The Transformation of Women's roles in families from 19th Century to Now

Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J40Mec2AnR8&feature=related

INTRODUCTION

Set in 1953, Mona Lisa Smile tells the story of Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts), a new young art history professor at Wellesley College, an all-female campus with a prestigious reputation for academic excellence. Unfortunately for free-minded Berkeley grad Watson, her East Coast teaching stint comes during a less-progressive time that finds most of her students -- among them Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst), Joan Brandwyn (Julia Stiles), and Giselle Levy (Maggie Gyllenhaal) -- more interested in nabbing a good husband than achieving scholastic and intellectual growth. Watson challenges her students and the Wellesley faculty to think outside of the current mores of the community and redefine what it means to be a success; meanwhile, she tries to come to terms with her own heart's desires.

CHARACTERS

Katherine Watson--Julia Roberts

Betty Warren--Kirsten Dunst

Joan Brandwyn--Julia Stiles

Giselle Levy--Maggie Gyllenhaal 

Connie Baker--Ginnifer Goodwin

Bill Dunbar--Dominic West

Nancy Abbey--Marcia Gay Harden

Amanda Armstrong--Juliet Stevenson

Principal of College Wellesley--Marian Seldes

References: http://www.allmovie.com/movie/mona-lisa-smile-v283264/

Plot Summary

        In 1953, Katherine Ann Watson takes a position teaching "History of Art" at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college because she wants to make a difference and influence the next generation of women. At her first class, Katherine discovers that the girls have already memorized the entire syllabus from the textbook. Therefore, she uses the classes to introduce them to Modern Art and encourages spirited classroom discussions about topics such as what makes good art and what the Mona Lisa's smile means. This brings her into conflict with the conservative president of Wellesley College who warns Katherine to stick to the syllabus, or she will lose her job. Katherine comes to know many of the students in her class well and seeks to inspire them to seek more than marriage to eligible young men.

        Betty Warren is a conservative woman just like her mother. Betty doesn't understand why Katherine does not get married and try to change their thoughts. She writes an editorial for the college paper to attack Katherine for advocating that women should seek a career instead of just being wives and mothers as intended. Betty can't wait to marry Spencer as their parents have arranged and expects to get the traditional exemptions from attending class because she is married, but Katherine insists that she will failed Betty if she does not come to the class.   

        Joan Brandwyn wants to be a lawyer and enrolled as pre-law so Katherine encourages her to apply to Yale Law School. Joan, however, elopes with her fiancé Tommy and they feel very happy. She decides that what she wants most is to be a wife and mother after graduation and asks Katherine to respect her choice.

        Connie Baker is dating Betty's cousin, Charlie. Betty persuades her that he is only using her since it has been arranged by his parents for him to marry Deb, a girl more of his social standing. So, Connie ends the relationship. However, Charlie has already decided for himself that he is not going to marry Deb, so he and Connie get back together. Another student, Giselle Levy, has liberal views, and she supports Katherine because she sees her choosing what she wants in her life. Giselle brazenly has affairs with a professor and a married man.

        Katherine confides to the girls that she was engaged when she was younger, but that she and her fiancé were separated by the war. The relationship fizzled out, and she has since had several affairs. Katherine declines a proposal from her boyfriend because she doesn't love him enough.

        She begins dating with the Wellesley Italian professor, Bill Dunbar, who is charming and full of stories about Europe and his heroic actions in Italy during the war. He has also had affairs with many students (including Giselle). Katherine makes him promise that it will never happen again. When Katherine learns that Bill spent the entire war at the Army Languages Center on Long Island, she decides to break up with him because he is not trustworthy. Dunbar responds that Katherine didn't come to Wellesley to help the students, but to try to find herself.

        Betty's marriage fails miserably, as Spencer spends as much time as possible in New York on business. Giselle also catches Spencer having an affair. Betty's mother tries to ask Betty to remain her marriage, at least not to cause a scandal. At graduation, Betty tells Katherine that she is divorcing Spencer. She adds that she is going to New York and she is considering applying to Yale Law School.

        Because Katherine's course is highly popular, the college invites her to return, but the president impose conditions on Katherine—she must follow the syllabus, submit lesson plans for approval, and not talk to the girls about other things that are not related to the class. Katherine decides to leave and go to Europe. In the ending scene, Betty dedicates her last editorial to her teacher Katherine Watson, claiming that Katherine is "an extraordinary woman who lived by example and compelled us all to see the world through new eyes." As Katherine's taxi speeds up, all her students follow on their bicycles to keep up with the taxi to thank Katherine for changing their lives.

References:

http://movies.wn.com/movie/Mona_Lisa_Smile_2003.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa_Smile

Throughout the entire film, Katherine Watson contends with the theoretical adversaries of social convention and antiquated values. When she giving her lectures, she discovers her students thinking whatever anyone tells them to think, be it a textbook or society. She challenges her students through popular media advertisements to consider what future generations will think of what these women have made of themselves. Also, she denies through her own personal life that marriage, motherhood and home are honorable things to give your life to, and this is the bottom line of what she communicates to her students—following the traditional roles and simply doing what someone else tells you to do are not only restrictive, but also deny a woman her individual identity and personal fulfillment.

When Betty writes an editorial to attack Katherine, Katherine projects a series of images of American magazine advertising from the 1950s depicting women as appendages to men, children, homes and appliances. She includes a girdle advert that paradoxically restricts the body while promising freedom. In other words, she asks the students to consider if they are willing to conform to these dominant media stereotypes. It is also worth waiting to view the film’s final credits because they include a montage of clips from American television advertising and newsreels illustrating the restricted domestic role of women following World War II, when many had done men’s jobs in wartime factories.

What kind of role model does Watson provide? The character is an attractive, dedicated woman who loves her subject and wants to help her students as much as possible. One of her students characterizes her as “a seeker of truth beyond tradition, beyond the image”; consequently, she is a positive role model for today’s art history students— who are mostly female. At the same time, she is a rather sad individual because her teaching career takes precedence over her love life: in the film, relationships with two men fail and she leaves the College to travel to Europe alone rather than obey the management’s instructions to teach a standard syllabus and submit her lesson plans in advance for approval. Although she advises her students “you can bake your cake and eat it too” (that is, have a career, marriage, and children) it seems impossible as far as she is concerned.

Reference:

http://ambermonroe.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/mona-lisa-smile-character-analyses-my-take/

http://www.artdesigncafe.com/Mona-Lisa-Smile-film-review