Caroline Marie "Carrie" Bradshaw[1] is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO franchise Sex and the City, portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker.

Bushnell also authored the young adult novels The Carrie Diaries and Summer and the City featuring the character.

[2] Carrie was introduced as Bushnell's friend, "a journalist in her mid-30’s", and was conceived around the lifestyle of "balancing small paychecks with access to glamour and wealth".

This blend of emotional vulnerability and humor, and exploration of issues like commitment within romantic relationship, make her a flawed but relatable character for viewers.

Despite being realistic about the challenges of relationships and having endured numerous unsuccessful ones throughout the series, Carrie is a hopeless romantic, firmly refusing to settle for anything less than true love, even though she doubts her suitability for marriage and starting a family.

TV Guide described the young version of Carrie Bradshaw as "Even when she's trying to play adult in the city with her fashion-forward style and 'grown-up' conversations, she still exudes an aura that manages to be innocent, cute and self-confident at the same time.

"[5] Carrie's wardrobe in Sex and the City appears to be unaffordable for a writer on a moderate income, especially before she receives a book deal in Season Five.

Carrie is known for her addiction to shoes, calling it her "substance abuse problem" in the episode "Power of Female Sex" in Season One.

Carrie's boyfriend Aiden Shaw purchases it and the adjacent unit, intending to merge them into a larger apartment, but she breaks up with him shortly after.

He gives her the opportunity to purchase the apartment from him at cost, but she is unable to afford the down payment until her friend Charlotte York sells her engagement ring and loans her the money.

[10] The exterior of the apartment building was shot at various brownstones before settling at 66 Perry Street in the third season, which was used for the remainder of the series because of its ornate staircase.

[11] The exterior, sometimes called the "Bradshaw brownstone", is a popular tourist destination in the West Village, which has led to residents complaining about frequent visitors.

It prominently featured mint green walls and wood mid-century modern furniture found at flea markets around New York City, which were selected to contrast with her designer clothing.

His commitment issues continue to be a problem, though, culminating in Big announcing his work may require him to move to Paris for several months.

This incident propels Carrie to cut Big out of her life--she stops taking his calls, and does not tell him when she chooses to move to Paris with her boyfriend, Aleksandr Petrovsky.

In the final moments of the series, Big's real name, John, is revealed on Carrie's phone as he calls to tell her he is moving back to New York.

On their wedding day, Big panics and leaves Carrie at the altar, but quickly regains his senses and tries to go back and proceed with the ceremony.

In the series premiere, Carrie goes to a recital for Charlotte's eldest daughter and returns to discover Big suffering from a heart attack.

His funeral is held during the next episode, and Carrie struggles to move on--eventually selling their apartment and penning a book on grief.

He purchases her apartment and the one next door to create a larger living space for both of them, but Carrie becomes anxious and avoidant when he pushes her to make wedding plans.

The next year, she runs into Aidan on the street and discovers he's married another furniture designer, Kathy, and has an infant son, Tate.

Carrie resolves to end the relationship, but Berger returns and tells her he loves her and doesn't want to give up on them.

Carrie is infuriated and refuses to mourn the relationship, but does confront Berger's friend at a club that night, calling his method of breaking up with her rude and pathetic.

In Season Six, Carrie meets and begins dating Aleksandr Petrovsky (Mikhail Baryshnikov), a rich, successful, and older Russian artist.

However, he is also shown to be mercurial, rejecting Carrie and her friends when he struggles to confidently produce work for an upcoming art show.

The two come to a crossroads when Alex reveals he has a daughter, Chloe, in her early 20s and is not interested in becoming a father again so late in life.

Things come to a head when Alex begs Carrie to blow off a party with her French fans to accompany him to an early showing of his work and emotionally support him.

In 2013, Glamour magazine called Carrie "the worst" character on the show, saying that "her brattiness and self-absorption eclipsed her redeeming qualities and even her awesome shoes.

"[20] In a 2010 retrospective about the previous two decades in pop culture, ABC News named Carrie one of the ten worst characters of the past twenty years, calling her a "snippy, self-righteous Manhattan snob" and citing the character's actions in Sex and the City 2 as evidence that she was beyond personal growth or redemption.

[21] The New Yorker, looking back on the show a decade after it went off the air, felt that while the character began as a "happy, curious explorer, out companionably smoking with modellizers," from the second season on she "spun out, becoming anxious, obsessive, and, despite her charm, wildly self-centered.