Emma And Clueless Comparison Essay

Select two different significant elements in Jane Austens novel Emma and analyse how they are reshaped to create new meaning in Amy Heckerlings film Clueless

Transformations require an imaginative reshaping of significant elements of a text for new contexts. Jane Austens Emma has been modernized and transformed into the Amy Heckerlings film Clueless. For this to be successful Heckerling must keep the key elements and reshape them to create new meaning.

Emma has been transformed into Cher. They both share the same character traits. Both characters take on the role of matchmaker. Blindly ignoring love in their matches but acting on status alone. Cher, unlike Emma is a high school student and is expected that she gets a career later on in life than rely on her family fortune. They both play exactly the same role but achieve their results differently. Emma misinterprets Frank Churchills feeling whilst in clueless, Cher misinterprets Christians sexuality and motives. Cher is a victim of the computerized, technological world. Her life is as unfulfilled as the women in the 18th century. Cher, unlike Emma values exterior image, this is reflected in her attempt to make over Tai where Dion states Chers main thrill in life is a makeover, It give her a sense of control in a world full of chaos. Both Emma and Cher attempt to challenge the stereotypes. Emma challenges the stereotype of marriage whilst Cher challenges the stereotype of the dumb blonde theory. A very significant change is the language of the two characters. This is because the two pieced are a century different and language has been modernized. Not only has Heckerling transformed form Elizabethan English to modern English, she has also successful used the teenage slang of the 20th century. With sentences being transformed from the blunders, the blindness of her own head and heart...In every place,....She perceived that she has acted weakly to Everything I think about and everything I do is wrong. I was wrong about Tai, I was wrong about Elton, I was wrong about Christen and now Josh hated me. It all boiled down to one inevitably conclusion, I was just totally clueless the transformation is very noticeable and the characters are very different.

Josh is the transformation of Mr Knightley. They are both the strong, controlled characters of the texts. Mr Knightley corrects and guides Emma Mr Knightley, In fact was one of the few people who could see fault in Emma Woodhouse, and the only one who ever told her of them. Whilst Josh is also help Cher in finding herself If I ever saw you do anything thing that wasnt ninety nine percent selfish Id die of shock Instead of being Emmas step brother, Josh is transformed into Chers ex step brother, which they dont consider themselves relatedbut you were hardly even married to his mother and that was five years ago. Josh is seen as a school nerd instead of the ideal social figure which is Mr Knightley, as the role of a social figure is outdated and UN relatable to the new audience. Josh role is still identical to Mr Knightley. They both guide Emma/Cher into shedding her judgemental ways and helping her mature into a lady.

Characters are not the only element that has been modified for the transformation to be successful the themes of the novel Emma must be reshaped also. One major theme in both Emma and Clueless is social status. Both texts are controlled around the protagonists obsession with social status. By making Cher into a high school student, it is putting Emma and Cher in the same position as both the 18th century and high school evolve around your social status. Cher in the beginning of the novel judges everybody by the status. She thinks she is more superior to everyone else because she is blessed with a wealthy family and her intelligence. She tells her friend Tai who she can and cannot hang out with based just alone on the social clich and ignoring Tais connection with Travis because he is stereotyped as a stoner No respectable girl actually dates them. Emma also does this with Harriet, talking her out of a proposal and not even thinking Mr Martin was capable of producing such fine letter writing skills So good a letter, Harriett that, that everything considered I think one of his sisters must have helped him. It takes Cher to see that Mr Eltons real intentions that just because you have a high social status doesnt mean you are worthy of the position. Cher starts to see Travis for the person he really is and accepts his and Tais love.

Elements have changed that that reflects the advances in technology and life style. Carriages are replaced with convertibles, Portraiture is replaced with photography and social events are updated from formal balls to college parties. However the issues are consistent and the restrictions and expectations placed on woman are present in both centuries. Cher although she is in the 20th century in a way has less responsibility than Emma had, as Emma was the care taker of her father. Cher is not taken seriously by her father or Josh throughout the movie and think her only direction is towards the mall Although throughout the movie she gains respect by changing her ways and becoming charitable. Heckerling is making a point that even though a century has passed, and this is the era that women believe they have the same rights as me, it is shocking to see that not much has changed between these characters, because even with Emma being modernized, there is nothing better for a smart young girl to do but to match make because she is does not get taken seriously.

Through the comparison of Austens Emma and Heckerlings Clueless new insight of the original text can be gained by the modern reader. Through examining the themes and characters, the two text complement one another in contributing to the audiences overall understanding of how by reshaping significant elements of an old text can create new meaning into a new contemporary transformed piece.