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Importance of Social Status in Emma and Clueless
Emma Woodhouse of the Jane Austen novel Emma, is part of the rich, upscale society of a well off village in nineteenth century England, while Cher Horowitz the main character of the movie version Clueless, lives in the upscale Beverly Hills of California. The Woodhouse family is very highly looked upon in Highbury, and Cher and her father are also viewed as the cultural elite. The abuse of power and wealth, arrogance, and a lack of acceptance all prove that the class status of these families plays a significant role in the shaping of both the novel and the video.
Emma and Cher both abuse the power of wealth and become spoiled, socially dominating, and overly confident with themselves. However, they both feel very comfortable in this lifestyle because of their possessions and social status. Jane Austen secures Emma in the very first paragraph of her novel. She states, "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to vex her" (Austen 1). Cher has everything a teenager could possibly want: her own jeep, an endless wardrobe, and amounts of money that seems to be collected from a money tree outside the backdoor.
Emma's arrogance shines through when she brags that she is exceptionally skillful at matching couples. She believes that she is in control of fate and must play matchmaker in order for couples to discover their true love. Austen confirms, "The real evils indeed of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself" (Austen 1). Although Emma is so spoiled and overbearing, she truly doesn't realize this fact.
Likewise, an example of Cher's pompousness can be seen in the scene where she and Dionne are explaining to Tai how to become more popular. Cher states that she has already started to elevate her social status "due to the fact that you hang out with Dionne and I" (Clueless). Cher may be sympathetic to Tai, but she does so with conceitedness because she knows she is from a higher social class.
“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a brutal fiction story that tells about the treacherous adversity a group of men went through during the Vietnam War. The story talks about the brave soldiers
Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried follows a platoon of soldiers in the vietnam war. The war reveals traits in the soldiers. O’Brien displays that war reveals traits such as boredom, fear, and bravery.
Each soldiers experience in the war was devastating in its own way. The men would go home carrying the pictures and memories of their dead companions, as well as the enemy soldiers they killed. “They all carried emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing- these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.” These were the things that weighed the most, the burdens that the men wanted to put down the most, but were the things that they would forever carry, they would never find relief from the emotional baggage no matter where they went.
A soldier is trained to defend our country. They are to have no emotion, discipline, strength, courage, and loyalty. The Things They Carried By Tim O’Brien is a book about Tim O’Brien’s experience of the Vietnam War, when he was drafted to fight. The losses of friends, the people he’s killed. Tim O’Brien also talks about his life after the war. The remembering, the changes that occurs to him. Does he suffer changes? What happens when the soldier arrives home? Are they the same? O’Brien talks about many stories in that change the lives of him and his friends that do change their lives, the constant battle after war. Although he ended his term with the war, the war never left him. They are now in a new war, a war with their memories.
On the 7 May 1915 at 14:30, then 240 metre long and 27 meter wide ship
Tim O’Brien wanted to remember the war and all of the memories during the time he spent in war. He describes many of the people he spent time with and what they were going through while they were in war. Also, he talks about what the other soldiers carried and why it was important for them to have. Tim O’Brien wrote these short stories to show what he went through why he was in war and to also reflect on what he saw his fellow soldiers go through.
The story “The Things They carried by Tim O’Brien is about the variety of things soldiers bring with them on their mission in Vietnam. Several of these things are intangible, including guilt and fear, while others are special physical objects. To me, “The Things They Carried” demonstrates the idea that mental and emotional burdens get in the way of survival. O’Brien conveys that these burdens get in the way of survival through the use of conflict, symbolism, and setting.
The Things They Carried is a narration written by Tim O'Brien. Many would argue that it should be considered non fiction because of the realism and details in which it possesses. However, this argument is a fallacy caused by overlooking the elements of stories such as narration and facts.
The Things They Carried serves as a primary source of Vietnam War culture: a narrative of the men who lived it. O’Brien’s life alone is able to shed light on multiple facets of the larger story of this period of America, including the controversy of the war and its draft, the extreme conditions faced in Vietnam, and the stresses put on soldiers during this time, among other things. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien illustrates the turmoil surrounding the war in Vietnam, with a perspective transitioning from a college graduate with anti-war leanings to a drafted soldier in the chaos of guerilla warfare to a veteran reflective of the shocking events that transpired in those jungles. Through peripheral narration and first-person points
When reading the novel ¨The Things They Carried¨, a consistent trend can be seen throughout the work. In the beginning, Tim O'Brien described the burdens that weighed down each soldier in Vietnam. Some of those hindrances were physical, but those which caused the most substantial impact on them were emotional. Each soldier had their own package to carry. The things they carried led to suffering and ultimately to destruction.
Emma's personality is largely shaped by the nature of her upbringing. Emma had no motherly figure guiding her as she grew up, due to the fact that her mother passed away at a young age, and her governess, Miss Taylor, became her best friend instead of an authority over her. At the start of the novel Miss Taylor gets married to Mr. Weston, leaving Emma with her despondent and hypochondriac father, Mr. Woodhouse. Although Mr. Woodhouse often confines Emma to the house because of his paranoia of her being harmed, he gives her little guidance. Emma becomes accustomed to being the "princess" of her house, and she applies this role to all of her social interactions, as she develops the ability to manipulate people and control them to advance her own goals. Emma views herself with the highest regard, and feels competition and annoyance with those who threaten her position. Emma has much resentment toward Mrs. Elton, as Mrs. Elton becomes a parody for Emma's mistakes and interactions. Mrs. Elton's attachment to Jane Fairfax is much like Emma's attachment to Harriet Smith; both Mrs. Elton and Emma attach themselves to young women and try to raise their...
... But in fact her powers and beauty cannot change the foundation of her society. Emma’s circumscription within the boundaries of her class kept her world under control. This prevents her from considering another society beyond her existence. The confusion from her failed attempts with Harriet due to her guidance, allows her to embrace reality. Jane Austen uses Emma’s character to reveal the quality in the structures of the nineteenth century society. Based on the conclusion of the novel, when Emma is forced to look beyond the limited power and beauty she has and acknowledge the existing order and structure of the early nineteenth century English society.
Within the novel, Jane Austen’s exploits of irony are shown linked throughout Emma’s notions of love and the real within her own society. Emma’s lack of education on the concepts of love is quite evident within her apathy towards Frank Churchill as her opinions are deeply rooted within her own affections, as she states, “Emma continued to entertain no doubt of her being in love. Her ideas only varied as to the how much. At first, she thought it was a good deal; and afterwards, but little. She had great pleasure in hearing Frank Churchill talked of; and for his sake, greater pleasure than ever in seeing Mr. and Mrs. Weston; she was very often thinking of him. But, on the other hand, she could not admit herself to be unhappy, nor, after the first morning, to be less disposed for employment than usual; she was still busy and cheerful; and, pleasing as he was, she could yet imagine him to have faults,” (Austen 264). Emma’s sketch of Harriet is another illustration of irony surrounded by Emma’s arrogance as it does not portray an accurate depiction of Harriet as Emma has altered ...
...ied about his intentions during the entire novel, no one truly knows him. Frank’s uncle, Mr. Churchill is inferior to his wife in regards of control. Throughout the novel the reader hears more about his wife than they hear about him. Their relationship represents complete switch of the traditional idea of man being superior to woman. The Knightleys however, John and Isabella, are purely conventional and are ideal couple for Nineteenth Century society’s times. Mr. Elton does not represent true gentility while Mr. Weston too gentle. Although all of these characters have their flaws, Austen finds her perfect figure in George Knightley. His infallible nature is unrealistic, yet it gives society the ultimate gentleman to aspire for. Austen’s Emma is more than a comedic novel of manners but also a quintessential piece that fits perfectly into the lives of today’s society.
Austen's view of true love is clearly evident in the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth. Elizabeth Bennet is an unfailingly attractive character, but what everybody notices about her is her spirited wit and good sense. She has a keen, critical mind when expressing her opinions and is unwilling to believe only the best of everyone. It is this intelligence that brings Mr. Darcy's admiration of her and her sense that she can rely on both mind and heart. Darcy carries the persona of a snobbish, arrogant, and self-assured man who assumes that he can get everything he wants. He explains his attitude by stating, " I was spoiled by my parents, who though good themselves … allowed, encouraged, almost taught me to be selfish and overbearing." However, his arrogance is challenged when he is faced to deal with the fact that ...