Jane Austen s Emma And Amy Heckerling s Clueless Essay

Though written over two centuries apart, the protagonists in Jane Austen’s Emma and Amy Heckerling’s Clueless, are very much alike. They are strong female characters of a certain social standing, that are expected to abide by a particular set of rules and adhere to societal norms. Unlike most young women, Austen’s Emma and Heckerling’s Cher are able to disregard social expectations ¬ — like Emma’s idea of marriage, and Cher’s idea of sex — simply because they are privileged and socially stable enough to do so. In this way, both young women simultaneously embrace and reject the principles of female social expectations of their specific time periods. Both Austen and Heckerling confront the belief systems of their readers and viewers through characters that do not act â€Å"appropriately† within their respective social environments. Though at first glance, Emma appears to be a generic romantic novel about virtue and ladyhood, Austen actually challenges what the meaning of â€Å"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 â€Å"handsome, clever†¦with†¦a happy disposition† (1). Through the use of irony, Austen employs a series of situations in which Emma, a â€Å"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 andShow MoreRelatedSummary Of Emma And Amy Heckerlings Clueless1369 Words   |  6 Pagesto Jane Austens  Emma  and Amy Heckerlings  Clueless. 1300-1500 words Texts and their appropriations presents the ways of thinking and the values existent within their societies. When comparing Jane Austen’s Regency novel Emma and Amy Heckerling’s adaptive feature Clueless, it is evident they offer diverse perspectives significant to understanding the composer’s contexts. In differentiation, Emma highlights the significance of matrimony, whereas this value is cast aside in Clueless. Clueless alsoRead MoreA Modern Context Within Jane Austen s Clueless 1737 Words   |  7 Pagesstories and social themes into a new context. Amy Heckerling exemplifies this notion as she brings forth the social issues and concerns of Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ into a modern context within her 20th century film, ‘Clueless’. Heckerling has transformed ‘Emma’ through her use of modern language, setting, targeted audience and props in ‘Clueless’ illustrating how Austen’s ideals and social themes are still relevant and affective to a contemporary audience. Heckerling investigates the dichotomy and similaritiesRead MoreIs Classic Novels Be Adapted Into Successful Modern Movies?1826 Words   |  8 PagesAmanda Lockhart Ms. Solomon English 1020-003 17 October 2016 Can Classic Novels be Adapted into Successful Modern Movies? Emma’s Clueless About Clueless I. My audience for my research paper is people attending a pop culture conference. The movie Clueless is based on ‘90’s pop culture, even though the movie is based on Jane Austen’s Emma which is over a century old. My audience will be people who are interested in learning more about whether or not classic books can be adapted into successful moviesRead MoreFilm Techniques, By And Amy Heckerling s Postmodern American Film, Clueless ( 1995 )2279 Words   |  10 Pagesentails the adaption of a text to a contemporary contextual environment, and by comparing both Jane Austen’s Regency Era novel, Emma (1815), and Amy Heckerling’s postmodern American film, Clueless (1995), it is evident that the film has been re-appropriated in such a way that Austen’s voice is still heard today, while simultaneously projecting Heckerling’s views on present-day society. While both Emma and Clueless fall under similar timeless themes, such as the social hierar chy, the social values of marriageRead MoreClueless a Transformation of Emma4584 Words   |  19 PagesHow does the composer of Clueless use film techniques to transform the social, historical and environmental context of Jane Austen’s Emma to the modern context of Clueless? Amy Heckerling’s Clueless involves a storyline, which closely follows the text of Jane Austen’s novel Emma. However, there are some key points of difference in the transformation that has taken place. This is due to the individual context of the nineteenth century prose text and that of the modern appropriated film text. The