Theme Analysis of Mona Lisa Smile Essay Example

The film, Mona Lisa Smile, has the overarching theme of making a difference, despite those who want to stick to the status quo. Katherine Watson does this in several different ways throughout the film such as making her own curriculum in order to make the girls think for themselves and see things from a different perspective, making the girls question if their role in society should stay the same throughout their lives or if change should happen to liberate them, and using art to express their thoughts of their lives.  

When Katherine had her first class with her college students, she didn’t expect them to know all of the course material before the class had even started. She was hoping to solely teach them about art history in the beginning, but when the girls knew everything that she was going to teach them, she became frustrated that the young women were not thinking about the art, and solely reciting facts about the artwork. She wanted them to think for themselves and realize that you can’t learn everything in a textbook and that good students need to think outside the box and think more deeply into what they are learning. Knowing this, Katherine showed the girls during the next class pictures of things that may or may not be considered art: an animal carcass, a picture Katherine drew in grade school, and a photo of her mother. When these were shown, it immediately began to turn the wheels in the girls’s minds. They all had their opinions on whether each of these constituted as pieces of art. Already from the second day teaching the Wellesley girls, Katherine was beginning to make a difference in their lives and minds. 

One of the final things that Katherine taught that was out of the box was her rebuttal of women’s role in society at that time. After she had been slandered in the school newspaper by Betty about not being married and how she was not following society’s expectations, she spent her next class discussing how if they didn’t use their full potential in life, they would be wasting it away. She showed advertisements about women who should stay at home and be the typical housewife or to buy a girdle that “set[s] you [the woman] free.” She wanted her students to know that by becoming married, they would lose all of the autonomy that they had held while in college. She helped Joan to apply for law school, but when her husband planned to move away, her husband thought she wouldn’t have enough time to make dinner for him. Katherine wanted more than anything for these young girls to defy the status quo and do what makes them happy and not what society, and their husbands, wanted them to do. 

One of the biggest impacts that Katherine had on her students was the idea of using art to express their thoughts and emotions. This shows most strongly with the character of Betty, who throughout the movie, realizes that while she hoped every girl would follow the example of marrying and having children to fulfill societal expectations, she was the one who realized that her marriage to Spencer was not what it was planned out to be. He was always gone and wasn’t very considerate to Betty’s feelings. When she had asked her mother about a divorce, she showed her a picture of Mona Lisa. She asked her mother, “She’s smiling. Is she happy?” For once, Betty was using the knowledge of art to express her grief and confusion in her life. She always had to smile to the people around her to express that she was content in her marriage, but she wasn’t. She felt like Mona Lisa for a moment, and that was all in part thanks to Katherine Watson, who made in impact on her students.  

During my time throughout middle and high school, I had many examples of teachers that seemed like their only purpose of their job was to pour information into my head and expect me to memorize what they had taught before testing it. I remember some of these individuals well, but I can’t remember anything of what they taught. They had not inspired me to pursue my passions of their classes and in some ways, made me care more about my grade and passing rather than putting forth all of my effort into my work and trying to understand what was taught. There are several exceptions to these teachers, specifically, my junior and senior American History/Western Civilization teacher, Mr. Connick. He truly was a Kathryn Watson to me. Whenever I would enter his classroom, I knew that there would be true learning that would be happening in the classroom. He would relate stories to the topics, make sure we all understood the materials, and gave us confidence in ourselves, especially during our senior year. He made it known that mistakes were nothing to be ashamed of and that was how students grew as a person. It wasn’t just his amazing teaching skills, but he was also a very compassionate man who wanted to relate to his students. He made such good connections with everyone that he taught, and that almost made it seem like he wasn’t the teacher at some points. You could tell him anything that was troubling you and he was always there to help. One example of his kindness towards me was during my senior year. My father passed away on July 27, 2020 due to cancer. It was earth shattering for myself and my family. There were so many visitors to our home and towards the funeral day, I looked on my journal that I had shared with Mr. Connick (Covid journal) and he had responded that he was ‘t thinking of me and my family. That raised my spirits greatly, as I hadn’t expected anyone in the school staff to reach out to me, but he did. And I will never forget the kindness and generosity he has shown over the years. He has truly changed had a large impact on my life. I am majoring in elementary education and I hope that I can follow in his footsteps (and just like Katherine Watson) and leave an impact on the next generation of children. Out of teachers who solely provide you with information or teachers who inspire you, I prefer teachers who inspire and have an impact on the students's lives. Those teachers go the extra mile to make sure that what they are teaching is understandable and still take the time to make connections with the students. Everyone always remembers the teacher who went above and beyond in their teaching style to provide you with a wonderful education, but it is always hard to remember the teachers who only gave you information and didn’t inspire you as much as the others.