The Bostonians starring Christopher Reeve and Vanessa Redgrave

The Bostonians is a terrific movie set in Boston in the late 1800's and is adapted from the book of the same name by Henry James. It focuses on three main characters. Olive Chancellor (played by Vanessa Redgraves) is an ardent feminist, who sets her eyes on Verena Tarrant, a lovely and charming young woman capable of giving moving speaches written for her by her femininist mentors. Basil Ransom (Christopher Reeve) plays the virile and determined southern gentleman that falls in love with Verena and despises the control her mentors have over her. The central theme of the movie is the fight between these two strong characters for Verena's loyalty and affection.
Verena (Madeleine Potter), is young, pretty, and easily influenced by those who take care of her. She is outgoing and sweet, but does not seem to be strongly in favor of the causes she is led to support. Because she does not want to disappoint, she allows her father and Olive to use her to influence wide audiences. Olive does not have the talents Verena has, so she soon lures her away from her father's care and becomes her sole sponsor and closest companion. Olive goes so far as to ask Verena to promise to never marry, so that she can completely devote herself to the feminist cause.

Verena has various men courting her. She herself does not have a natural inclination to spurn men as Olive does, and she finds herself secretly meeting with the persistent Basil. There is a battle within her heart, between her loyalty to her friend and her desires to fulfill the feminine roles she feels drawn to.

All the characters are sympathetic in their own way, but I very much enjoyed Reeve as the determined suitor and Potter as the confused young woman trying to decide between what she is being raised to believe, and what is her true nature.

It is still a significant issue, in that many women today face similar struggles, and meet many "Olives" along the way, who teach a general distrust or disdain for men, a desire to not give in to a man by getting married (because of the fear of "losing" themself), and encourage all women to put career second to nothing. It is probably more difficult today to make the choice to not focus on a career, and to want to be more home-centered, without finding a lot of opposition (even in one's own family). I was educated, doing well in my career, but was not very fulfilled. It is disappointing to even to my old-fashioned parents that I want to be a sahm one day (despite the fact that my mother was and my father took pride in this) because they are so proud of my achievements, but like Verena, I prefer to follow my true nature, and be happy in my life, and not devote myself to living up to the expectations of others. My main goal in life is to please myself, my husband, and our future children.