That's a pretty standard question for transformations, and should be the focus of your study in the unit.
It's important to note that a transformation of a text is not the same as an adaptation of the text
it's not enough to simply compare the texts in the unit. The question isn't asking you to compare the texts...comparing them is only a by-product of the focus of the question, which is to show how the transformation is shaping new meaning in a contemporary context.
You should always outline techniques...each form of media communicates messages in different ways, and that is a very strong communicative tool in this particular transformation.
You should look at how Austen has used her narrative to shape meaning in Emma, and compare this to how Heckerling uses film techniques to portray ideas put forth by Austen, as well as her own.
Ok, evidence. I think the best way is just to give you this - this is how I structured my answer last year...transformation was my best elective in advanced. It is by no means comprehensive...I had to cut it down so I could write it in 35 minutes.
I hope it helps.
To what extent has the transformation of Emma into Clueless presented new ideas?
- The transformation of Jane Austens novel 1816 novel, Emma, by Amy Heckerling in her 1995 film Clueless, has presented new ideas to the extent by which it allows us as responders to gain a greater understanding of both the social contexts of Austens world, as well as that of Heckerling. Through comparison of the ways in which status and wealth, morality and the role of women are examined in both texts, greater insight can be gained of these contexts, and the values and ideas they portray.
Wealth, Class and Charity and Morality
- Mr Knightley is used as a model of upper class landed gentry, representing the epitome of wealth, class and charity in normal society. This is first and foremost demonstrated in his name, knightley, as well as his first name, pertaining to King George of England at the time. Emma says of him to Harriett You will not see one in a hundred, with gentleman so plainly written as in Mr. Knightley.
- Knightley is presented in Austens novel as Emmas moral role model; as much as she enjoys the privileges of her wealth and social status, she does not know at the beginning of the novel the true meaning of charity. Although she is depicted as being kind to the poor, she behaves uncharitably towards Miss Bates. Knightleys subsequent criticism of Emma, Were she a woman of fortune, I would not quarrel with you for any liberties in manner but she is poor; she has sunk from the comforts she was born to. Her situation should secure your compassion implies a complex social structure and nature of personal relationships which is puzzling and difficult to understand to the contemporary reader.
- Clueless can help us better understand this structure. Similar to the relationship in Emma of Emma and Mr. Knightley is the relationship between Josh and Cher. At the beginning of the film, Cher is politically nave, but believes she understands the nature of political relationships. This is shown in the way she is portrayed in the debate about Haitians, in which her careless and offhand manner (shown by her facial expressions in close up, and using the yellow gum she twists around her fingers) suggest an unpreparedness for the world and little knowledge of its issues. If the government could just get to the kitchen, rearrange a few things, we could certainly party with the Haitians. Thankyou.
- When we compare this lack of political knowledge in our present day, to Emmas lack of knowledge about social charity in Austens time, we can see that this has been transformed by Austen to create new meaning in a contemporary context, as well as provide us with a better understanding of the nature of charity in Austens time. He presents a change in the meaning of charity itself, to extend over a global scale, not just between classes, but between cultures Just as Cher does not perceive the subtle and complex political forces which prevent the Haitians from coming to America, so too does Emma not realise the subtleties in the differences between people of different social rank, which change their nature of address to one another.
- Josh is similarly presented as the moral guiding light in the film, as he tells Cher offhandedly, If I ever saw you do anything which wasnt ninety percent selfish, Id die of shock., although he is presented as a school-nerd, instead of an ideal social figure. This shows the changes in values from Austens time to the present Heckerling wants to assert that there is no longer an ideal person to be; it is our personal morals which shape us as worthwhile individuals.
Marriage and the Role of Women
- Marriage played a very important role in Austens society. It served as a means to secure property, wealth and land. For a woman, this meant that few were financially independent but reliant on their marriage proposal to live. So Emma is presented as one of the few very privileged, as she claims, It is poverty only that makes celibacy contemptible to a generous public. A single woman of good fortune is always respectable. Due to this position, she has also a rather nave view on the subject of marriage, which she applies to her attempts to find a husband for Harriett. When criticised by Mr. Knightley for her part in Harriets refusal of Mr. Martins proposal, Emma exclaims, To be sure! That is the feeling of all you men. Is she, at seventeen, just entering into life, just beginning to be known, to be wondered at because she does not accept the first offer she receives?
- Emmas nave way of perceiving marriage as for happiness and love, and not as a practicality, is common in the heroines in Jane Austens novels, and can be seen as a representation of her ideals. Conversely, Miss Bates character in Emma is presented as a prototype for Austens greatest fear for a woman the exact antithesis of Emmas character. This emphasises the need for marriage in such a society as a means for securing ones future.
- In a similar way, Heckerlings Clueless tells us a great deal about present views regarding marriage and the role of women, and also how these roles have changed dramatically since Austens time. Today, people are very cynical about marriage as being good for any purpose. With an emphasis on the need for social freedom, especially in American culture under a National Declaration of Independence, marriage is seen as a constraint on ones freedom as an individual, restricting ones actions, and sometimes causing serious emotional problems. Instead, sex is seen to be the driving factor between intimate relationships of today. Heckerling shows this by changing the ending of her film using dramatic irony; we hear Chers voiceover saying You mightve guessed what happened next, after she is seen kissing Josh on the stairs, and then the camera cuts while she is still speaking to a shot from behind of a couple getting married. It is suggested in this visually overt way how conscious Heckerling is of the transformation which she has made, as Cher continues to say, As if! I am only sixteen, and this is California, not Kentucky.
- Sex replacing marriage as a pervading theme is further represented in Heckerlings film in the way the girls have discussions about sex and virginity in the caf, and in the way Dionne asks Tai for sex advice. Heckerling illustrates an important difference in the changing roles of women by this; she shows that nowadays women are at liberty to determine her destiny, in the same way that Tai chooses to have sex and Cher chooses to save herself for Luke Perry. Tai, who is the innocent one, is presented as the only person who has lost her virginity early in the film. At the end of the film, the girls are seen for the first time discussing marriage, and even this has been shown to be only a superficial excuse for dressing up.
Conclusion
- 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 values inherent in the transformation. The two texts hence complement one another in contributing to the responders overall understanding of how values transcend through time, as well as how new ideas can be expressed through the process of transforming a classic text into a modern text.
