Jane Austen’s satirical guide to proper etiquette and decorum prose fiction/novel Emma (1815) and Amy Heckerling’s teen flick Clueless (1995) were two poles apart yet it retained the essential contexts of the original text. While the original plot of Emma has been altered the themes in Clueless remain the same through textual, intertextual and contextual means. By acclimatizing the picturesque country society of Highbury contrasted to those of the higher class into the fast-paced modernity of the avant-garde Beverly Hills. Heckerling’s characters may use the language and slang of the 1990s and have modern-day hobbies and occupations, but they portray similar types of people with a semblance of Austen’s characters: they express egotism, vanity
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Why Tai!? Do you know who my father is?” In defense, the movie depicts society’s inclusiveness and pluralism by including Dionne’s Afro-Americanism, and the prevalence of varied ethnic groups such as the Asian, and Middle Eastern extras. A far shot of a blinking neon sign of a clown dwarfs Cher as she is ditched in the carpark by Elton, symbolizing society’s derision and condemnation of her attempts to emasculate a defined systems of classes and cliques. Further inflexibility in class interactions is apparent in Emma’s high modality and contemptuous tone when she claims that the “the yeomanry are precisely the order of people… with whom I feel I can have nothing to do.” On the there hand, the socially lower Tai is momentarily popularized at through her ‘near-death’ experience at the mall, shown by her central position in the camera frame when she becomes the focus of Cher’s friends and associates. This shows while ingrained class ideologies have been maintained, the indicators of class have not, changing from wealth and decorum to image and infamy, a notion reinforced by Travis’ transition of cliques from drug-user to skateboarder. Austen uses the medium of the novel, with extensive use of third person narrative technique, to give a satirical and at times humorous view of her nineteenth century world. Heckerling, in her film, is able to …show more content…
‘Marriages of convenience’ with people of comparable class and wealth defined the Regency mindset for respectable gentry. Austen reflects this in the metaphor “It darted through her, with the speed of an arrow, that Mr Knightley must marry no one other than herself!” The arrow symbolises how Emma’s independent nature has been ‘shot down’ and superseded by feelings for an ideal candidate in marriage – the socially compatible and patriarchal Mr Knightley. Furthermore, when Emma mockingly contemplates Mr. Elton’s endeavor to court her, the hyperbole in “The Eltons [bloodline] were nobody” highlights the resentment of the gentility towards socially incompatible matches. Similarly, Cher comments with a forthright tone that “no respectable girl” should date a ‘loadie’, highlighting how the standard that only socially similar people should romantically engage has been transposed into postmodern contexts. Hence, both texts highlight worlds in which marriage and relationships are characterised by the need for social
Why Tai!? Do you know who my father is?” In defense, the movie depicts society’s inclusiveness and pluralism by including Dionne’s Afro-Americanism, and the prevalence of varied ethnic groups such as the Asian, and Middle Eastern extras. A far shot of a blinking neon sign of a clown dwarfs Cher as she is ditched in the carpark by Elton, symbolizing society’s derision and condemnation of her attempts to emasculate a defined systems of classes and cliques. Further inflexibility in class interactions is apparent in Emma’s high modality and contemptuous tone when she claims that the “the yeomanry are precisely the order of people… with whom I feel I can have nothing to do.” On the there hand, the socially lower Tai is momentarily popularized at through her ‘near-death’ experience at the mall, shown by her central position in the camera frame when she becomes the focus of Cher’s friends and associates. This shows while ingrained class ideologies have been maintained, the indicators of class have not, changing from wealth and decorum to image and infamy, a notion reinforced by Travis’ transition of cliques from drug-user to skateboarder. Austen uses the medium of the novel, with extensive use of third person narrative technique, to give a satirical and at times humorous view of her nineteenth century world. Heckerling, in her film, is able to …show more content…
‘Marriages of convenience’ with people of comparable class and wealth defined the Regency mindset for respectable gentry. Austen reflects this in the metaphor “It darted through her, with the speed of an arrow, that Mr Knightley must marry no one other than herself!” The arrow symbolises how Emma’s independent nature has been ‘shot down’ and superseded by feelings for an ideal candidate in marriage – the socially compatible and patriarchal Mr Knightley. Furthermore, when Emma mockingly contemplates Mr. Elton’s endeavor to court her, the hyperbole in “The Eltons [bloodline] were nobody” highlights the resentment of the gentility towards socially incompatible matches. Similarly, Cher comments with a forthright tone that “no respectable girl” should date a ‘loadie’, highlighting how the standard that only socially similar people should romantically engage has been transposed into postmodern contexts. Hence, both texts highlight worlds in which marriage and relationships are characterised by the need for social