels hurt. Still feeling down, Lena arrives in Baja to take her home and try to make everything better.

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Bridget has greatly changed since the first novel, She becomes more responsible as a woman and later becomes a soccer coach.

Early in the summer, Bridget finds five letters in her father's desk, all addressed to her and her twin brother from their estranged maternal grandmother. Impulsively, Bridget packs her bags for Alabama to meet Greta. Upon arriving there, Bridget assumes the alias Gilda Tomko and offers to do odd jobs for her grandmother. Unaware of Gilda's real identity, Greta tells Bridget to clean out her attic so that it may be suitable for renting out. In doing so, Bridget is able to reconnect with her grandmother without disclosing who she really is and learn about Marly growing up.

Bridget learns that her mother was very popular in Alabama during her youth; from the cheerful pictures of her mother back then, she finds it hard to believe the story's real tragic end. During Marly's college days, she was sent to a mental institution for attempting suicide. Bridget learns that her father was her mother's college history professor and their relationship cost him his job and forced them to move to Washington D.C. after their marriage. Greta also tells her (still under the identity of Gilda) that during the last years of Marly's life, she tried to persuade Bridget's father to get help for Marly, but he shunned Greta and told her not to contact their family.

During her stay, Bridget also reconnects with her childhood friend, Billy Kline, and rediscovers the pleasure of playing soccer. When her job in the attic is done, Greta asks her to move in there and Bridget gladly accepts. During a rainstorm, the power goes out. Bridget sees Greta inject herself with insulin which reminds Bridget of the last years in Marly's life; she runs out of the house in the rain, remembering the moment she saw her mother dead. Shortly before dawn, Bridget returns home and Greta combs her hair, just like all the times she has done when Bridget was young. Bridget asks Greta if she knows who she is and Greta admits she has known all along.

Upon learning about Lena's problems, Bridget goes home instantly but promises her grandmother that she'll come back for a visit with Perry. Billy helps Bridget with her bags at the bus stop and they kiss. Bridget then returns home to comfort Lena, just as Lena had comforted her the previous summer.

Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood

Bridget goes to soccer camp in Pennsylvania, and is shocked to discover that one of her fellow coaches is none other than Eric. She finds her feelings for him reawakened but is stunned by the discovery that he has a girlfriend, Kaya. Bridget tries to avoid him, but her plan is shot down when she and Eric are made partners.

Not wanting to upset Eric, Bridget selflessly puts her feelings aside and respects the relationship between Eric and Kaya. The two develop a friendship despite Bridget’s uncertainties. It is also revealed that she and Eric did indeed sleep together the first summer they met.

Later, Bridget comes down with a fever, and Eric finds her in her cabin very ill. Eric carries her to his cabin and takes care of her. They fall asleep together, and Bridget wakes up to find him holding her. She feels confused and betrayed when he then leaves the camp for an unknown reason and decides that she won’t hope for his attention anymore. As much as she prides herself on making this summer with Eric different from the first one, it begins to feel the same because once again, she is left wondering why he left her. She trains her soccer team hard, and they go on to defeat Eric’s in the championship.

Bridget later questions Eric about his departure, and Eric reveals that he returned to New York to break up with his girlfriend because of his feelings for Bridget. He tells her he was ashamed of what he did the summer they met and felt he didn't deserve her. At first, she asks him if he got closer to her just to leave her, but he lets her know otherwise. He tells her that he thinks they were always meant to be, and they become a couple.

Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood

Bridget feels slightly at odds with the idea of being "taken." She decides to take a trip to Turkey to help with an archaeological dig, along with several classmates from Brown. Eric, her boyfriend, has decided to coach a soccer camp in Mexico. Bridget meets a handsome professor named Peter in Turkey with whom there is a mutual attraction. Despite the fact that both of them are in relationships, the two share a kiss. Peter's family then makes a surprise visit to celebrate his thirtieth birthday, and Bridget decides that she cannot carry on the fling. She also realizes that she is becoming the person she will be for the rest of her life and does not want to be like this. Upon returning home, she tries to piece her family's life together. She attempts to become closer to her twin brother, Perry, who has dropped out of college and became a social recluse. Eric calls her and surprises her with his arrival, and Bridget is pleasantly surprised when her father and brother help her clean the house. Eric stays the night at her house, and they end up having sex. After Eric leaves the next morning, she begins looking through old boxed up memories in her basement and finds mementos of her mother and her younger self. She realizes that her father does care because he has taken the time to save these things. She comes to terms with who her family is and buys Perry a rabbit, hoping it will help him venture into the outside world more.

In this book, we continue to see Bridget compared to her mother. In addition to sharing the same hair colour, they also both attempt to date a college professor. Bridget is notoriously reckless like her mother. Although Bridget never makes the connection it becomes apparently obvious to the reader that the two are eerily similar.

Sisterhood Everlasting

Ten years after the last novel, Bridget now lives in San Francisco with Eric. Although she wants to settle down with him, a part of her remains restless. When the "sisters" go to Greece and Tibby dies unexpectedly, Bridget leaves Eric, and soon after finds out she is pregnant with his child. She decides to go to Australia, where Tibby had been living together with Brian, only to find out that Tibby had a daughter before she died. Bridget and the girl, Bailey, form a very tight bond, and decides not to terminate her pregnancy as she had previously considered. Bridget reunites with Eric, and they, along with Carmen and Lena, move into the country home Tibby had bought for the sisters.

Other references

Bridget is mentioned in 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Jo, who remembers her as a counselor from soccer camp. Jo remembers that Bridget was dating Eric and that some girls at the camp saw them kissing.