In the excerpt from Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton, she informatively and descriptively describes the social issues and differences between upper and lower classes by using elements such as point of view, selection of detail, dialogue, and characterization to make a social commentary. She shows the way servants and the lower class are treated and compares them to the higher society and the upper class to show the injustices of society at that time. Gaskell informs rather than reforms; she explicates not industrial conditions but about people living in those conditions. The reader does not know any of the character developments and changes rather than those of George Wilson. Gaskell writes in third person omniscient limited; through this, we learn of George Wilson’s thoughts and feelings.
“Appropriation study of texts is interesting because the changing values and attitudes of particular time periods can be observed.” Evaluate this opinion in relation to the Jane Austen’s novel, Emma, and Amy Heckerling’s film, Clueless. In your response make detailed references to both texts. 3. In comparing your TWO texts you will have become aware of how the contexts of the texts have shaped their form and meaning. Of more interest, perhaps, is a comparison of the values associated with each text.
They are interconnected systems of inequality. Matrix of domination Families can be a place to resist inequality Social stratification: structured (socially patterned) inequality Groups are socially defined & treated unequally Class Persons occupying the same relative economic rank form a social class. Striking differences in income; growing gap between top 1/5 & bottom 1/5 Occupation is the most frequently used indicator of class. Determines income, opportunity, lifestyle Cultural explanations of class Each class is viewed as having a distinctive culture. Comparisons between the classes usually turn out to be “deficit” accounts of lower-status families.
How has the study of Emma and its appropriate clueless developed your understanding of how context influenced values? -Select at least 2 significant moments of Austen’s Emma and analyse how these moments are considered in order to create meaning in Heckerling’s Clueless. In your response focus on ideas, context, values and language. Heckerling’s Clueless (1995) is transformed through Austen’s 19th Century novel, Emma, where the plot and characters have been transformed to suit Heckerling’s context and contemporary audience. Despite the shift in context from 19th century England to late 20th century Beverly Hills, Austen’s main plot and ideas have been retained to a great degree.
The transformation of a text enables the ideas within that text to be explored as new insights into significant concerns and values are examined resulting in contextual change. Jane Austen’s 19th century Emma is appropriated into Amy Heckerling’s 20th century film Clueless by undergoing contextual shifts to accommodate a new audience. By doing so Heckerling is able to make new meaning in a text that explores universal and timeless issues such as class system and education and demonstrates that while there have been changes in context, class stability and femininity are still valued but have been reshaped to created new meaning. In Emma Austen presents the class system of the 19th century as a significant concern. The novel depicts a rigidly structured world based on wealth, property and status.
Consider the effect conventional society has on the protagonists within both Wuthering Heights and Tess of the d’Urbervilles. In both “Wuthering Heights” and “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” the female characters are seen as subservient to their male counterparts and characters such as Heathcliff and Tess are treated as inferior as a result of their lower status. Both novels were considered to be unconventional because the authors explore taboo subjects such as ghosts, child abuse, rape and murder. The Protagonists are affected by societies expectations of the Victorian era that are forced upon them, which affects their actions; preventing their happiness and true love from flourishing. Victorian society held strong, conservative religious views.
Essay The book Emma by Jane Austen and the film Clueless by Amy Heckerling are two texts that are strongly influenced by their context and are an expression of their cultural values. This concept is highlighted through the time the texts were written in, differences in Emma and Clueless, themes, language techniques and film techniques. Time is a factor that will have impact on a text and therefore determine its context, thus this will express its cultural values. Emma was published in 1816 in England. The novel was written for a 19th century reading public, mainly gentry and middle class audience.
Amy Heckerling’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma” has transformed a 19th century classic English novel into a teen flick romcom film of the 20th century entitled “Clueless”. Despite the vastly different historical settings and societal values of the two texts, Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless” still retains the essential values of the original text by adapting these values into a modern society of our time and a modern audience of our age. Comparatively through the themes of class and social structure and the attitudes towards love and marriage, a greater insight can be gained of the context in which it appropriates further enhanced by the use of satire and irony employed by both composers. “Emma” by Jane Austen was written in the Regency period of the 1800s; a time of inequality as it featured a wide gap between the rich and the poor while at the same time a rise in the merchant middle class. In response to this context, Austen tends to satirise the common source of power by creating a microcosmic world of a genteel community evolving round a “handsome, clever and rich” young woman who "seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence."
There was inequality between men and women in society. It is therefore possible to read Wuthering Heights as an extraordinary critique of the social conditions for women since, Victorian women writers had been largely prevented from writing social or political criticism in their novels. The rural setting of wuthering heights can be seen as indicative of the position of women as isolated from culture and modern industry. A women’s sole purpose was to marry and reproduce and if a women were to remain single, this would result in social disapproval and pity. This could explain some of the reasons for the choices Catherine and Isabella make, as women of the late 18th century.
Class: The Very Nature of Identity Whether a person comes from the rich, moderately rich, middle class, or the very poor, class distinction is extremely prevalent in Victorian literature, especially as to what one is worth in society. Characters from Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations are at the heart of this statement and, with the help of James Eli Adams’ article, on The boundaries of social intercourse’: Class in the Victorian Novel, I will discuss social classes represented by Dickens. This will show how the audiences is motivated to think about the effects social position has on individual identity by illustrating the different lifestyles and behaviors associated in Victorian society that depict a clear separation of social class. First of all, social class is a central theme of the social order illustrated in Great Expectations. Social class determines the custom for how one is treated in society.