Comparitive essay between Emma and 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.

From the very beginning of both movies, we can see the similarities between the two main characters. Emma Woodhouse, the protagonist in Emma, is part of the rich, upscale society of a large and populous village called Highbury, in nineteenth century England; while Cher Horowitz lives in rich, upscale Beverly Hills, U.S.A. In both Clueless and Emma, both of the ma...