Emma and Clueless Essay
How has the change in context of Emma and clueless shaped the values conveyed in the two texts?
In Amy Heckerlings 1995 film clueless we see the deep transformation of Jane Austin’s more conservative 19th century classic Emma. In clueless we see the values and themes of high culture literature combined with the modern context of teenage society in the 20th century. The transformation of Jane Austen's novel Emma to the 20th century film Clueless by Amy Heckerling allows for the same themes of social structure and personal growth to be universally conveyed in a modern situation. Throughout Heckerlings transformation we see things like photography substituting for portraiture, convertibles for carriages, parties in the Valley for fancy dress balls, and also some less obvious details for example Emma’s extreme care for Mr Woodhouse’s health undergo a contemporary twist in Cher's insistence of a low-cholesterol diet on her father and the counterparts of the Gypsies who threaten Harriet Smith in Emma are the gang bullies at the local mall who threaten Tai. In both texts we see the significant role values such as social status, money and marriage play in both the leading characters lives and in their societies and throughout both texts we see the main characters Emma and Cher transform from shallow ignorance to mental and emotional maturity.
The 19th century was a time where inheritance, respectability and marriage were the prime determents of one’s social status. This same social status was so very important in 1990’s America where ones inheritance and popularity defined. To both Emma and Cher their social standing is the most important thing in their world, they are both spoiled, in control socially and tend to think very highly of themselves. In Emma Jane Austin uses social gatherings to emphasise the importance of social status, we people of lower status were absent from these gatherings, “they were of low origin, in trade and only moderately genteel.” These same
In Amy Heckerlings 1995 film clueless we see the deep transformation of Jane Austin’s more conservative 19th century classic Emma. In clueless we see the values and themes of high culture literature combined with the modern context of teenage society in the 20th century. The transformation of Jane Austen's novel Emma to the 20th century film Clueless by Amy Heckerling allows for the same themes of social structure and personal growth to be universally conveyed in a modern situation. Throughout Heckerlings transformation we see things like photography substituting for portraiture, convertibles for carriages, parties in the Valley for fancy dress balls, and also some less obvious details for example Emma’s extreme care for Mr Woodhouse’s health undergo a contemporary twist in Cher's insistence of a low-cholesterol diet on her father and the counterparts of the Gypsies who threaten Harriet Smith in Emma are the gang bullies at the local mall who threaten Tai. In both texts we see the significant role values such as social status, money and marriage play in both the leading characters lives and in their societies and throughout both texts we see the main characters Emma and Cher transform from shallow ignorance to mental and emotional maturity.
The 19th century was a time where inheritance, respectability and marriage were the prime determents of one’s social status. This same social status was so very important in 1990’s America where ones inheritance and popularity defined. To both Emma and Cher their social standing is the most important thing in their world, they are both spoiled, in control socially and tend to think very highly of themselves. In Emma Jane Austin uses social gatherings to emphasise the importance of social status, we people of lower status were absent from these gatherings, “they were of low origin, in trade and only moderately genteel.” These same