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 and Rex attend the Oscars together. Neither of them wins: Evelyn suspects people think “beautiful movie stars” like them should “stay in [their] lane[s].” After the awards, they drink and dance for the whole night, though Evelyn searches for Celia wherever she goes. At one party, she finds Harry to chat about their success. She realizes that no matter how wealthy she gets, she’ll keep wanting more.
Even though Evelyn has achieved great success in Hollywood, she’s becoming aware of the limits of that success—she’ll never please everybody. Harry’s the person Evelyn talks to at the important junctures in her career: she trusts his advice and knows that he understands her ambition.
Themes
Evelyn and Rex go home together, both very drunk. Evelyn goes to her room alone, realizing the loneliness of her marriage and missing Celia. After she undresses, she sees Rex standing in her doorway with his shirt half buttoned. She tells him to go to bed, but he moves toward her and suggests they have sex with each other. Though Evelyn’s tempted to, she realizes that Rex is behaving the way he behaves with many other women. Refusing to feel like just another woman, she convinces Rex to leave her alone.
Even though her marriage is working the way she wanted it to, ensuring financial stability and appeasing the press, Evelyn is unsatisfied by it—a sign that her career is insufficient grounds for happiness. It’s also clear that Evelyn can only have sex without emotional attachment as long as it brings her something in return: if it’s for her own pleasure, she wants to be desired even more than she desires her sexual partner.
Themes
The next morning, Evelyn wakes to a phone call from Harry. He tells her that after Evelyn left the party last night, an executive suggested that she and Rex sign a three-picture deal with Paramount. She can name her price and choose the films she and Rex want to play in. Just before Evelyn hangs up, Harry tells her she’s about to become the highest-paid actress in Hollywood.
Harry’s the person people talk to when they want to talk to Evelyn, which highlights his role as her perpetual supporter and colleague. This is a landmark moment for Evelyn: she’s climbed to the very top of the Hollywood ladder.
Themes
