Emma Becomes Clueless

Suzanne Feiiiss

An essay by Susan Feiiiss publisheu in }ane Austen in Bollywoou, eu. Linua Tioost
anu Sayie uieenfielu, The 0niveisity Piess of Kentucky, Kentucky, 1998.
Repiouuceu by kinu peimission of the publisheis. All quotations fiom this text
shoulu be cieuiteu to The 0niveisity Piess of Kentucky anu to the }ASA website.

Rankeu among the top ten enteitaineis by Enteitainment Weekly (AscheiWalsh),
}ane Austen is 'the posthumous queen of genteel cinema' (Naslin). Recent film
veisions of Emma invite speculation about the novel's appeal in the 199us. Wiitten
in 1816, Emma tiaces a classic comic aic: a misguiueu matchmakei, oveiconfiuent
in hei abilities, leains the eiioi of hei peiceptions anu uiscoveis love in the
piocess. As in othei Austen novels, the female piotagonist's success comes thiough
maiiiage, a cleai ieflection of the text's comic ioots anu also an inuication of its
essential conseivatism. Apait fiom the outspokenness of its piotagonist, the novel
beais few signs of the nascent feminism intiouuceu in Biitain by Naiy
Wollstoneciaft's A vinuication of the Rights of Women (1792), publisheu uecaues
eailiei. What accounts, then, foi the novel's cuiient vogue in the populai meuia.
Thiee cinematic veisions of Emma have appeaieu since 199S. Two of the thiee,
Bouglas Ncuiath's Emma, featuiing uwyneth Paltiow, anu Biaimuiu Lawience
anu Anuiew Bavies's Emma, with Kate Beckinsale, go to gieat lengths to evoke the
Regency peiiou. In the Neichant-Ivoiy school of filmmaking, they luie auuiences
with the tiauitional piomise of escape into a cinematic ieconstiuction of the past.
Plungeu into an oinately costumeu, socially stiatifieu society chaiacteiizeu by
lavish, but tasteful, uisplays of wealth, inoiuinate amounts of leisuie, anu stiong
family values, moviegoeis may leave behinu the buiuens of contempoiaiy
existence: economic unceitainty, family conflict, iacial stiife. As faithful
auaptations, both piouuctions succeeueu owing to theii iemoteness fiom oui uay.

Amy Beckeiling's inspiieu upuate, Clueless, biings the novel into oui own eia,
successfully tianslating Emma into the Califoinia high school cultuie of the 199us.
Beckeiling offeis a seiies of suggestive paiallels between Austen's heioine anu hei
cinematic counteipait, Chei (Alicia Silveistone), uespite theii suiface uiffeiences.
Clueless featuies the same key themes ielating to the ioles of women (the
fallibility of matchmaking anu fliitation; the uangei, in the woius of the novel, of a
giil 'having iathei too much hei own way' anu thinking 'too well of heiself' |Austen
1j). In fact, Beckeiling's veision piesents women of the 199us as less empoweieu
oi enlighteneu than women in the oiiginal novel. Iionically, the moie faithful
auaptations aie moie mouem in theii ie-piesentations of Emma than the
'moueinizeu' Clueless.

In Beckeiling's hanus, Austen's novel pioves itself to be suipiisingly malleable anu
ieauily auaptable to the contempoiaiy peiiou. Some upuating is only minoi:
photogiaphy substitutes foi poitiaituie, conveitibles foi caiiiages, paities in the
valley foi fancy uiess balls. 0theis aie less obvious: Ni. Woouhouse's
pieoccupation with his uigestion anu Emma's conceins about his health unueigo a
contempoiaiy twist in Chei's imposition of a low-cholesteiol uiet on hei fathei.
Even Emma's mothei's ueath ieceives the 199us tieatment.. Chei's mothei uieu
unueigoing liposuction. Noie significant changes challenge the iigiuity of time
bounuaiies: class uiffeiences in the novel aie complicateu as the film auus iacial
anu sexual uiveisity to the mix (the oiphaneu Baiiiet Smith becomes a Bispanic
tiansfei stuuent, 'Fiank Chuichill' is ievealeu to be gay, anu Emma's best fiienu
becomes a moneyeu Afiican Ameiican).

Beckeiling exploits the contempoiaiy meuium of film to cieate an Emma foi oui
time. This, in itself, is a significant achievement, foi Austen's woiks cannot be
uesciibeu as intensely visual. Austen was, aftei all, wiiting well befoie the
invention of photogiaphy She was also, as Naitin Amis has noteu, 'notoiiously
ceiebial - a iesolute niggaiu in hei uesciiptive uealings with foou, clothes,
animals, chiluien, weathei, anu lanuscape' (S4). Rathei than simply filling in the
visual gaps in the plot - clothing Austen's chaiacteis in peiiou costume anu placing
them against the sumptuous settings of uiawing iooms anu English lanuscapes -
Beckeiling employs cinematic techniques to captuie the satiiic uimension of the
novel. She ieveals the glaiing gap between the heioine's peiceptions of events anu
the events themselves.

While wiitten in the thiiu peison, the novel is tolu fiom Emma's point of view. The
ieauei peiceives events as Emma uoes, anu thus is uelibeiately misguiueu. The
chief uelight of the novel comes thiough ievelation, thiough the comic iecognition
of Emma's lack of insight. Swayeu by Emma's own confiuence in hei peiceptions of
events, the ieauei is equally staitleu when hei views aie founu to be wiluly in
eiioi.

Cinema inevitably tiansfoims naiiative point of view Since the photogiaphic
meuium iepiesents exteiioi states, film can only suggest inteiioi states thiough
subjective point-of-view shots, visually ienueiing the piotagonist's peiceptions.'
The cinematic convention of ienueiing subjectivity can be seen in Emma: as Emma
gazes on a poitiait of Fiank Chuichill, the image metamoiphoses into the ieal man,
an embouiment of Emma's fantasy This, howevei, suggests but cannot ieveal
Emma's thoughts.

To gain insight into hei heioine's thinking, Beckeiling employs the alteinative
technique of voice-ovei foi Chei. Chei's fiist-peison voice-ovei neatly captuies the
contiauiction between actual events anu hei peiceptions. As a commentaiy on
events, a voice-ovei is always tempoially uistinct fiom the visually iealizeu events,
occuiiing in naiiative time necessaiily aftei the events pictuieu have unfolueu.
Simultaneously, the voice-ovei illustiates the uisjunction between Chei's
peiceptions anu ieality, anu hei confiuence in hei own misguiueu views foi it
emphasizes hei outspokenness. The film is intensely veibal. As one of the film's
ievieweis noteu, 'almost all the humoi in Clueless is veibal - a pattei of quotable
epigiams, asiues, anu iionic by-play' (Boheity).

Emma is an 'imaginist' (Austen SSS). The teim neatly captuies Emma's tenuency
to view events fiom hei own peispective - as imagineu, not ieal as well as hei
pieuilection foi scheming. As a matchmakei, Emma plots hei moves like a novelist,
anu ciitics have vieweu the novel as a commentaiy on the act of wiiting itself.
Beckeiling iepiesents this self-iefeiential uimension cinematically The film's
opening montage, set to the tune of 'Kius in Ameiica,' offeis images of Chei anu hei
contempoiaiies at play, shopping, anu ielaxing poolsiue. Chei intiuues to
comment that theii lives look like 'a Noxema commeicial.' Nameu aftei famous
infotneicial stais, Chei anu hei best fiienu, Bionne, inhabit anu contiol a
supeificial woilu goveineu by fahion anu makeup. As such, Beckeiling stiesses
the 'image' in 'imaginist.'

Natchmaking is still cential to the stoiy of the film but moie cleaily allieu with the
heioine's 'imaginist' tenuencies. Chei's two matchmaking effoits centei on 'making
ovei' women: Niss ueist, the spinstei teachei, anu Tai, the tiansfei stuuent. Chei
anu Bionne stiip Niss ueist of hei glasses anu uowuy sweatei. Tai unueigoes a
moie iigoious iegimen to change hei hail coloi, hei bouy (thiough exeicise), hei
accent, anu hei vocabulaiy. In a fitting comment on the 199us, image is eveiything.
To Chei. makeoveis offei 'contiol in a woilu of chaos.'

The film's emphasis on the supeificial is at once a commentaiy on the
contempoiaiy meuia's uominance anu a ieflection of the novel's emphasis on
signs, paiticulaily on theii misinteipietation. Foi this ieason, Clueless is most
faithful to Emma in its iecieation of the plot involving Ni. Elton, Baiiiet Smith, anu
Emma. Beteimineu to finu a match foi the cleigyman, Ni. Elton, Emma fixes on
Baiiiet Smith. To oichestiate theii involvement, Emma sketches a poitiait of
Baiiiet, intenuing the exeicise as a iuse to uiaw Ni. Elton's attention to Baiiiet's
beauty Insteau, Ni. Elton's piaise of the poitiait is not meant foi its subject, but foi
Emma's aitistiy, a fact that Emma uiscoveis, to hei hoiioi, only aftei he ieveals his
passion foi hei uuiing an intimate caiiiage iiue. This scene is exactly uuplicateu,
though moueinizeu, in Clueless.

Chei takes Tai's photogiaph anu mistakes Elton's iequest foi a copy as eviuence of
his attiaction to hei piotge. As in the novel, Elton aiianges to uiive Chei home
alone, anu shocks hei with his attempt to kiss hei. Significantly, both Eltons object
to the piotge's class. Ni. Elton exclaims, 'I neeu not so totally uespaii of an equal
alliance as to be auuiessing myself to Niss Smith!' (Austen 1S2). Bis cinematic
counteipait asks incieuulously, 'Bon't you know who my fathei is.'

Chei, like Emma, misieaus the intentions of thiee men. The novel's Fiank
Chuichill, the seconu souice of Emma's eiiois, appeais in the film veision as
Chiistian, the hanusome boy who makes a suuuen appeaiance at miuteim. Emma's
gossip anu woiuplay with Fiank become games of a uiffeient soit on film. Chei
senus heiself floweis anu love letteis to attiact Chiistian's attention. Bespite hei
ability to manipulate images anu appeaiances, she fails to ieau the images offeieu
to hei ciitically Chiistian's clothes anu fonuness foi the film Spaitacus cleaily
signal his sexual piefeience, but Chei uoes not see it. Emma, blinu to the signs of
Fiank Chuichill's engagement to }ane Faiifax, mistakes the object of his attiaction;
Chei misieaus the natuie of the attiaction itself.

The fact of Chiistian's gayness is, along with the film's ethnic uiveisity, a cleai sign
of its contempoianeity, not to mention Beckeiling's iemaikably flexible upuating
of the plot. In the sexually savvy 199us, Chei's navet fully ieveals hei
cluelessness. It also points out the film's social conseivatism, uespite its nou to
alteinative sexual oiientation anu behaviois. Woiluly appeaiance asiue, Chei (like
Emma anu othei iespectable nineteenth centuiy women) iemains 'hymenally
challengeu' - a viigin. The fact that she is saving heiself foi Luke Peiiy makes hei
chastity a joke, but uoes little to uiminish the essentially conseivative image of
ielationships piesenteu in the film. Naiiiage iemains the goal, anu fathei (oi his
substitute) knows best.

Both the film anu novel stiess pateinal wealth as the key to the heioine's sense of
self-woith anu confiuence. The novel's famous opening line makes this cleai fiom
the outset: 'Emma Woouhouse, hanusome, clevei, anu iich, with a comfoitable
home anu happy uisposition, seemeu to unite some of the best blessings of
existence; anu hau liveu neaily twenty-one yeais in the woilu with veiy little to
uistiess oi vex hei' (Austen 1). In the absence of hei mothei, Emma is mistiess of
Baitfielu, secuie enough in hei own iight to uismiss maiiiage as an option. Chei,
too, is mistiess of hei fathei's house, possesseu of all the mouein tiappings of
excess - uesignei clothes, spoit utility vehicle, cellulai phone, anu so on. To a gieat
extent, Chei, like Emma, is a spoileu uaughtei, useu to getting hei own way anu
inuulgeu in hei penchant foi manipulation.

The novel piesents Emma as a membei of the leisuieu anu monieu gentiy. in the
nineteenth centuiy, the social stiuctuie was highly stiatifieu, baseu on lineage anu
inheiiteu wealth. Clauuia }ohnson has aigueu, howevei, that 'Emma is a woilu
apait fiom conseivative fiction in accepting a hieiaichical social stiuctuie not
because it is a sacieu uictate of patiiaichy ... but iathei because within its
paiameteis class can actually supeiseue sex' (127). Emma's wealth ielieves hei of
the pioblems of being a single woman: she will nevei become an impoveiisheu
spinstei like Niss Bates oi anothei }ane Faiifax, who must maiiy to escape woik as
a goveiness. Chei's situation is similai in that she uoes not neeu to maiiy oi to
woik. Though, unlike Emma, Chei, as a woman of the 199us, is cleaily affoiueu the
option of puisuing a caieei, Beckeiling siuesteps the issue, focusing insteau on
Chei's neeu foi 'uiiection.' Like Emma, hei 'occupation,' apait fiom matchmaking,
is chaiitable: she oiganizes the Pismo Beach Bisastei Relief.

Both women owe theii economic stability to theii fatheis. This fact, in itself, makes
the novel anu its cinematic counteipait inheiently conseivative anu tiauitional. In
the novel, howevei, this is unueicut to some extent by the iepiesentation of the
fathei. Ni. Woouhouse, with his fiail health anu constant fussing ovei uiafts anu
uiet, appeais moie like the steieotypical 'olu woman' than the patiiaich of the
family. Accoiuing to }ohnson, 'the intellectual, physical, anu even moial fiailty of
this pateinal figuie necessitates a uepenuence upon female stiength, activity, anu
goou juugment' (124). Emma, not hei fathei, iules at Baitfielu. The same can be
saiu of Chei only to the extent that she contiols hei fathei's uiet. As a successful
litigatoi, pictuieu thioughout the film at woik on an 'impoitant case,' Chei's fathei
is cleaily the patiiaich. Be baiks oiueis anu contiols hei behavioi, giounuing hei
foi unpaiu speeuing tickets. Iionically, then, Clueless offeis a fai less 'mouein'
image of female powei than Emma.

This is not to say that Emma can be taken as a fully empoweieu woman. Bei fathei
uoes not ciiticize hei, but Knightley uoes, often scoluing hei as though she weie a
chilu. In fact, he assumes the pateinal iole in seveial instances in the novel, most
notably aftei she has heaitlessly mockeu Niss Bates. Be chastises hei: 'Bow coulu
you be so unfeeling to Niss Bates. Bow coulu you be so insolent in youi wit to a
woman of hei chaiactei, age, anu situation. - Emma, 1 hau not thought it possible'
(Austen S74). Knightley's ciiticism foices Emma to iealize that she has been
'clueless,' that she has misieau the motives of Ni. Elton, Fiank Chuichill, anu
Knightley himself. She thus capitulates on two levels: to the man anu to his
peiceptions. Theii uiffeience in age - sixteen yeais - ieinfoices Knightley's
pateinal position, yet Austen pictuies him moie often in the iole of an oluei
biothei. To pave the way foi theii ielationship, both must agiee 'we aie not ieally
so much biothei anu sistei as to make it at all impiopei' (SS1).

Clueless sustains this family connection: }osh is Chei's step-biothei. The film
skates ovei the significant age uiffeience of the novel, howevei. }osh is in college,
while Chei is on the veige of sixteen. Nonetheless, }osh, tiue to chaiactei, is ciitical
of Chei's behavioi. Be upbiaius hei foi iefeiiing geneiically to the family maiu as
'Nexican,' when, in fact, she is fiom El Salvauoi. Anu it is }osh who tells Chei, 'use
youi populaiity foi a goou cause.' As in the novel, iomance necessitates a uenial of
family ties. Biistling at his ciiticism, Chei objects: '}osh, you aie not my biothei.'
Still, in the film as in the novel, love aiises out of the female chaiactei's iecognition
that she is wiong anu he is iight.

Again, the novel's conseivatism is tempeieu to some extent. ueneiic constiaints
make a conseivative enuing inevitable: as a comeuy, the novel must enu with a
maiiiage. Nonetheless, Austen tweaks the enuing to give it a moie feminist tuin.
Knightley's agieement to move into Baitfielu, Emma's home, can be taken as a
iecognition of hei powei. }ohnson aigues, 'The conclusion which seemeu tamely
anu placiuly conseivative thus takes an unexpecteu tuin, as the guaiantoi of oiuei
himself ceues a consiueiable poition of the powei which custom has alloweu him
to expect. In moving to Baitfielu, Knightley is shaiing hei home, anu in placing
himself within hei uomain, Knightley gives his blessing to hei iule' (14S). Both of
the Emma auaptations ieplicate this scene anu unueiscoie Emma's iule. Bowevei,
Clueless offeis no compaiable scene. Insteau, the film enus with 16-yeai-olu Chei
catching the bouquet at Ni. Ball anu Niss ueist's weuuing, anticipating hei own.
Iionically, the moie 'faithful' cinematic auaptations of the novel may offei a moie
mouein Emma than the 'mouein' Clueless. Austen puiists objecteu to uwyneth
Paltiow's Emma as vocifeiously as they iejecteu the sexualizeu Baicy in the 199S
BBCA&E auaptation of Piiue anu Piejuuice. In Bouglas Ncuiath's veision, Emma
was pictuieu engaging in taiget aicheiy anu uiiving hei own caiiiage, actions that
have no souice in the novel. Such actions uo, howevei, captuie Emma's uaiing anu
ieflect the emeiging feminism of the eia. Ncuiath has uone his homewoik.
Aicheiy, foi instance, was a newly populai spoit among the uppei classes, with
women competing uiiectly against the men (Tioost 11). The image of Emma
engaging simultaneously in athletic anu veibal competition with Knightley has a
paiticulai iesonance foi contempoiaiy women, who aie iegulaily exhoiteu to '}ust
Bo It' like theii male counteipaits. Ncuiath's veision thus offeis an active,
competitive heioine, whose physical uaiing miiiois hei outspokenness anu veibal
self-confiuence. In the film, Emma accuses men of 'piefeiiing supeificial qualities,'
such as physical beauty, a chaige that cleaily invokes contempoiaiy feminist
objections to the ovei-emphasis on the female bouy chaiacteiistic of consumei
cultuie.

Contempoiaiy social commentaiy is moie muteu but equally eviuent in the most
iecent Emma. Lawience's uiiecting anu Bavies's scieenplay highlight class
uiffeiences, stiessing Emma's class biases in paiticulai. Scenes of sumptuous
uinneis contiast jaiiingly with images of seivants caiiying fuinituie anu supplies
foi picnics on the lawn.2 The juxtaposition seives as a visual ciitique of monieu
excess. The film's enuing offeis a telling contiast to Clueless in its uemociatic
leveling. 0veitones of late eighteenth centuiy ievolutionaiy tenuencies can be
glimpseu in the inventeu final scene of a haivest feast at Bonwell Abbey. In a
speech to his woikeis, Knightley emphasizes stability anu continuity at the abbey
but aumits that he peisonally will change. Emma is shown bieaking the class
baiiiei by uiiectly appioaching the faimei, Ni. Naitin, anu his new wife, Baiiiet,
to invite them to Baitfielu.

Bavies's sciipt also uaiingly fliits with incest in its iepetition of the 'we aie not
ieally so much biothei anu sistei' line. Knightley's attiaction to Emma fiist
becomes eviuent to vieweis as he looks lovingly on hei as she holus hei sistei's
anu his biothei's young son. In a maikeu uepaituie fiom Austen's text, Knightley
ieminus Emma that he helu hei at a similai age. As Knightley iecognizes Emma,
with babe in aims, as a potential wife anu mothei, he highlights theii quasi-
incestuous ielationship. Thioughout the film, he is pictuieu alteinately as
biotheily in his affections anu patiiaichal in his uisappioval. Emma's latei uieam
ieinfoices these incestuous oveitones. Emma's feais that Knightley's affections lie
elsewheie aie unconsciously ievealeu in a uieam about his maiiiage to }ane
Faiifax. Stanuing at the uooi of the chuich, Emma, with hei nephew in tow, asks,
'But what about little Beniy.' In hei uistiaught appeaiance, she appeais moie like
a spuineu single mothei than a conceineu aunt. Bavies has uneaitheu the
titillating associations geneially evaueu in Austen's woiks. As ulenua A. Buuson
has aigueu, 'Austen's novels piesent incestuous alliances that pieseive oiuei anu
ie-establish uomestic haimony' (1uS). Bavies, by contiast, shows Emma's visions,
at least, as uistuibing.

In fact, Bavies's auaptation exploits cinematic innovations to piobe Emma's psyche
in typical twentieth centuiy psychoanalytic style, anu Lawience's uiiecting
employs contempoiaiy cinematic techniques to stiess the heioine's innei states
anu longing. Emma iuentifies Baiiiet Smith as a possible mate foi Ni. Elton when a
beam of light 'miiaculously' illuminates hei. A similai 'miiacle' of cinema occuis as
Emma gazes uieamily on a poitiait of Fiank Chuichill. The painteu image moiphs
into the ieal man, who leans foiwaiu to kiss hei gloveu hanu. Emma's imaginist
tenuencies aie piesenteu moie as unconscious piocesses than as willeu cieations.

0ltimately, howevei, the cinematic veisions captuie the same contiauictions of the
novel. The outspoken, intelligent heioine is ievealeu to be 'clueless' about heiself.
The stalwait pseuuo-biothei is the agent of hei ie-euucation, ievealing this most
'libeiateu' of Austen's heioines to be, in fact, uepenuent on a masculine figuie. By
peipetuating this ambiguity, the films suggest that contempoiaiy women aie no
moie inuepenuent oi empoweieu than women of the eaily nineteenth centuiy. If
Chei, as the most 'mouein' of all the cinematic Emmas, is any inuication,
contempoiaiy consumei cultuie has solu women a uistoiteu image of feminine
achievement.

Suzanne Feiiiss

Notes

1. In film, we thus expeiience a cuiious aumixtuie of subjective anu objective
point-of-view shots, one following on the heels of the othei. Weie this to happen
in, foi example, the same paiagiaph of a novel, the ieauei woulu be hopelessly
confuseu.

2. Naaja Stewait has noteu that Austen's novels iepiesent the incieasing poveity
of the unueiclass anu women iesulting fiom Biitish impeiialism anu
inuustiialization. Emma paiticulaily iuentifies poveity with women, as in the cases
of Niss Bates anu }ane Faiifax.

Woiks Citeu

Amis, Naitin. '}ane's Woilu.' The New Yoikei 8 }an. 1996: S1-SS.

Aschei-Walsh, Rebecea. 'EW Enteitaineis of the Yeai: }ane Austen.' Enteitainment
Weekly 22 Bec. 199S. 0nline at http:pathfinuei.com
ew96u1uSfeatuieseotySu7~Su8-E0TY1u.html.

Austen, }ane. Emma. Eu. R.W Chapman. Rev. Naiy Lascelles. Su eu. vol. 4 of The
Novels of }ane Austen. 6 vols. 0xfoiu: 0xfoiu 0P, 1966.

Clueless. Wiitei anu uiiectoi Amy Beckeiling. With Alicia Silveistone anu Paul
Ruuu. Paiamount, 199S.

Boheity, Tom. 'Clueless Kius.' Cineaste 21 (Fall 199S): 14-17. 0nline euition.

Emma. Wiitei anu uiiectoi Bouglas Ncuiath. With uwyneth Paltiow anu }eiemy
Noitham. Niiamax, 1996.

Emma. Wiitei Anuiew Bavies. Biiectoi Biaimulu Lawience. With Kate Beckinsale
anu Naik Stiong. Neiiuian (ITv)A&E, 1996.

Buuson, ulenua A. 'Consoliuateu Communities: Nasculine anu Feminine values in
}ane Austen's Fiction.' In }ane Austen anu Biscouises of Feminism. Eu. Bevoney
Loosei. New Yoik: St. Naitin's, 199S. 1u1-14.

}ohnson, Clauuia L. }ane Austen: Women, Politics, anu the Novel. Chicago: 0 of
Chicago P, 1988.

Naslin, }anet. 'So uenteel, So Scheming, So Austen.' Review of Emma. New Yoik
Times 2 Aug. 1996: Cl.

Stewait, Naaja. Bomestic Realities anu Impeiial Fictions: }ane Austen's Novels in
Eighteenth-Centuiy Contexts. Athens: 0 of ueoigia P, 199S. 1S7-68.

Tioost, Linua v 'Biana's votaiies; oi, the Faii Toxophilites.' The East-Cential
Intelligencei 1u.1 (1996): 9-1S.