Transformation - Jane Austen Emma to Clueless

Adaptations of Jane Austen’s, Emma, are usually period pieces diligent in capturing and replicating the manners, dress, language and values of the original text. Clueless, written and directed by Amy Heckerling, deviates drastically from the norm, as the film is not a period piece. While Emma is set in the early nineteenth century in the country village of Highbury, sixteen miles out of London, England, Clueless is set in Bronson Alcott High School almost two hundred years later, in the late twentieth century. Despite the significantly different geographical and historical setting and the diverse social values, lifestyles, and issues than those depicted in Emma, Amy Heckerling’s high school setting retains and is

Today marriage is seen as an expression of deep love and respect for another person. In Austen’s time, a ‘good’ marriage was seen to be one where wealth and social status of the man and woman were socially suitable. There was very

Marriage, a broad theme in this book, can be broken down throughout. Emma’s sister has gone off after getting married and left her alone. After her sister’s marriage, Emma proclaimed that she was not destined for love and made herself the town’s unofficial matchmaker. The entire novel is built around relationships and matchmaking, with Emma and Mr. Knightly, Harriet and Robert Martin/ Elton, and Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill.

Bennet exclaims, “Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls” (2). Considering Mrs. Bennet’s lines, the reader acknowledges Austen’s first claims on marriage. Mrs. Bennet not only exemplifies the opening statement of the novel, but also justifies the effect it has on mother figures. As Mrs. Bennet’s character develops, the reader recognizes her obsession with the marriage of her daughters. Mrs. Bennet understands the importance of marrying ‘well’ in order to maintain a high standing in the social realm. However, understanding the consequences directly affects Mrs. Bennet’s desperate behavior. This interpretation becomes an inevitable experience for each of Mrs. Bennet’s daughters.

A Comparison of Emma by Jane Austen and Movie Clueless The film Clueless, written and directed by Amy Heckerling, is an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Emma and closely parallels the story in terms of character development and action. Although Emma was written in 1816 and developed ideas and issues of that period in time, 180 years on we can still recognize and identify with the exact same issues. This just proves that despite all the radical social changes that have taken place since Jane Austen's time, people and life haven't really changed all that much. The general life issues of money, love, friendship, class and finding ones place in the world are raised in both texts.

Although Highbury was just a small population town, the particular social structure was reflecting this type of class structure about Britain. For instance, the love amongst Robert Martin and Harriet was not acceptable in Emma’s eyes. Robert Martin was a successful respectable farmer; Harriet is a friend of Emma and illegitimate of a tradesman nevertheless she received well cared and properly educated. So Emma couldn’t agree while Mr. Martin proposed marriage to Harriet, subsequently Emma Convinced Harriet to Refused to associate with Robert Martin. And try to match Harriet and Mr. Elton who was considered as higher rank of society status, young priest with record of great educating. In Emma describe of Mr. Martin “he may be the richest of the two, but he is undoubtedly her inferior as to rank in society.”(Emma, Chapter7, and p.33) it is clear that time, marriage most depended on and compromised with the values of their social status.

She is met with Elton’s indignant reply, “Don’t you even know who my father is?”, his shocked tone and rhetorical question emphasises the nonsensical nature of her remark, emulating the social rift between himself and Tai. Elton distances himself from Tai by emphasising his superior status, and reflects upon the contextual importance of adherence to social distinctions when forging relationships, a similarity shared in Emma. In contrast to Clueless is the rigidity of social class in Emma’s time, in which there is a strong regard for birthright, wealth and mannerisms. In chapter 10, Emma says, “A single woman, with a very narrow income, must be a ridiculous, disagreeable, old maid! ...but a single woman, of good fortune, is always respectable”. A poor, unmarried woman is described as an “old maid”, whereas her wealthy counterpart is “always respectable”. These double standards between single women of high and poor economic status exemplifies the importance of wealth in determining respectability within Austen’s context. Evidently, social hierarchy are strong social values upheld in both contexts, with relationships and societal norms dependent upon an individual’s social class.

To marry for money and not love is frowned upon as a social norm, but is also seen as an opportunity for women to rise in the social hierarchy. Though, love is to be the reason why bonds like marriage exist. Being a woman in the nineteenth century limits social advancement and makes it seem impossible without wealth, a background of family fortune, or matrimony to a man labeled high class. Emma Woodhouse, from the novel Emma written by Jane Austen, defines what it means to seek stature through marriage and how couples can aid in contexts such as social groups. Austen clearly covers social groups in her novel, but making the novels focal point circumvent around Emma. We look beyond how class enables opportunity for women and see just how

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.

Texts can be re-contextualised and manipulated in order to be relevant to a modern day society. However, the transformation is usually apparent and thus a link can be established between the original and the new. The transformation can give the audience a better understanding of societal values and attitudes present in the texts. Jane Austen's book Emma(1816), relevant to society in Regency England, is relived in a modern day context relevant to the 20th century American society in Amy Heckerling's “teen flick” Clueless(1995). Social status plays a crucial part in both texts.

Examine Austen’s presentation of what is called in the novel, ‘women’s usual occupations of eye, and hand, and mind’. In Jane Austen’s society, the role of women was controlled by what was expected of them. In most cases, marriage was not for love, and was considered as a business arrangement, in which both partners could gain status and financial reassurance. Though Austen opposed the idea of none affectionate marriage, many

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

Jane Austen develops a strong illustration of how challenging emotional circumstances can initiate a change in character, using Elizabeth Bennet as an effective demonstration in Pride and Prejudice. Cases such as Mr. Darcy's proposal, Charlotte's marriage, and the discovery of Mr. Wickham's past are compelling support for Austen's idea that alterations to one's behaviour and actions can occur as a result of being placed in a strenuous emotional position. Each influences Elizabeth in a different way, some causing rapid change, while others cause a slower, more gradual one. Self-reflection and the reconsideration of a character's worldview allow Austen to highlight the importance of change in trying situations.

England has always had a rich history of interesting cultural traditions but arguably none as prevalent as marriage. Marriage, the union of two people with emotional ideals and expectations, are brought on by many different factors that include: for love, for money, for climbing social status, escapism, survival, etc. In Jane Austen’s novels, she focuses on the importance of marriage in her world because she wanted to emphasize how marriage is the most important life event of a woman as this would determine her place in society. Persuasion shows readers good and bad examples of marriage: the amiable Crofts and other couples such as Sir Walter & Lady Elliot and the Smiths. Jane Austen uses the Crofts to support the importance of marriage

Marriage has no always been about the love and happiness two people bring eachother; instead it was concidered to be more of a business transaction. Emma by Jane Austen takes place during the early twentieth century, this time period was completly absorabed in social classes and had a much different view on marriage than today. Through the young, bold, wealthy, and beautiful character Emma Woodhouse, Jane Austen exposes the protocol of marriage as well as the effects marriage held based on social standing during the early twentieth centuery.