A Room of Her Own: A Comparative Analysis

[1787523600]

Dou Miaomiao

Monalisa Smile and And the Spring Comes, both films render the women situation in a special time. As Virginia Woolf imagines a room which belongs to a husband’s property, figures of men never fade away. Likewise, the heroines, Wellesley schoolgirls and Wang Tsai-ling either crave for a marriage or a soulmate, all in pursuit of an ideal life.

On the other hand, the heroines meet different fates under their cultural contexts. It is the lying cultures that cause Monalisa Smile to be idealistic while And the Spring Comes to be realistic.

Take Monalisa first. Set in the United States during the 1950s, a time of growing women awareness, Monalisa Smile focuses on professor Katherine Watson and the schoolgirls at Wellesley College. As a modern woman, Katherine owns a passion not only for art but for her students. But most students seem to be against her teaching, only to find the right man to marry. Feeling her views to be incompatible with the dominant culture, Katherine confronts them to the end.

Regardless of the stereotypes towards marriage, most of the characters have finally fulfilled their own ideals. Take Betty for example, it is her who always stands against with Katherine, and also who finally realized the famous Mona Lisa’s false smile----She got married and then divorced. As for Jone, she gave up her admission from Yale Law School and turns to marriage. As she puts it, marriage is just out of her own will.

And that is the point: “You can conform to what other people expect or you can be your selves.” Katherine and Betty, one is in pursuit of freedom while one in pursuit of a decent husband, both confront each other and make compromises. Seeing each other as a mirror image, they finally built a sense of self-identity that a woman’s freedom is not to confined to existing choices. Rather, it is about questioning the existing choices and even making a choice out of own will.

But in this respect, compared with And the Spring Comes, Monalisa Smile is idealistic: If Monalisa Smile is about women’s choice, then And the Spring Comes is more tragically, a story of a woman without a choice.

Also taken as an episode of a time, the story of And the Spring Comes traces back to the 1980s’ China. Since the economic reform, the 1980s’ Chinese society was encountering huge upheavals, pushing the younger generations in industrial cities to start a life anew. As the scriptwriter Li Qiang said, And the Spring Comes is about individuals; about how they make decisions and adapt to the economic shock wave.

Among the individuals comes the struggling life of Wang Tsai-ling and several young men. The heroine Wang have been fancying herself as the main Soprano at the National Opera Company. But indeed, she is not a Wellesley schoolgirl, but an ugly, normal spinster. Unfortunately, her only talent for singing has never changed her life.

Unlike Monalisa Smile, the circumstance turns to be more complicating for both sex in And the Spring Comes. In Monalisa Smile, Katherine and her students are well-educated, in possession of a prestigious family status. They could pursue for love or a better education whatsoever. Nevertheless, throughout Wang Tsai-ling’s life she is forlorn without any privilege or partner. Obviously she craves for love, but to be realistic love is not her alternative. Rather, she struggles to procure a Beijing Hukou, a requisite for her soprano fantasy. But heartbreakingly, the last scene that she gives her performance on stage would never come true.

Behind heroines, indeed the man characters vary a lot. In Monalisa Smile, men like Bill appear as husbands and teachers, standing for the breadwinner and superiority. However, man in And the Spring Comes appears no longer as the almighty, but as the same poor individuals as Wang Tsai-ling. Take the two artistic men Huang and Hu, the crash between ideals and reality befalls their life. Once deemed as Wang’s confidants, but they both forsook their hopes for art and dancing, ending up as a tragic. Like Wang, they did harbor beliefs towards art, but in the cruel destiny, they had no choice but to give in.

This may explain why And the Spring has an edge of realism. Wang should not be seen as a special of the that time, but as a normal one as other individuals faced by the harsh reality. In addition to sex or marriage, it is the strikingly different cultures and statuses that determines their’ fates. In other words, if Katherine and Betty freed from men’s shackles by there self-awareness, then persons like Wang could only live with a revolving fatalism. As the title of And the Spring Comes interprets, at the cycle of changing seasons, what awaits them still remains unknown.

Another noteworthy fact to differentiate the two may be the filming techniques. In an artistic tone, Monalisa Smile never lacks explanations on colors. From the very start of the prehistoric paintings to later, girls’ discussions on Van Gogh and Mona Lisa, throughout the scenes this is an uplifting, vivid style. Particularly at the final scene, the brightness ushers the characters into a rosy future. By contrast, And the Spring Comes appears relatively darker, with its gloomy tone further enhanced by rhythms. Its settings focus on dimly lit rooms, unrecognizable dingy streets and country wilderness, through which inserts sad melody and dialogues. Furthermore, what distinguishes the narrative structure is the occurrence of one dilapidated pavilion, with Wang Tsai-ling’s off-screen voice echoing from the beginning to the end.

In summary, under different cultural contexts the heroines in the two films inhabit various “rooms”. Monalisa Smile shows choices, while And the Spring Comes uncovers a facet of fatalism. Thinking back to the famous lady Mona Lisa who has been watched through others’ lens, at least one thing is sure. What she needs is not perspectives of others, but a room of her own----a room in which she ponders about her plight and dares to break through the darkness.

[1822542008]

I am very honored to read your article. The structure of the whole article is very reasonable and clear, respectively analyzing the female characters in the two films, supplemented by some plots to support your own views. I really like the author's summary of the theme of Mona Lisa's smile. Taking Katherine and Betty as examples, their different choices are attributed to "You can conform to what other people expect or you can be your selves." That is,a woman’s freedom is not to confined to existing choices. The whole article is great and there was no extra narrative or language. You analyze from the character, plot, shooting technology and other aspects, it appears clear level.
But I seem to be confused about the analysis of the theme of And the spring comes. I hope you can give me a clearer description in your next reply.

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Thanks. Indeed within my essay I give my focus to the film And the spring comes. I agree that both films revolve around women. But what distinguishes the two mostly is that Wang and Katherine went to strikingly diifferent endings. Within Mona Lisa smile, Katherine and her students own a superior background advantage. Whereas Wang Cailing is forlorn throught her tragical life. In the end, she did not get married, but adotped a child and gave up her sparano fantasy. This is why that in paragraph 11, I put forward that And the Spring Comes shows a color of realism.
But even so I think I failed to apply more theories with regard to fatalism and feminism. I may try to make a further expansion next. Thank you for your advice.

[skm5765]

Hi Dou Miaomiao,
You did a wonderful job on your analysis of the two films. I like how you bring the readers' attention to the idea of idealism versus realism and of having a choice versus not having a choice, which I find is a very strong theme presented in both films. Your essay structure is clear and organized and you also provided sufficient examples to support your claims. Although, I do suggest that you combine paragraphs that discuss the same matter/point in keeping your essay more coherent and easier to read. I would recommend avoiding having too many paragraphs, especially when you can combine some of them together. For what I've been taught, a new paragraph usually indicates a new introduction of point/claim being discussed. Hence, I believe that proper combination/separation of paragraphs helps in making your essay less redundant. Overall, you did an excellent job!

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Hello Siti Nur Arifah Mohamad Azhar,
Thanks a lot. I admit that I splitted my essay into too many paragraphs and caused somewhat of redundancy. I guess this may be out of habit that Chinese essays show a rather flexible style between paragraph transitions, which is very dfferent than English writing. I would learn more and try to revise. Fo example, paragraph 2 should be put in paragrph 1 so as to set my topic idea. And paragraph 9, 10 and 11 all need to be rearranged to serve one purpose: streessing that all the characters feature the realism of And the Spring comes. Do you think this works? Apprecaite more of your feedbacks.

Dou miaomiao & Zhu Ke

[jtw5387]

Hi Dou Miaomiao,

Thanks for your essay, I really enjoyed reading it! I think you did a great job of analyzing the two films and what they have to say about society. I agree with a lot of the points you make in your essay. For example, when you wrote about how "Mona Lisa Smile" represents idealism and "Spring" represents realism. I totally agree with this sentiment. I also enjoyed the points you made about the men in these films. All in all, I think our essays share similar ideas and your essay includes great examples and parallels.

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Dear Jacob,
Thank you! Indeed I had the epiphany of "idealism and realism" after the second revision of my essay. Before that I regarded SPRING as such a tragedy but I was not sure how to combine it with MONA LISA. To revise is really to learn.
I think now my problem is mainly in the part of theories. Although I cited Virginia Woolf as examples, I did not do a good job in applying both feminism and cultural differences to my plot analysis. Still more researches are required. Thanks again!

Zhu Ke& Dou miaomiao

[skm5765]

Hey Dou Miaomiao and Zhu Ke,

Yes, I think that works. My suggestion is that you combine the 1st and 2nd paragraphs together, 4th and 5th, 7th and 8th, and yes the 9th, 10th and 11th together. I think this helps in showing the connections between the points you've made and the examples that you've provided, making your essay looks more coherent. You have strong points and sufficient evidence to support your claims, so I think if you focus more on the structure, you'll be fine.
Overall, you guys did a great job!

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Hello Arifah,
Exactly. Your advice is helpful to me. But I think I'm still bewildered at your point that "a new paragraph usually indicates a new introduction of point/claim being discussed"(sorry). Do you mean I should put my analysis including topic statement, examples and conclusions into one paragraph? Initially I meant to analyze in a step-by-step way so I splitted them into parts.

Also, at the end of yesterday's ZOOM meeting Mr.You and we several Chinese students discussed about different wrting styles. In groups' essays some students including Amercian write following the logic rule; whereas some not, but in a rather casual way with essay-style. We doubt if this is a matter about writing styles(of course the foundation of style is coherence, clarity). What do you think of this? Thanks!
Zhu Ke

[1787523600]

A Room of Her Own: A Comparative Analysis
Taken as two samples, Monalisa Smile&And the Spring Comes trigger some underlying facts in gender and culture. Both movies render the women situation in a special time but feature the characters from different perspectives: As Virginia Woolf imagines a woman’s room belongs to her husband, likewise, the heroines Wellesley schoolgirls and Wang Tsai-ling either crave for a marriage or a soulmate. On the other hand, the heroines meet strikingly dissimilar fates under their cultural contexts, which lead one movie to be idealistic while the other to be realistic.
Take Monalisa Smile first, it showcases a female spirit of freedom and boldness from the very start. Set in the United States of the early 1950s, an age of growing women awareness, it focuses on professor Katherine Watson and the schoolgirls at Wellesley College. As a modern woman, Katherine owns a passion not only for art but for her students. But since most girls seem to be against her teaching, only to find the right man to marry, Katherine feels her views incompatible with the dominant culture and confronts them to the end.
Despite the stereotype or dogma towards marriage, Monalisa Smile develops in a romantic tone, say, most of the characters have fulfilled their own ideals. Take Betty for example, it is her who always stands against with Katherine, and also who finally captured Mona Lisa’s false smile----She got married and then chose an voluntary divorce. As for Jone, she gave up her admission from Yale Law School and turns to marriage. As she puts it, marriage is just out of her own will.
And that is the point: “You can conform to what other people expect or you can be your selves.” Katherine and Betty, one is in pursuit of freedom while one in pursuit of a decent husband, both confront each other and make compromises. Seeing each other as a mirror image, they finally built a sense of self-identity that a woman’s freedom is not to confined to existing choices. Rather, it is about questioning the existing choices and even making a choice out of own will.
However, is making choice a wishy-washy word that is easier said than done? In this respect, compared with And the Spring Comes, Monalisa Smile proves to be idealistic: If Monalisa Smile is about women’s choice, then And the Spring Comes is more tragically, a story of a woman without a choice. In addition to gender, freedom, it seems that further complex social reasons play a factor in Spring.
Also taken as an episode of a time, the story of And the Spring Comes traces back to the 1980s’ China. Since the economic reform, the 1980s’ Chinese society was encountering huge upheavals, pushing the younger generations in industrial cities to start a life anew. As the scriptwriter Li Qiang said, And the Spring Comes is about individuals; about how they make decisions and adapt to the economic shock wave. No more gender awareness, the fact is, how individuals especially women make a living in the harsh reality.
Among the individuals comes the struggling life of Wang Tsai-ling and several young men. The heroine Wang have been fancying herself as the main Soprano at the National Opera Company. But indeed, she is not a Wellesley schoolgirl, but an ugly, normal spinster. Unfortunately, her only talent for singing has never changed her life. A social misfit, she encounters reject, liars, bullies and hypocrites. Even the last scene where she gives her performance on stage would never come true.
Unlike Monalisa, the circumstance turns to be more complicating to both sex in And the Spring Comes. In Monalisa Smile, Katherine and her students are well-educated, in possession of a prestigious family status. They could pursue for love, or better education whatsoever. Nevertheless, throughout Wang Tsai-ling’s life she is forlorn without any privilege or friends. Obviously she craves for love, but to be realistic love is not her alternative. A hint may be her struggling to procure a Beijing Hukou, a requisite for her soprano fantasy. Here the Hukou indeed implies social statuses. Due to the social hierarchy, the common stereotypes, only in this way could persons like Wang move upwards socially. Besides,This can also be observed in the man characters. In Monalisa Smile, man like Bill appear as husbands and teachers, standing for the breadwinner and superiority.
However, man in And the Spring Comes appears no longer as the almighty, but as the same poor individuals as Wang Tsai-ling. Take the two artistic men Huang and Hu, the crash between ideals and reality befalls their life. Once deemed as Wang’s confidants, but they both forsook their hopes for art and dancing, ending up as a tragic. Like Wang, they did harbor beliefs towards art, but in the cruel destiny, they had no choice but to give in. Hence this may explain why And the Spring has an edge of realism. Wang should not be seen as a special of the that time, but as a normal exemplar as other individuals faced by the social background. Apart from gender or marriage, it is the notably different culture construction that determines their fortune. In other words, if Katherine and Betty freed from men’s shackles by there self-awareness, then persons like Wang could only live with a revolving fatalism. It is not an Chinese element, but a special exhibition for the passed social landscape. As the title of And the Spring Comes interprets, at the cycle of changing seasons, what awaits them still remains unknown. Admittedly it is the strongly worked style that give viewers a stroke.
Finally, the filming technique served style also deserves attention. In an artistic tone, Monalisa Smile never lacks explanations on colors. From the very start of the prehistoric paintings to later, girls’ discussions on Van Gogh and Mona Lisa, throughout the scenes this is an uplifting, vivid style. Particularly at the final scene, the brightness ushers the characters into a rosy future. By contrast, And the Spring Comes appears relatively darker, with its gloomy tone further enhanced by rhythms. Its settings focus on dimly lit rooms, unrecognizable dingy streets and country wilderness, through which inserts sad melody and dialogues. Furthermore, what distinguishes the narrative structure is the occurrence of one dilapidated pavilion, with Wang Tsai-ling’s off-screen voice echoing from the beginning to the end.
In conclusion, under different cultural contexts the heroines in the two movies inhabit various “rooms”. Monalisa Smile shows choices within freedom, while And the Spring Comes uncovers a facet of fatalism. Thinking back to Virginia Woolf and the famous portrait Mona Lisa who has been watched through others’ lens, we could envision the lady herself sitting in her room, which in an abstract sense, stands the social construction that shapes herself or every individual.