Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Ambition vs. Morality
Femininity, Sexuality, and Power
Truth and Identity
Family
Summary
Analysis
Evelyn loves the first few weeks of marriage: they’re full of parties and champagne, and she feels that Don has changed her mind about sex. Rather than seeing it as a tool, she’s begun to truly enjoy it. But as soon as they start shooting a movie together, the cracks begin to appear. Don’s receiving poor reviews for his performance in his latest movie which call him “no John Wayne.” Meanwhile, Evelyn just won an award for Best Rising Star.
Don can be affectionate with Evelyn as long as he feels secure as the masculine figure in the marriage—security he feels he maintains through his reputation and career success. As soon as it seems like Evelyn is rising above him professionally, however, she becomes more a threat than a lover to him, which proves that he treasures his celebrity status more than his marriage.
Themes
On the day they’re due to shoot an emotional scene on One More Day, Don orders Evelyn to make him breakfast. She asks the maid at the bungalow they’re renting to cook it, then she asks Don what he would like, realizing he’s used to his own maid knowing what he wants. He screams into a pillow and tells Evelyn that if she’s not going to make him breakfast, she should at least know how he likes it. By now, Evelyn knows that Don is only happy when things are going well for him. Later, as they’re driving to set, Don asks Evelyn why she hasn’t taken his name as her stage name. He’s stopped the car in the middle of the road, and she knows that people will begin to notice them soon.
Don’s attitude to Evelyn suggests that he expects her to fulfill the role of a maid when necessary and to treat him like a superior rather than an equal. Evelyn’s rejection of this expectation shows she has no desire to respect rigid gender norms. Don and Evelyn fundamentally disagree on the function of their marriage: for Evelyn, it’s a close bond to a person she loves, while Don sees it as Evelyn’s agreement to be subservient to him.
Themes
Don drives the rest of the way to set. He and Evelyn are 45 minutes late. He tells her they can afford it because of their status, and when they get to his trailer, she tells him not to say things like that around other people. He retorts that he and Evelyn are not equals, and she should stop making movies and start having children. When she refuses, he slaps her face. Evelyn is humiliated but stares straight ahead the way she did when her father hit her. The assistant director knocks on the door, asking for Evelyn. She tells Don to have her wardrobe team come to his trailer, and to have his go to hers. As soon as he leaves, she slumps to the floor and cries. Even though she’s gone through a huge transformation and changed her whole life, trouble is still following her.
Though both Don and Evelyn know their celebrity status means they’ll be forgiven for lateness, it’s something Evelyn feels they should acknowledge privately while Don flaunts it. Don’s unwillingness to take advice from Evelyn emphasizes his desire to be the person in charge, and his violence shows that he’s so profoundly insecure about his authority that language doesn’t seem like an option. Evelyn is used to violence—she remains poised and cool-headed—but she realizes in this moment that it’s not something she escaped from when she left her father behind.
Themes
Evelyn’s hairstylist comes in and remarks on her appearance. She asks Evelyn if she fell, and Evelyn says she did, though they both know what really happened. Evelyn knows she’s not the only woman being hit, and the protocol is to keep quiet about it. Evelyn prepares to shoot and heads to set, where Don apologizes for hitting her. She’s surprised, never having received an apology for violence before, and forgives him. Though she and Don both receive Oscar nominations for the film, it’s the only one she can never bear to watch.
The hairstylist offers Evelyn a chance to lie when she asks if Evelyn fell. On the one hand, this is a kind thing to do—she doesn’t demand that Evelyn tell a delicate truth. But it’s also a small act that perpetuates the expectation that women keep quiet about domestic violence—and it’s a silent warning to Evelyn that she could jeopardize her career if she threatens the preexisting power structure that reveres and protects men.
Themes
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