Louis Character Analysis in The Hours

Louis is a big man who can seem like a simple farm boy on the surface but who hides greater complexity, and he spends much of his life in a relationship with Richard. Clarissa, Louis, and Richard all knew one another in college and seemed to even attempt a polyamorous relationship, but Clarissa’s incompatibility with Louis ultimately led to Richard and Louis forming their own partnership. Louis was not always happy with Richard, particularly when it seemed like Richard was still obsessing over Clarissa, but in the end, it was Richard who decided to end the relationship. After Richard, Louis frequently has relationships with his much-younger students, suggesting that like Richard and Clarissa, he is anxious about aging and clings in vain to his youth.

Louis Quotes in The Hours

The The Hours quotes below are all either spoken by Louis or refer to Louis. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Richard’s chair, particularly, is insane; or, rather, it is the chair of someone who, if not actually insane, has let things slide so far, has gone such a long way toward the exhausted relinquishment of ordinary caretaking—simple hygiene, regular nourishment—that the difference between insanity and hopelessness is difficult to pinpoint. The chair—an elderly, square, overstuffed armchair obesely balanced on slender blond wooden legs—is ostentatiously broken and worthless.[…] Richard will not hear of its being replaced.

Related Characters: Richard/Richie, Clarissa Vaughan, Louis

Page Number and Citation: 58

Explanation and Analysis:

The truth is that he does not love Hunter and Hunter does not love him. They are having an affair; only an affair. He fails to think of him for hours at a time. Hunter has other boyfriends, a whole future planned, and when he’s moved on, Louis has to admit, privately, that he won’t much miss Hunter’s shrill laugh, his chipped front tooth, his petulant silences.

There is so little love in the world.

Related Characters: Clarissa Vaughan, Louis, Richard/Richie, Virginia Woolf, Laura Brown

Page Number and Citation: 134

Explanation and Analysis:

Louis Character Timeline in The Hours

The timeline below shows where the character Louis appears in The Hours. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...but also has written one long novel. He used to be in a relationship with Louis, but eventually Richard left Louis. Tonight, Clarissa wants to impress Richard at her party. She... (full context)

...Richard may have kissed her, but she doesn’t remember specifically. She feels undesirable next to Louis, who is big but not dumb, like someone the Renaissance artist Michelangelo might draw. Clarissa... (full context)

Marriage, Relationships, and Personal Fulfillment Theme Icon

Clarissa thinks back to how Richard was in a relationship with her and Louis at the same time. Clarissa tried to have sex with Louis once, but it was... (full context)

Clarissa fills a flower vase with yellow roses. She is surprised when Louis buzzes the intercom at her apartment. She feels he’s the only New Yorker she knows... (full context)

Louis hasn’t heard about Richard’s prize, but Clarissa said he should come and that Richard will... (full context)

Louis walks into the apartment and sees that most of the decorating seems to be influenced... (full context)

Clarissa warns Louis that Richard isn’t the same as he used to be due to his AIDS. They... (full context)

Clarissa tells Louis that as much as Richard has changed, he still holds on to some part of... (full context)

Thinking about love and the past, Louis gets emotional and starts to cry. Just then, Clarissa’s daughter Julia arrives at the apartment.... (full context)

As Louis leaves, he thinks back on his past and how, when he was 28 and on... (full context)

Julia remarks how strange Louis is. Clarissa agrees and hopes he won’t ruin Richard’s party. Clarissa thinks Julia is very... (full context)

...tell from Clarissa’s voice that something is wrong. Sally asks what’s wrong, and Clarissa mentions Louis’s recent visit and Julia’s visit with Mary. Clarissa notices that Sally bought roses, and they... (full context)

Richard recalls being 19 and in love with both Clarissa and Louis. He starts talking about how he failed at life. Clarissa tells him again not to... (full context)

...the guest list to tell them not to come, but a few showed up, including Louis, and she had to break the news of Richard’s death. (full context)

The Hours

Louis Character Analysis

Louis Quotes in The Hours

Chapter 4: Mrs. Dalloway Quotes

Chapter 11: Mrs. Dalloway Quotes

Louis Character Timeline in The Hours