Cleopatra and Little Miss Sunshine: Taylor Swift’s Intertextual Discourse on Feminine Power in When Emma Falls in Love

The Basics: 

Taylor Swift describes how her friend Emma behaves when she falls in love.

Literary Device: Intertextuality

Towards the beginning of the song, Taylor Swift references the seminal morality tale Little Miss Sunshine (LMS). The story of Little Miss Sunshine takes place in Miseryland: “the most miserable place in the world.” The first illustration depicts worms writing in sorrow. While passing through on vacation, the titular Miss Sunshine is arrested for smiling – a grave offense in Miseryland. After the king reveals that he would like to experience happiness. Miss Sunshine renames the country “Laughterland” and shows the king how to laugh and smile. 

A close reading of Little Miss Sunshine (LMS) will enhance our understanding of When Emma Falls in Love. At its core, LMS demonstrates the power of one woman to change the world around her.. LMS also emphasizes the power of names. Changing the name of Miseryland to Laughterland opened up the possibility of an entirely new culture. 

Analysis: 

The first theme of Little Miss Sunshine clearly applies to When Emma Falls in Love. Taylor Swift repeatedly emphasizes how Emma’s love changes the people around her. In the first verse, Swift writes: “When Emma falls in love, I know / That boy will never be the same.” In the chorus, she sings: “All the bad boys would be good boys / If they only had the chance to love her.” When Emma meets a man in the bridge, Swift writes: “Little does he know, his whole world’s about to change.” Watching Emma even makes Taylor Swift herself want to change in order to be more like Emma: “To tell you the truth, sometimes I wish I was her.” Like Miss Sunshine, Emma’s example changes people. 

Emma’s presence elicits attention from those around her. “She’s the kind of book you can’t put down.” When Emma is in love, she is particularly magnetic. Swift compares Emma’s face to “stars in outer space.” Stars, of course, exert a gravitational pull on those around them. Conversely, Emma is not influenced by those around her. “She’s so New York when she’s in LA” indicates that Emma maintains one lifestyle even when surrounded by another. “She won’t lose herself in love the way that I did” further indicates how Emma is not corrupted by even her closest relationships. 

Considering When Emma Falls in Love through the lens of LMS, we must also consider the significance of the proper names. In addition to Miss Sunshine, Swift repeatedly refers to Cleopatra in the chorus. Cleopatra’s love affairs changed the course of history. Antony and Cleopatra’s love angered his rivals enough that it led to civil war. When Antony and Cleopatra were defeated by Roman troops, Egypt came under Egyptian rule, ending the Hellenistic era. 

Taylor Swift thus evokes Cleopatra as a foil for Miss Sunshine. Like Miss Sunshine, Cleopatra’s presence had political consequences – her love affair ended with the redrawing of lines on a map and the dawning of a new era. Unlike Miss Sunshine, the consequences were negative, ending her family’s dynasty and leading to the suicide of the two parties involved. Swift thus highlights the power that a single magnetic woman has to change the world around her – whether her name is Emma, Sunshine, or Cleopatra. Simultaneously, however, Swift’s intertextual references remind us that with great power comes great responsibility. When Emma falls in love, the world will “never be the same.” It is up to Emma whether that transformation is for better or worse.