Without a doubt, every lover of literature has read at least one of Jane Austen's famous novels. A master at taking ordinary life and making it extraordinary, Austen began her most famous piece, Pride and Prejudice, at the early age of 20 which became an instant success almost immediately. One other renowned novel by Austen that has even been recreated in today's cinema is Emma. This novel has been reinterpreted in order to satisfy today's audience in the hilarious and glamorously written film, Clueless. However to understand Clueless, one must first (if they wish) read Emma first in order to understand the character dynamics and plot twisting scenario. Although read or not, each piece, both cinematic and literary are deserving of praise.
Emma tells of a wealthy, beautiful and young woman named Emma Woodhouse who finds fulfillment in match making after perfectly setting up her governess, Miss Taylor, and a well known fellow, Mr. Weston for marriage. Now since she has paired them up forever more, she thinks she can very well do it for her dear friend, Harriet. However behind all of this wealth, power and knowledge that Emma holds, she is a little clueless about other irritating aspects of her personality. Besides her good looks, Emma is completely unaware of annoying way of going about things. Mr. Knightley who tells her as it is, is the only one who doesn't praise her for her so- called talent of match making. He sees through her good looks and realizes that her talent does not lie within her but within the people she brings together. In other words, he believes that she simply does not make these people come together, but rather she "thinks" that she's bringing them together. In reality, she just stands by and hopes they will, according to Mr. Knightley. One downfall of this obliviousness of Emma's is when she tries to bring Mr. Elton and Harriet together, but in the middle of it all, Mr. Elton is falling in love with Emma! Emma's actions to Mr. Elton seem innocent to her but to everyone else, including Mr. Elton, it seems as though she is leading him on rather than helping her friend.
Now these are just a few examples into Emma's complex personality but for those who have seen Clueless, is it sounding familiar? And much like Cher, Emma has no intention of getting married or becoming the wife of any man. She would much rather have the free life of a single woman, doing as she please on her own time. And much like Emma, Cher comes to see her flaws and turns them into something good, for not only herself and her popularity but for the people around her.
Therefore, knowing all of this, it's rather impressive how Austen's work is still relevant to today's society. She had written those books in order to teach certain morals but who would've known that they would still be significant today? It also proves how impactful literature, or novels, can be and that they hold truths that some other things cannot show us.
