Amy Heckerling’s teenage 19th century film is an updated version of Jane Austen’s satirical 1815 novel Emma. Austen differentiates expensive cars in Clueless with carriages in Emma, marijuana with malt liquor, a photograph of Tai with a portrait of Harriet, shopping, skateboarding and watching television with walks, visiting friends and backgammon. It is a contrast between proper, peaceful society of Highbury to the fast-paced society of modern Beverley Hills. Both texts share common themes which have been transformed from Victorian values to Americanised values such as the rigidity of social class and clique structures and patriarchal ideologies in relationships and marriage. The transformation of the novel allows new ideas to be presented, due to the change in values over the last centuries.
An aspect of society that is both transformed in both Emma and Clueless is the rigidity of class and clique structures. In Emma, when Mr. Elton is aware of Emma’s plans to connect him to Harriet in the carriage, he expresses his disbelief and astonishment through hyperbole: ‘I never thought of Miss Smith in the whole course of my existence…never cared if she were dead or alive’ (page 124). He
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After Cher gives Tai a makeover, the next day when she returns to school all eyes are on her. The medium long shot of Dionne and Cher standing behind Tai indicates that Tai is the centre of attention; her appearance has allowed her to look like she has a high social status. The male standing on the side and looking back at Tai show expectations of a women in 1995- short skirts, lip stick, fashionable handbags and revealing skin. This shows there is an existing patriarchal assumption about females and their relationship with men. In Emma, women have to marry in order to gain stability. However, in Clueless Women are not pressured to marry because they are more financially independent and have
Social division within the society is conveyed in the opening scene through a montage, displaying a satirical depiction of the commercial American youth culture: teenagers driving, swimming, partying, implying that it’s normal behaviour for adolescents in America. The use of music further enhances this image as “Kids of America” plays in the background, however it does not define the life of the majority, but only the wealthy children. Through voiceover Cher says ironically “Actually I have a way normal life for a teenager” contrasting the montage of her partying and using a computer program to determine her clothing. Social division, particularly within the school, is demonstrated through costume. The men’s fashion during the 90’s is described by Cher to appear as if “They just fell out of bed”. This is juxtaposed to when Christian is introduced through the use of slow motion and full body camera shots in the exaggerated scene portraying his perfect persona from his well groomed physical appearance contrasting him from other men. The notion of social division in Clueless is present through the cliques of modern society, defined by wealth, popularity and physical appearance which both reaffirms and introduces new insights due to the change of
Through this prospect, she has internalized the standards in fulfilling the norms. If she does not fulfill it, she creates a sense of futility, an accurate, unvarnished replication of the guilt feelings that she suffers. Emma lives out its real, logical, and bitter conclusion of the emptiness in the traditions of marriage and the masculine customs that go with it. By marriage, a woman, specifically Emma, losses their liberty in all its physical, social, moral and even spiritual consequences. She envies the advantages of a man saying, “...at least is free; he can explore each
Likewise, an example of Cher's pompousness can be seen in the scene where she and Dionne are explaining to Tai how to become more popular. Cher states that she has already started to elevate her social status "due to the fact that you hang out with Dionne and I" (Clueless). Cher may be sympathetic to Tai, but she does so with conceitedness because she knows she is from a higher social class.
Society's Constraints in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Jane Austen has much to say about the society in which she lives, and where her characters live. Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins are two characters who demonstrate, through their actions and outlook on life, the social and educational constraints of their society that prevent them from making their way in the world. Social constraints play an important role in the life of women in this society. Not only do women have to marry, but also marry someone who is of their social class. A "poor" marriage, that is one to a different class, can ruin the reputation of the whole family.
Emma's personality is largely shaped by the nature of her upbringing. Emma had no motherly figure guiding her as she grew up, due to the fact that her mother passed away at a young age, and her governess, Miss Taylor, became her best friend instead of an authority over her. At the start of the novel Miss Taylor gets married to Mr. Weston, leaving Emma with her despondent and hypochondriac father, Mr. Woodhouse. Although Mr. Woodhouse often confines Emma to the house because of his paranoia of her being harmed, he gives her little guidance. Emma becomes accustomed to being the "princess" of her house, and she applies this role to all of her social interactions, as she develops the ability to manipulate people and control them to advance her own goals. Emma views herself with the highest regard, and feels competition and annoyance with those who threaten her position. Emma has much resentment toward Mrs. Elton, as Mrs. Elton becomes a parody for Emma's mistakes and interactions. Mrs. Elton's attachment to Jane Fairfax is much like Emma's attachment to Harriet Smith; both Mrs. Elton and Emma attach themselves to young women and try to raise their...
Emma also transforms into a proper woman through correcting her original neglect. Trollope states that “[i]n every passage of the book she is in fault for some folly, some vanity, some ignorance, or indeed for some meanness” (7)19. Because of her ignorance toward attitudes of her neighbors, Emma interferes through their lives in a way that makes them unhappy, for “she had often been negligent” (Austen 359)20. Mr. Knightley predicts the outcome of Emma’s plans in the beginning of the novel when he states that “[y]ou are more likely to have done harm to yourself, than good to them by interference” (Austen 8)21 and also that “[v]anity working on a weak head produces every sort of mischief” (Austen 53)22. Not only is Emma stubborn toward her actions, but she is also negligent to herself when she convinces herself “I cannot really change for the better” (Austen 73)23. On other matters about her plans for others, Emma’s consideration falls short through her own selfishness and withholding of her pride, for “[t]he longer she considered it, the greater was her sense of its expediency” (Austen 27)24.
Due to Emma’s wealth and being a masculine figure in her household these effects ruptures her understanding of the possibilities and limitations placed on women. Born in ...
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is well noted for its ability to question social norms. Most importantly, Austen explores the institution of marriage, as it was in her time, a time where many married for security rather than love. Her characters Elizabeth and Charlotte are renowned even more for their outspoken nature and different views on marriage. Though both Elizabeth and Charlotte yearn for a happy marriage, Charlotte has a more pragmatic and mundane approach while Elizabeth is more romantic and daring with her actions. Through the romantic involvements of both Elizabeth and Charlotte, Austen shows that happiness in marriage is not entirely a matter of chance, but is instead contingent on an accurate evaluation of self and others
The novel opens with a passage about Dick and Jane, which, while it may look a little ridiculous initially, it conveys a lot of meaning in terms of social hierarchy. The story of Dick and Jane is considered to be the perfect representation of the ordinary white, happy all American family. This passage takes up a page and a half and is repeated in three en...
As President Lincoln once said, “Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing,” too often mankind are too quick to judge others by their appearance rather than who they truly are (Good Reads). Often times, people judge one another not solely by their character that is the true indicator of who they are but by their reputation or appearance. Throughout the novel, Emma, by Jane Austen the themes of appearance vs. reality, marriage and confinement of women, and social status are portrayed through characters such as Emma, Harriet, and Mr. Knightley.
Austen was a recondite writer with a new inside perspective with an outside view on life in the early 19th century. Born on December 16, 1775, Austen was a curious child given the unseal luxury of an education. Her father was a part of the gentry class and raised a family of ten, but was not well off by any means (Grochowski). Sense and Sensibility, written by Jane Austen, tells a dramatic story of three sisters and their emotional journey where they encounter love and betrayal. Because Jane Austen was raised in a liberal family and received a comprehensive education, her dramatic analysis of societal behavior in Sense and Sensibility was comparable to the hidden truths of social and class distinctions in 18th and 19th century Europe.
Emma Woodhouse tries to use her influence to manipulate everyone around to her likings, and she only accepts the advice of mentors who agree with her. Emma knows that she is clever, and, having grown up as the smartest person among in Hartfield, she is continually being praised for her wit. As Mr. Knightley told Mrs. Weston, “Considering how very handsome she is, appears to be little occupied with it; her vanity lies another way” (33). She believes herself to be in the right without considering any other possibilities, or she rationalizes those possibilities away. More often than not, she is wrong.
Jane Austen’s works are characterized by their classic portrayals of love among the gentry of England. Most of Austen’s novels use the lens of romance in order to provide social commentary through both realism and irony. Austen’s first published bookThe central conflicts in both of Jane Austen’s novels Emma and Persuasion are founded on the structure of class systems and the ensuing societal differences between the gentry and the proletariat. Although Emma and Persuasion were written only a year apart, Austen’s treatment of social class systems differs greatly between the two novels, thus allowing us to trace the development of her beliefs regarding the gentry and their role in society through the analysis of Austen’s differing treatment of class systems in the Emma and Persuasion. The society depicted in Emma is based on a far more rigid social structure than that of the naval society of Persuasion, which Austen embodies through her strikingly different female protagonists, Emma Woodhouse and Anne Eliot, and their respective conflicts. In her final novel, Persuasion, Austen explores the emerging idea of a meritocracy through her portrayal of the male protagonist, Captain Wentworth. The evolution from a traditional aristocracy-based society in Emma to that of a contemporary meritocracy-based society in Persuasion embodies Austen’s own development and illustrates her subversion of almost all the social attitudes and institutions that were central to her initial novels.
Because she feels she is obligated to stay by his side, Emma decides not to marry. Emma believes that she is a good matchmaker, and tries to put together several couples throughout the novel. Emma believes that social classes are very important and refuses to see anyone cross over to marry someone lesser than themselves. In chapter 8-page 52, Emma is talking about Harriet’s situation with the farmer with Mr. Knightley. She says, “Mr. Martin is a very respectable young man, but I cannot admit to him being Harriet’s equal.
...y a set of expectations and values that are established on mannerisms and conduct challenged by Elizabeth. From this novel, it is evident that the author wrote it with awareness of the class issues that affect different societies. Her annotations on the fixed social structure are important in giving a solution to the current social issues; that even the class distinctions and restrictions can be negotiated when an individual turns down bogus first impression s.