Emma And Cher example essay topic

The external mechanism of literary transformation is a physical modification of form and concept in the mode of the derivation of one text from another. Whilst the new is fundamentally different to the old, recurring thematic similarities afford an appreciation of cultural fluidity and the progress of ideology and representation. The art of transformation engenders critical literary investigation into the relationships between text, context and the reciprocal interrelation of texts. Amy Heckerling's Clueless (1995) is a sovereign text, yet reflects Jane Austen's Emma (1815) in theme, style and structure: a modern reading of a historically canonical text. The transformation contemporised Austen's plot, setting, characterisation and gentle irony, thereby shaping new meaning alongside the universality of Austen. Each text is a construct of the context that produces it; the transformation of one to the other provides a partial basis by which to examine the constancy of our culture.

Austen wrote Emma as the threat of the notion of the individual threatened from afar, in the violence of the War of Independence (1776) and the French Revolution (1789) and the new ideas of Locke, Hume, Paine, Rousseau and Goethe, emerging in England, France and Germany. Austen's England was also affected by the rise of Capitalism and a long-term political instability, particularly with regard to the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). Heckerling's Clueless, however, emerges two hundred years later out of a chiefly godless society based on the dictates of consumerism and the hedonistic, self-absorbed principles of postmodernism. Clueless bears testimony to the fulfilment of Austen's "real evils" (p. 37): a world dominated by the individual and the profit motive. Postmodernism is most significantly a vacuum of standards, virtues, morals and history. The indelible mark of the Romantics' individualism- which Austen feared- leads inevitably to a rejection of any greater authority and imposing moral codes, whilst the imposing entrepreneurs of the industrial revolution descended into the deeply ingrained capitalist mindset that dominates particularly the Western civilisation- and much of the globe.

Los Angeles, where Clueless is set, is heralded as a great centre of postmodernism, where fashion obsession and consumerism reach a pinnacle even in a postmodern country. Emma's conception of Highbury as "the world" and the sixteen miles to London an incomprehensible distance reveals a rural parochialism, despite her privilege. In transformation, Cher's habitat is global, due to the spread of technology, yet still confined and impotent. Dionne and Murray can't find a party in the Valley, which adjoins Beverly Hills, and Dionne cannot navigate the freeway.

Cher doesn't know the difference between El Salvador and Mexico, thinks Bosnia is in the Middle East and Kuwait in the Valley. Emma's narrow experience of the world is a reflection of social stereotypes, where Cher's mirrors a widespread political apathy and individual unconcern, despite extensive and easily obtainable information via the new technologies- television, the Internet and general electronics. Indeed, technology, though capable of informing a wider world-view and global education, facilitates an inward focus and a surreal conception of global reality. Heckerling satirists the Western dependence on technology and immediacy where Cher rings Dionne in the school hall and they find each other in person, and when Cher waits for Christian to call and the music is borrowed from 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968), suggesting the pinnacle of life, the new and essential technology. Emma's frequent traversing by foot is replaced by Cher's permit driving, although the car does not bring more freedom, only greater life danger, when Dionne and Murray are negotiating the freeway. Both the original and the transformation are written in the ironic mode as a means of social commentary.

Austen uses irony to shape her authorial representation in the novel. She uses irony to censure and shape response to the negative elements- economic ruthlessness, and the prominence of the individual. Emma, one of Austen's most flawed heroines, is frequently treated with irony: even her natural tone invites irony, where Emma clearly has no experience, and much confidence: "I lay it down as a general rule, Harriet, that if a woman doubts as to whether she should accept a man or not, she certainly ought to refuse him". (p. 79) Heckerling uses satire to the same effect as Austen, by emphasising the disparity between Cher's voiceover's, which in themselves can be heavily ironic short lines, like "a night alone with Christian? I sent for reinforcements", and the visual element, which frequently opposes Cher's voice. One instance of this is at the valley party, where Cher says: "I had to give myself snaps for all the good deeds I was doing. It was so great.

Love was everywhere. Even though I was alone, I was really happy for Tai. It's like that book I read in ninth grade that said", 'tis a far, far better thing doing stuff for other people". The screen, however, shows a boy vomiting into the pool; Cher has, in fact, falsely raised Tai's hopes, her only good deed being the self-motivated matchmaking of Geist and Hall.

She misquotes Dickens, but it is gentle irony; laughter is a tool of humour, not a weapon. Emma Woodhouse, like Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (1807), has romantic, individualistic tendencies. She considers herself an "imaginist" (p. 331) and her recreation is chiefly selfish and childish. Her wealth and independence arouse her vanity, but she is oblivious to the accompanying responsibilities. Cher Horowitz is similar in vanity and selfishness, yet is more accepted by a postmodern society as a stereotypical teenager.

Both girls are placed in absurd, shallow roles by social prescription. Emma, despite her financial independence, is restricted twofold: by the demands of her invalid father, and by the restrictions on acceptable activities for a gentlewoman. Cher is confined to the vacuousness and similar lack of occupation of the twentieth century blonde. Hence, both texts are concerned with female stereotypes in separate contexts.

The approach of both is the female Bildungsroman, wherein the heroine quests for maturity or further knowledge. The fruition of both heroines' journeys is discovered in submission to the superiority of the male, establishing both texts as ultimately conservative- a conservatism that is at least partially authorial in institution. In the conservative strain, Cher remains a na " ive virgin and Dionne threatens to call Murray's mother as a reprimand. The final coupling is segregated according to race, class and fiscal elements; similarly in Emma.

Heckerling defends the older, less popular virtues of social liability, tolerance and fidelity. Josh's assertion that "in some parts of the universe... it's considered cool to know what's going on in the world" is indicative of an attempt to blend the established 'cool' with actual moral fundamentals. Miss Geist's political tendencies are, however, ignored and her only triumph is in marriage. The conservative mode of Austen and Heckerling is not exclusive.

Both Emma and Cher exert a certain expression of individual will that is socially accepted, though not socially governed. They are constructs of their societies, but strive for a compromise between the expectations of their surroundings and their own desires. Emma achieves a measure of freedom and independence in marriage. In union with George Knightley, Emma will retain her social standing and wealth, and be in a position to fulfil her social responsibility and exercise her position in the Highbury community.

Emma's triumph is slightly amplified by Knightley's decision to move in with the Wood houses: a small concession to a quietly emerging feminist movement, in an otherwise paternal, hegemonic text. Cher's triumph of individuality lies in the general social acceptance of herself, without seeking conformation. Her individuality is not compromised by her relationship with Josh. The Imitation genre of eighteenth century England, of Johnson, Swift and Pope, is chiefly a revision of classic Greek and Roman literature for the English stage. Events, characters and allusions are contemporised to gain relevance for an eighteenth century English society.

The genre's most definitive attribute is a conscious and distinct compilation of similarity and difference, of originality and identification. The ideal is a balance between the anticipation of the new and the established appreciation of the known. This notion forms still the basis for modern transformation. Postmodern philosophy parallels post-structural critical theory, which holds texts as constructs of society, virtually eliminates the author and emphasises the individuality of the responder in the shaping of meaning. No reading is invalid, since no universal standard exists with which to discriminate. Clueless, therefore, is a valid, but not authoritative reading of a text that, until recently, was placed in a canon of essentially worthy literature.

The canon, however, is now obsolete as it is fundamentally a rejection of one representation and promotion of another. The distinction between 'high' or sophisticated, worthy literature- and 'low' or popular, less intellectual literature- is blurred and eroding. In addition to her elemental transformation of a canonical text into a popular media and genre, Heckerling plays with this notion of boundaries and textual worth with a set of historical allusions and representations of "classic" signifies. Cher has a better knowledge of Shakespeare's Hamlet than Josh's mock-intellectual girlfriend only because Mel Gibson starred.

She alludes to Roman philosopher Cato, quotes from Shakespeare's sonnets and misquotes Dickens' Tale of Two Cities. Clueless, therefore, is a contemporised classic that self-reflexively alludes back to classics. Heckerling borrows from Austen in both content and repute. In relation to the public, Clueless was popular in its right as a teen movie, but received greater acclaim and box office popularity as a descendant of Austen's Emma.

A detailed knowledge of Austen's novel extends and warps the meaning constructed by responder. Emma, however, is also affected by a new published reading. The foregrounding of the discussion of female stereotypes, for instance, and the aggressive sexual focus, provide insight into the original text and its dislocation from Clueless and the twenty-first century. A reciprocal relationship exists, therefore, between the original and the transformation, which can be extended to include other works directly or indirectly alluded to in either texts: although the effect is slighter, Clueless is coloured by references to Shakespeare and Dickens, whilst the same references provide insight into the adaptability of Shakespeare and Dickens to the responder's context, thematic universality, or the composer's context. There exists, therefore, a universal, dynamic, network relationship within the body of texts: an intertextuality where texts cannot be exactly placed and time and place lose their absoluteness, and a text never stands alone but draws from all other texts.

The process of transformation has deep and far-reaching implications. In the derivation of a transformation from an original text the composer both draws from and supplements the dynamic body of texts that eclipses history, geography and culture. The transition incorporates the adaptation of form and ideas from one context to another and the thematic manipulation with consideration of the relevance of original content according to new universal ideologies and specific audience trends. In its entirety, the process of transformation engenders an in instinctive cultural comparison, simultaneously tainted by the composer and devoid of authorial input, as a construct of an author who is a construct of a culture; every element of a transformation is a representation of a culture.

Furthermore, a critical study of any transformation provides insight into the original, the derivative, every related text and, in turn, every text that exists. "All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth". (Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche).