Throughout history, notions of beauty have been integral to social life and culture, and are often reflected in period texts. An example of this is Jane Austen’s Regency era novel Emma (1815), and its 1995 film appropriation Clueless, written and directed by Amy Heckerling. These texts use the beauty ideals of their respective periods to showcase the negative effects of superficiality and the importance of ‘inner’ beauty. This becomes evident through exploration of the beauty ideals of both eras and how representations of these ideals have been appropriated from Emma to Clueless through characterisation. In the Regency era, beauty was tied to what the rich could attain. Pale skin and plump figures were prized as they indicated a person did …show more content…
The appropriation of this aspect of the story into Clueless, reinforces the idea that holding one’s notions of beauty in high regard and enforcing these on another can lead to vanity and corruption of both people’s characters. Cher and Dionne decide to give new girl Tai a makeover because they deem her unnaturally red and wild hair, oversized flannel shirt and lack of makeup, unattractive. This decision is followed by a montage of Tai’s makeover, and upbeat, non-diagetic refrain “I’m gonna be a supermodel.” When post-makeover Tai is revealed she is styled similarly to Cher and Dionne and the backing singers sing, “it’s so beautiful.” The correlation between the lyrics and visuals suggests that the way Tai looked before the makeover was not ‘beautiful‘ and the beauty ideal the Cher has enforced upon her is ‘beautiful’. This message is further explored through Tai’s newfound attractiveness leading to her becoming vain and arrogant. This change in Tai’s character culminates with the infamous insult “why am I even listening to you to begin with? You’re a virgin who can’t drive.” After her makeover, even through Tai is now seen as conventionally beautiful, her personality is not. Tai’s character development emphasises the drastic effects vanity and superficiality can have on a person. It reinforces the idea that beauty is not as important as a person’s character, which is one of the main messages of Clueless and
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a period piece condemning the outrageous standards set for women during the 1790's by creating a satirical perspective of the way society viewed women. Written in the Georgian Era in England, the novel takes place in a society that defined a woman’s role ranging from the way they should dress to the manner in which they should behave. Being exposed to this ideology greatly influenced Austen’s work as she creates characters living in a high-class society in Longbourn, England during the Napoleonic Wars. In literature, satire is often used to point out flaws within a society through the mockery of the said imperfections; for example, as seen in her novel, Austen creates a parody of the way
A Comparison of Emma by Jane Austen and Movie Clueless The film Clueless, written and directed by Amy Heckerling, is an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Emma and closely parallels the story in terms of character development and action. Although Emma was written in 1816 and developed ideas and issues of that period in time, 180 years on we can still recognize and identify with the exact same issues. This just proves that despite all the radical social changes that have taken place since Jane Austen's time, people and life haven't really changed all that much. The general life issues of money, love, friendship, class and finding ones place in the world are raised in both texts.
Beauty is seen as one of the most important aspects of an individual as it the first characteristic someone notices about a person. Some are treated differently due to his or her aesthetically pleasing or displeasing face and is most evident in the book Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C. S. Lewis that takes place approximately in the time period 700 to 450 B.C. In the novel Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C. S. Lewis the three central female characters, Orual, Psyche, and Redival, are all regarded to differently based on their physical appearances and this attitude is prevalent in modern society.
to. So it defines one's rank to be at one of these social functions as
The overwhelming emphasis that society places on outward appearance has a negative impact on an individual’s sense of self-esteem and dignity by creating a standard to which one must conform, as well as a potential void if he/she does not meet that standard. One character that embodies this principle is Pauline Breedlove, a mother and wife who has felt limited by her physical appearance her entire life. Upon discovering that she is pregnant with her first child, Pauline reflects on how, as a young girl, “along with the idea of romantic love, she was introduced to another--physical beauty. Probably the most destructive ideas in the history of human thought. Both originated in envy, thrived in insecurity, and ended in disillusion. In equating physical beauty with virtue, she stripped her mind, bound it, and collected self-contempt by the heap” (Morrison 122). Morrison’s use of the word “destructive”, which carries a very negative and harmful connotation, suggests that the idea of physical beauty actually has the potential of deteriorating Pauline’s spirit,
Cher and Emma both make the mistake of misjudging others. Neither of them can correctly judge the intentions of others. Emma believes that her attempts to set up Harriet with Mr. Elton are successful when he begins to spend all of his time with the girls and fawns over her painting of Harriet like a schoolboy. However, Emma cannot see that Mr. Elton has set his sights on her and not her friend. His love for the painting is due to the painter and not to the model. Cher encounters the same dilemma when she believes that Elton is in love with Ty. Elton asks for the picture of Ty to put in his locker, it is because it is a picture Cher has taken not because it is of Ty. Whenever he does anything nice for her, Cher
In Amy Heckerlings 1995 film clueless we see the deep transformation of Jane Austin’s more conservative 19th century classic Emma. In clueless we see the values and themes of high culture literature combined with the modern context of teenage society in the 20th century. The transformation of Jane Austen's novel Emma to the 20th century film Clueless by Amy Heckerling allows for the same themes of social structure and personal growth to be universally conveyed in a modern situation. Throughout Heckerlings transformation we see things like photography substituting for portraiture, convertibles for carriages, parties in the Valley for fancy dress
Men and women began caring more about their wardrobe for public appearances and in their home life. Ladies of status would use Elizabeth’s gowns as an example for their own. Many nobles throughout Europe chose to use Queen Elizabeth I of England as their fashion inspiration. They began using more details like embroidery and jewels. Even the new and growing middle class could afford detailing, expensive gowns, and beauty treatments (Daily 186). Pale, translucent skin and red hair were in. The Women wanted Elizabeth’s red hair so badly that they would try dying their hair with harsh chemicals, and if that caused all their hair to fall out, they would just wear red wigs. Once Queen Elizabeth’s teeth began to rot and blacken, women went as far as darkening their own teeth to follow the mighty trend setter. The wigs eventually became more popular than dying their own hair. She not only influenced the women’s fashion of the renaissance, but also the men’s fashion. Just like the women wished for a perfect clinched waist line the men also wore corsets to gain that perfect figure. For men the perfect figure was a V shaped torso keeping the pot-belly in the center of the V like a “pea in a pod” (Elizabeth 3 of 8). The men even began to add detailing to their garments like; expensive fabrics, embroidery, ruffles, jewels, and even ruff collars sometimes reaching a length of a foot all the way around (De Secondat 99). During Elizabeth’s rule a new class began to rise and grow, called the middle class. Sumptuary laws were made even stricter to make sure everyone would not forget their place in the class system. This separated each class by what they were allowed to wear and what they were not. Queen Elizabeth wanted to make known that the middle class was still lower than her court and herself (Daily
(Montgomery 2016) The way in which individuals looked during the late seventeenth century took a turn. When Queen Victoria reigned, women and men from all over the world were using white powder on their face. This era was very uniformed and everyone was beautiful in his or her eyes. The women would want to look just like Queen Victoria. (Fleming 2016) Everyone wanted to look wealthy and find his or her best mate. Another factor was the way you dress indicates your social class. If a lady has on a big gown with a long train that shows that she is very wealthy. Women were more into the ideal image of being beautiful, as they wanted a mate. Men would have a lit of what they would want their wives to look like. They would want their mate to be perfect in a way. They would require women to have perfect silhouette, lips, skin tone and even down to the shape of their fingernails. (Walton 2016) Women went above and beyond to have the best gowns, the bigger the better, shoes, hat and even
According to Melody Bee, society has always valued beauty, and people of every race and culture have gone to extremes in the name of beauty; from foot-binding in China, to dangerously corsets in Victorian times, and to nose jobs in 800 B.C. in India. While plastic surgery has been around since the ancient times. And in literature, attractiveness often symbolizes an admirable protagonist, while ugliness indicates the abominable antagonist. Without even realizing, we are taught to prize beauty.
A rush of finery descends from the stairs as three women enter the ball. Each wears a striking gown, rustling with each step they take down different paths, deviating from the expected and taking the unexpected route to find their own bliss. The party whispers their names, silently admiring the three commanding attitudes of these nontraditional women. For the 19th century, these women express attitudes that deviate from the typical stereotype. Pride and Prejudice offers Jane Austen’s take on the traditional 19th century woman through indirect characterization, tonal elements, and heavy satire and irony to portray the idea that flawed women (in the 19th century sense) hold the key to success.
Throughout the eons, long before the media came into play, there have been different ideas about what constitutes beauty. But in all great art and forms, the subjects portrayed have been in what that time period viewed as beautiful. Women want to be valued, and value lies in appearance, and to a point, always has.
The context of a novel or film can greatly affect the values of society through the key concepts of love and marriage, and feminine appearance of a woman. We can clearly observe the comparisons of Jane Austen’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice to Sharon Maguire’s 1997 film Bridget Jone’s Diary. The novel Pride and Prejudice was composed in the Regency period where marriage was vitally important for a woman as it meant a financially stable future, and usually not based on love, whereas Bridget Jones Diary set in a contemporary society where woman married for love and were economically independent. However, both text explores similar aspects where both heroine challenges the expectations of women and both are not constrained by the strict social conformity of a woman.
Jane Austen, is one woman who has undoubtably proven her worth as not just a woman, but a writer, thinker, and human being. The females characters within her famous novels reflect her high standards for women. They are great examples of smart, complex, and witty individuals, who defy a world that constantly diminishes their value to their appearance and gives them limited opportunities for improvement. Unfortunately, to acquire that power, Austen’s female characters
The present study has aimed to examine the portrayal of women in the novels of Jane Austen with special reference to Emma as Austen’s portrayal of women in this novel is very significant. Jane Austen has undoubtedly created a number of women who have been portrayed by her with sureness of touch and in a perfectly realistic manner. There is no doubt at all about the complete success which Jane Austen has achieved in her portrayal of Emma in the novel of the same name. In this novel the women seem certainly to have acquired greater dimensions than the men.