Gender And Gender Themes In Jane Austen's Clueless

Two hundred years ago, women (mostly women writers) were starting to think that maybe they didn’t have to be stuck as second class citizens in a patriarchy. Even though they had these ideas, they were so repressed that they couldn’t really speak their minds; no one would listen. Some writers, including Jane Austen, thought that maybe, they could plant a little seed of feminism, or the start of feminism, into their minds with stories that challenged current views. All of Austen’s works deal with these issues and their themes have resonated through the centuries. In a modern adaptation of Austen’s Emma, Clueless, we see that the same themes that arise in a traditional adaptation of Sense & Sensibility such as whether to marry for love or money, …show more content…
There is a class system at the high school in the movie and it seems like the classes don’t ever mix. Cher is part of the upper class but she has decided that she’s not going to date anyone at her school because she feels like even the “popular” boys are below her. But she’s perfectly content to set her friends up with them. She tries to set Tai up with Elton since she believes Tai will be happy with a “popular” boy, even though Tai has feelings for a low-class stoner. Cher doesn’t take into account Tai’s feelings and only cares about status. Eventually, Cher realizes that love can cross any barrier and it is more satisfying being with someone you love than being with someone who looks good on your …show more content…
Elton tries to date Cher for her status as the Queen Bee, not because he truly likes all of her personality, and Cher rejects this idea. She doesn’t agree that being a power couple is more important than dating because they actually like each other. And Josh doesn’t fall for Cher because she is the daughter of a rich lawyer. He falls in love with her personality. Sometimes women are still treated like objects nowadays so this theme was very easy for today’s society to relate to, even though it’s a 200 year old idea.
These “more than” personalities are what makes Jane Austen’s characters so great. They push boundaries and break social norms. Her heroes may start out as handsome strangers but they soon turn into to so much more than rich, stuck up, handsome guys. In both Sense & Sensibility and Clueless, her heroes are gentlemanly, responsible, independent, intelligent, thoughtful, sociable, reliable and they all have integrity. They’re people you want to like, people that are good but still have their flaws. Men weren’t portrayed that way very often and Austen’s works were a good portrayal of