‘Emma’ exposes the impacts of social hierarchies in the way people interact and behave with each other. This is shown through the use of satirical techniques. As Emma starts to realize the effects of her hurtful judgements formed on social class, she begins to develop a sense of self-growth and maturity. However, in order to comprehend the influences behind Emma’s puzzled decisions, it is important to have a basic understanding of the social context. In Austen’s time, the Regency Era, social status was decided by the person’s family background, reputation, occupation and wealth.
Her honesty, virtue, and lively wit enable her to rise above the nonsense and bad behavior that pervade her class-bound and often spiteful society. Nevertheless, she has a sharp tongue and tendency to make hasty judgments on first impressions. She is perhaps a little selective of the evidence on which she bases her judgments. In the beginning of the book, her closest relationships are with her father; her sister, Jane; her aunt, Mrs. Gardiner; and her best friend, Charlotte Lucas. As the story progresses, so does her relationship with Fitzwilliam Darcy, who belongs to a higher social class than Elizabeth.
The transformation of the Jane Austen’s novel Emma into the Amy Heckerling’s ‘teen-pic’ Clueless, involves changing the original text in to another medium set in a different context to allow a re-assessment of the values present in the text thus enabling the audience to gain a greater insight and appreciation of the ideals and concerns outlined by Austin in Emma. The themes presented by Austin in Emma are universal and timeless which enables Heckerling to adapt them to a context a modern audience can reflect and relate to, thus generating a greater understanding of the social commentary made by Austen on social class, marriage and education of the 19th century. Heckerling does not devalue Emma and the essence of what is said is not changed however Heckerling goes further than just a transformation and comments on modern issues such as sexuality, education and social equality relevant to her time. This allows the texts to resonate with each other with the known reflecting upon the new and the new reflecting on the known. Both Emma and Clueless deal with a society in which social structure and values are criteria for assessing people.
Evaluate the relative importance of differences or similarities between the texts, and the ways in which these differences or similarities reflect values in the text? In both Emma by Jane Austen and Clueless by Amy Heckerling the values have changed. In Clueless to suit a more contemporary society compared to Austen’s world in the 19th century. The similarities between the texts are how communication is valued. And the differences include how the value of marriage has changed to a value in sex and relationships.
Rather, she is depicted as a troubled middle class woman who is in an established, acceptable marriage with a respectable physician. This implies that the psychological trauma and events that occur to the narrator are not caused by her lack of resources, but rather from the implications of being a woman and their societal divide with men in the 19th century. In this work, Gilman argues that the separate spheres ideology of man and woman create a barrier of communication even after the consummation of marriage. In this way, the exposition illustrates this divide by John’s dismissal of his wife’s mental instability. John is described as a man who is extremely practical, logical, and perhaps the epitome of what it is to be a man in the 19th century.
Considering the carriage/car scenes in Emma and clueless, do you think attitudes to male/females relationships have changed from early nineteenth century context to late 20th century context. There are clear links between both texts, Emma and Clueless relating to how attitudes to male/female relationship have changed from early 19th century context to late 20TH century context. An aspect of change in male/female relationships is the existence of civility and manners in Emma compared to the way an argument can diminish your respect for someone else in Clueless. In Emma, when there is the conversation over Mr. Elton’s feelings towards Emma, there is a cautious effort to treat one another in a polite manner. For example “Angry as she was, the thought of the moment made her resolve to restrain herself when she did speak.” This highlights the vigilant effort to have respect for a human, no matter how displeased a person is with their actions.
Transformations Essay “The Study of transformation explores the tension between continuity and change. “ Explore how this statement is true. Amy Heckerling’s film, Clueless, as a transformation of Jane Austen’s novel, Emma, explores the tension between continuity and change. Emma, written in the early 1800s, reflects the values and class hierarchy of the Regency period. Heckerling’s film has transformed Emma into a dramatic twentieth century teen flick that both exemplifies and undercuts the contemporary culture of 1990s Los Angeles defined by consumption and appearance while still maintaining aspects of Emma’s narrative and characterisation.
Emma Essay The values that shape the form and meaning of any text are reflections of their respective contexts. This notion is explored through the comparison of Jane Austen’s Emma (1815) and Amy Heckerling’s appropriation, Clueless (1995). While distinct parallels may be drawn between Clueless and Emma, Regency values of class, social mobility and courtship are altered in Clueless to reflect the liberal nature of 1990’s America. Austen’s Emma reflects the rigidity of social hierarchy with stringent notions of class determined by lineage and inheritance, which limits social mobility of individuals in Regency England. The contextual value of class as inherited status and wealth portrayed by the juxtaposition of the cumulative listing of the
She strugggles tp the fact of being controlled, however towards the end Arnold starts to reflect the person that connie is towards her mother and becomes evident that control was an issue of verbal manipulations but with Arnold it’s the whole package. o the resistance she shows Arnold reflects the same resitance she shows her mother. • Resemblances of reality and the difference of men and women o The storey is set in the 60’s and the 60’s was an era where women were becoming more open, with wearing clothes the revealed skin to the struggle of equality o The storey reflects such struggle of fairness that resemble today’s society ▪ Men are more controlling figures and this the role Arnold plays ▪ Women now adays are more like objects to men. Something to look at and own. Connie plays the role that women.
Just as you learn different rules by whom you surround yourself with, gender is that same way. Journalist, Clive Thompson, observes that “males and females display different types of behaviors;” these behaviors that are acted upon are setting guidelines as “children recognize certain sex-role identities” (Atwan 82). This point is also proven in Frank McCourt’s novel From Angelas Ashes when the mother character, Angela, has to stay home and take care of her family and can’t do anything about the father taking the hard earned money to the pubs to drink it all away. With these influences on gender roles in society it is understood that “boys tend to be more aggressive and competitive, while girls’ behavior is generally more social and accommodating,” (Atwan 82). These classifications among men and women help to set a barrier to show the differences each gender has on society and how these common tendencies they acquire start to develop who they are.