Katherine Watson: Character Analysis Of Mona Lisa Smile

For most of history women have been limited by society's expectations of them. These expectations have been enforced into us for generations but with the new waves of feminism coming in, most of these convictions have been overturned. The protagonist in Mona Lisa Smile, Katherine Watson is shown to be more open-minded and has a more modern mentality in which she believes women can be whoever they would like to be. The film Mona Lisa Smile depicts an accurate portrayal of how women's positions within society have evolved and changed over 100 years. The close mindedness of some characters within the movie forces us to question “Do we want to be trapped in a bubble like these students were?”. 

The concept of Mona Lisa Smile participated in the ignition of the second wave of feminism which occurred during the 1960s. Society's expectations of women were limited to the point where potential shown within females was overlooked and underappreciated. The barrier constructed to control females has slowly been broken down by empowered women looking to enforce equality for all genders. The restraint of women trying to live a life they desire is the result of the patriarchal society which has governed our world for centuries. The development influential women have made for themselves and the millions of others who have been silenced by powerful men has positively impacted the future. Today women around the world, including myself, should forever be grateful for those who dedicated their lives to helping make the world more accepting and less discriminatory. Katherine Watson is an inspirational character to me as she sought to extract the best out of her students and launched them into the direction of achieving their dreams when they concluded it wasn’t possible due to the pressure surrounding them. This motivates me to drive myself towards my dreams to be able to prove society wrong and parade that I’m not just good for cooking and cleaning. I can proudly expose myself to tasks that “aren’t for women” and declare to society that I do not exist to serve a man or to become a breeding machine.

The status of women within society has evolved immensely throughout history and gradually been raised for us to be equal with men, although there is still work to be done especially with the gender pay gap and the patriarchal society trying to force jurisdiction on how we deal with our bodies. Within the film, the campus nurse, Amanda Armstrong was fired for distributing contraception throughout the school, conveying that the people during these times adhered to a mentality that would not entitle them to growth. This showcases to modern society that these types of products were frowned upon not too long ago whereas today people are encouraged to implement these devices into their lives. Wellesley College is an all female school which is another example of a controlling community. The college was programmed to direct young women into a path that has been developed for them to live life without taking any risks that can encourage their interests. This is essentially a school to manipulate young women to behave a certain way and to become the best housewife for a man. 

Often women would be deprecated when their dreams or interests were mentioned. Betty was a perfect presentation of people who were enforcing this and Joan was a main victim of this in the film. Joan was ready to break free from the expectations set upon her by society when she was ultimately brainwashed into retracting her application from Yale due to pressure from friends and family. Katherine Watson was an inspiration to her students and believed that she could get the best out of them. Betty was a prime illustration of Katherine's hard work as she was able to completely convert her of the ancient mentally she was withholding. Betty is a very understandable character to me as she grew up with society feeding her these rules she should be following, but she learned to see past these twisted commands and develop her own opinion about her life. This is exhilarating as young women around today, including myself, can use skills such as understanding and patience to help drive people to a more free and open mind.