Muriel's_Wedding_and_Persuasion

As an individual within a society, one must conquer the conflict between autonomy and social expectations that influence human behaviour. All societies, groups and families require a certain degree of conformity and the fear of rejection can force an individual to compromise their values in order to belong. The social constraints within any society can only be understood within their context, and both Jane Austen’s Persuasion and P.J. Hogan’s Muriel’s Wedding explore the superficial paradigms surrounding marriage, friendship and social class within their context. In Persuasion, the Georgian society places women as objects of economic exchange; therefore limiting their individuality, whilst Muriel’s Wedding offers insight into the modern day confinements which bound an individual both emotionally and physically. In her novel Persuasion, Jane Austen uses contrasting characterisation to individualise Anne and explore how family influence her place in society. The novel deals with the moral struggles of the art of persuasion and the consequences of its power. The novel opens with Sir Walter Elliot, father of the protagonist perusing his “favourite volume”, the “Baronetage” in order to reaffirm his own history and social status as a Baronet. This clearly identifies not only Sir Walters’s superficial values such as looks, but also society’s prevailing value of maintaining a prominent position and overlooking all those belonging to the working class. Sir Walter blatantly displays his veneration of social rank as he exemplifies the target of Austen’s satire. Her mockery identifies Sir Walter’s vanity as “the beginning and the end” of his character which serves only, through contrast, to elevate the protagonist, Anne Elliot, as virtuous. Juxtaposed to her father, Anne is portrayed as a worthy character. Having “elegance of mind and sweetness of character”, she is identified as separate from the conceit and “Elliot pride” of her father and her two sisters who hold the same preoccupation with status. Anne’s refined judgment of character identifies her as clearly not belonging to her family and therefore making her an individual. Similarly in Muriel’s Wedding, directed by P.J. Hogan, Muriel is an outcast within her circle of friends, her dysfunctional family and an apathetic neighbourhood. PJ Hogan in Muriel's Wedding uses satire to explore the post-feminist movement. Muriel finds herself an individual who is unwanted by her 'friends' who work hard to be popular and pretty to attract the desirable young men. These women symbolise the stereotypical 'beautiful' women - tall, blonde and thin – this is juxtaposed to Muriel as she holds none of those qualities and is considered 'fat and unattractive', easily bullied by her clique. Muriel's father, Bill ironically labels all his children “useless” and “dole bludgers” and his wife, Betty, who represents the pathetic character in the film a “disgrace”. It is evident that Muriel possesses some of her mother's poor qualities as she too does not have it in her to stand up to her father or friends until she meets Rhonda who becomes a character of admiration and praise and her strong personality encourages Muriel to move to Sydney with her after their confidence boosting performance of ABBA's 'Waterloo' at Hibiscus Island. PJ Hogan displays Muriel’s and Rhonda’s character as two individuals within their society as they don’t fit into the society’s norms and expectations. Beyond the contrasting characters, Persuasion's contextual Georgian period focuses on Anne as an un-married twenty seven year old after being persuaded by her father and Lady Russel eight years ago to refuse her only love, Captain Wentworth, due to his lack of wealth and low status. Sir Walter Elliot's principal objection to the Navy is that it brings "persons of obscure birth into undue distinction." Thus, he dislikes and disapproves of its function as a means of social mobility and Lady Russel objects, calling it a “degrading alliance”. On the other hand, Anne sees the Navy as a source of national pride. In this period of English history, England was often embroiled in wars with France and skirmishes with America so most often the officers of the Navy held a charm and an attraction for young girls at home, who believed that they had a reputation for gallantry and bravery. Austen's style makes use of free indirect discourse, which interweaves grammatical and other features of the character's direct speech with the narrator's indirect report. This technique allows the narrator to take on the speech or thought patterns of a particular character, often expressing a sense of irony. Thus we learn that from Sir Walter's point of view, "an admiral speaks his own consequence, and, at the same time, can never make a baronet look small." Anne in the end however chooses to marry for love rather than a social constraint evident in 'they were gradually acquainted, and when acquainted, rapidly and deeply in love' highlighting that she will not conform to society in order to be accepted. Anne finds genuine happiness when she goes against the social convention, proving that an isolated individual will fit in society once they find their true identity.  However, Muriel Heslop believes having an extravagant wedding will make her 'somebody' therefore that being her only ambition in life. In Muriel’s Wedding Hogan explores contemporary attitudes toward marriage in an urban Australian setting in the 1990’s. Portrayed as an outcast, Muriel’s individuality is satirically presented through her obsession with ABBA songs as they symbolically elevate her otherness in the opening scene through costuming the contrast of her leopard print dress and the bridesmaids' hot pink gowns. Muriel attempts to conform to society but is constantly rejected by her family and 'friends' causing her to find comfort in the repetition of ABBA songs, listening to them in her room all day. When she reconciles with old friend Rhonda she tells her 'I've stopped listening to ABBA songs because I've got the life of a dancing queen now' indicating the confidence she has gained in herself. Her acceptance to marry Olympic competitor, David so he can qualify as an Australian portrays her motif of marrying only for status, not for love. This is evident through direct quotation from David, 'what kind of person marries someone they don't know' ….All my life I've wanted to win (the Olympics)' and Muriel's reply 'me too' implying that marriage was her own measure of 'winning'. Nevertheless, Muriel finds herself unhappy and leaves David upon realisation of her identity 'I need to stop lying to myself' highlighting that her fantasy of being married did not fulfil her expectations. Muriel found that she did not need to be accepted into society in order to be happy, finding her true identity outside society's norms and happiness despite disassociation. Society’s norms and standards may sometimes require an individual to compromise with his/her conscience to be accepted in order to access the benefits provided in return. And, in fact, throughout time people have been willing to sacrifice anything in order to be accepted by others. The texts Persuasion by Jane Austen and Muriel’s Wedding directed by P.J. Hogan has shown that as a result, in modern society the individuals have grown so increasingly selfish, that only an outsider can see the perversion of human values which has resulted from blind conformism.