Analysis of Themes Found in Emma

Appropriations provide audiences with a relevant contemporary sense of culture, while simultaneously providing insight into consistent behaviours over time, from the era of the original text to the era of the appropriation. This paradigm is reflected in a comparison study involving Jane Austen’s novel Emma (1818) and Amy Heckerling’s Clueless (1995). In her novel Emma, Austen reflects on the rigid social structure that formed the basis of Regency Society. Similarly, Heckerling’s Clueless emphasises how physical image determines status. Likewise, Austen’s emphasis on arranged marriages and love marriages, is contrasted by how Clueless highlights the open love, lust and sex prevalent within modern relationships. By considering the context of

Clueless is a 1995 film loosely based on the famous Jane Austen’s 1816 novel Emma. Set in Beverly Hills, Cher who is almost 16 is the most popular girl in school as well as rich and pretty. Her father is a lawyer and her mother died from a liposuction surgery when she was a baby. Cher plays matchmaker throughout the film and begins with two nerdy teachers. This starts by her just trying to boost her grades, but she then sees how much happiness she is bring people so she decides to adopt the new girl, Tai, and give her a makeover. She tries to get Tai and Elton who is the most popular guy in school together but that backfires when Elton tries to make moves with Cher.

In eighteenth century which feminist in social status was not popular by that time, author can only through literature to express her thought and discontented about society. Jane Austen’s Emma advocates a concept about the equality of men and women. Also satirizes women would depend on marriage in exchange to make a living or money in that era. By the effect of society bourgeois, Emma has little self-arrogant. She is a middle class that everyone could admire, “Young, pretty, rich and clever”, she has whatever she needs. She disdains to have friends with lower levels. However, she is soon reach satisfaction with matchmaking for her friend. Story characterizes a distorted society images and the superiority of higher class status. It

Cher is one of the most popular girls at her school with a father that is a litigation lawyer, a prestigious occupation in one of the most wealthiest cities in the world. Cher has everything a young lady dreamed off: money and a huge wardrobe (Clueless 1:00-1:30). However, both Emma and Cher shares the same situation where both mothers passed away. Emma and Cher's lack of maternal figure resulted from them to think highly of themselves. Emma's arrogance can be seen when she brags about being successful in matching couples. Emma believes that she has control over fate and must play matchmaker in order for couples to discover true love. Austen states that "The real evils indeed of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little well too of herself" (Austen 5). Emma and Cher seemed to have endless power and wealth, in which they acquire the idea that they are the perfect model for everyone in the

Austen further instigates these thoughts into the reader’s minds as she expounds in the chapter about how Mr. Elton fails to inquire more about Harriet, and still goes out to the party without her or a second thought. Textually, this is supported by Emma’s narration, as she is shown thinking it strange that Mr. Elton would leave Harriet behind. Accompanied by the thought, is an after thought of Emma’s where she excuses a single man like Mr. Elton’s blatant disregard for Harriet by thinking, “...such a passion for dining out; a dinner engagement is so high in the class of their

Emma Woodhouse, who begins the novel "handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition" (Austen 1), suffers from a dangerous propensity to play matchmaker, diving into other’s lives, for what she believes is their own good. Despite this, she is a sympathetic character. Her matchmaking leads only to near-disasters and her expressions of remorse following these mistakes are sincere and resolute. Jane Austen's Emma concerns the social milieu of a sympathetic, but flawed young woman whose self-delusion regarding her flaws is gradually erased through a series of comic and ironic events.

The ensuing disconnect between Emma’s perception and the reality of her surroundings forms the crux of Austen’s novel. Just as Cher convinces herself that Elton loves Tai and Christian loves her, everything that Emma imagines is occurring in her small village turns out to be wrong, and she manipulates people and events with disastrous results. Emma suffers little limitation as she goes to the Cole’s party, to the ball at the Crown, and to the excursion at Box Hill, "provided all was safe at Hartfield." The fact that this represents Emma 's change of response to her father rather than being a change in Mr. Woodhouse himself is made clear by details which would have felt inconceivable in book three, for instance, we casually hear that Emma had replaced the small uncomfortable table at Hartfield with a modern round table sometime in the unspecified past.

In Austen’s times, social hierarchy was based primarily on one's name, wealth, and family connections. It was highly rigid, and the only way to improve one's situation was to marry up. This was reflected by the fact that while Harriet is deemed to be good company, she is never considered by anyone to be on the same social standing. So by manipulating her to refuse Mr. Martin’s proposal, Emma is doing her friend a huge disservice, for as “the natural daughter of somebody”, Harriet had no better option. Austen critiques the superficiality of the class system by contrasting the views of Mr. Knightley with those of Emma. Knightley deems Mr. Martin an “intelligent, respectable gentleman-farmer”, making an evaluation of his character. Emma, however, always sees a person’s status first and makes a judgment of character around that – and so she is immediately disapproving of Mr

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In Madame Bovary, Emma creates conspicuous goals based off romantic novels she reads. In reaching her goals, she requires a level of

Emma, a novel by Jane Austen, is the story of a young woman, Emma, who is rich, stubborn, conniving, and occupies her time meddling into others' business. There are several recurring themes throughout the novel; the ideas of marriage, social class, women's confinement, and the power of imagination to blind the one from the truth, which all become delineated and reach a climax during the trip to Box Hill. The scene at Box Hill exposes many underlying emotions that have been built up throughout the novel, and sets the stage for the events that conclude it.

Miss Woodhouse is self absorbed and at the beginning of the novel, at the end she discovers her own faults, “with insufferable vanity had she believed herself in the secret of everybody’s feelings; with unpardonable arrogance proposed to arrange eyervbody’s destiny. She was proved to have been universally mistaken; and she had not quite done nothing—for she had done mischief” (Austen, 387). Miss Woodhouse means no harm with her actions, but she created problems and confusion. After Miss Woodhouse has a self-realization, she becomes the woman that Mr. Knightley has always seen in her. Cher is just as self absorbed as Miss Woodhouse, and at the end has a self-realization when she admits her love for Josh. Cher becomes aware of how clueless she was to her own and others feelings, and becomes a better person when she decides to be with Josh. Cher and Emma Woodhouse lived in their own worlds and did not pay attention to others around them, but when they realize they love someone, they come to a self-realization of the problems they have caused.

Though at first glance, Emma appears to be a generic romantic novel about virtue and ladyhood, Austen actually challenges what the meaning of “ladyhood” is to the reader. We view Emma’s follies, trials, and triumphs through the eyes of the omnipotent narrator who first describes Emma as a stereotypical, wealthy young lady who is “handsome, clever…with…a happy disposition” (1). Through the use of irony, Austen employs a series of situations in which Emma, a “lady” of high standing within her community, challenges conventional thinking of what it means to be a young woman in the early nineteenth century, particularly her ideas concerning marriage and

Austen reveals how self-transformation is necessary in maturing and establishing self-awareness. Emma Woodhouse possesses qualities that many would envy: beauty, intelligence, wealth, and youth. However, the positive aspects of Emma are equally contrasted by her personality. The novels begins with a description of the protagonist, "The real evils, indeed, of Emma 's situation were the power of having too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself: these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments."

Emma Bovary allows herself to be destroyed by the people she encounters and her obsession with falling in love. Emma is not happy with herself and her relationship so she looks for other people to fill the void. Emma never really realizes that she is the root of all of the troubles in her life. If she were more in touch with reality, she would realize that she needs to work on herself before blaming her love interests for not being like the men that she has read about in the past. Emma has a very unrealistic perception of love. Emma is unable to fall in love with anyone because she will always be dissatisfied. She destroyed her own marriage before it even started because of her preconceived idea of love. Charles is absolutely in love with Emma and would do anything for her but she does not feel the same way about him due to her fairytale idea of love. It seems as if she is not capable of separating her real life romances from the romance novels that she read when during her time at the convent.