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
Over the next two and a half years, Evelyn and Rex work on films for Paramount. They sleep and prepare for work separately, spend the day together, then split apart again in the evening, when Evelyn goes out with Harry or one of the Paramount actors. She doesn’t meet anyone she wants to have a serious relationship with, and she assumes Rex is having a similar experience—until he tells her he’s in love with Joy Nathan, whom he’s been seeing discreetly.
Evelyn and Rex’s marriage is bound to the work day, just like any other job. Evelyn falls into this routine without really noticing, so it’s a shock to her that Rex has had other priorities outside the work they share—a shock that emphasizes Evelyn’s tendency to focus on her own life and goals without looking around her.
Themes
Rex says he and Joy would like to get married. Evelyn immediately brainstorms a strategy for divorcing Rex that will gain favor with their fans. She tells Rex to wait a while before he marries Joy. But Rex can’t wait: Joy is pregnant. While Evelyn is rethinking the plan, Harry walks into the kitchen where she and Rex are talking. She proposes that they tell people they’ve both been having affairs—Rex with Joy, and Evelyn with Harry. Though it makes both of them look bad, it'll also guarantee ticket sales for their upcoming movie. Rex agrees and shakes Evelyn’s hand.
Rex’s commitment to marrying Joy before she has their baby shows his respect and concern for her, given that having a baby outside of marriage would be socially damning for a woman in the 1960s. Evelyn thinks quickly to rearrange the situation: she’s done this kind of thing before, and she’s used to reducing herself and others to strategic objects in order to keep the press and public at bay.
Themes
Harry tells Evelyn no one will believe the story: too many people in Hollywood know that he doesn’t like women. She suggests they have candid photographs taken that prove the sincerity of their relationship. Harry asks Evelyn whether she’d rather choose to be with someone else, but she says she truly cares about him and doesn’t want to start another relationship. He tells her he’s been seeing John Braverman, confirming that Celia’s marriage to John is “fake”: they sleep in separate beds.
Though Harry keeps his sexuality a secret, Hollywood is small enough (and rife enough with gossip) that even the closest-held secrets are barely confidential. Evelyn is getting tired of meeting and winning over men. She pays attention when Harry mentions John because knowing that Celia doesn’t really love John brings her a new spark of hope that she and Celia might have a future together.
Themes
Evelyn asks Harry if he’s seen Celia, and whether she’s asked about her. He tells her she hasn’t, but probably because she’s too proud to ask. Evelyn imagines running to Celia and telling her that life is hollow without her. Instead, she continues to plan the candid picture: they’ll do it tomorrow night in a secluded but accessible spot. Evelyn calls Ruby, asking her to clue in photographers. During the phone call, Ruby asks Evelyn why she didn’t warn her that Don was prone to violence. She and Don are now divorced, and Don is quickly losing respect in Hollywood.
Rather than really playing out her romantic fantasy of winning Celia back, Evelyn pursues a more cunning and careful strategy, which suggests that the prospect of securing romantic happiness with Celia still isn’t worth the risk of losing her career. Meanwhile, the fact that Don’s erratic violence is losing him respect is a small sign that the times are changing: perhaps men are no longer getting away with everything just because of their gender and influence.
Themes
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Ruby asks Evelyn whether she wants any particular photographers for the following night. Evelyn tells her to get anyone who wants to make money off her misfortune, and Ruby says that’s everybody. As Evelyn hangs up, she realizes that if she’d been keeping track of the people she hurt through her decisions, Ruby would be on the list.
Evelyn didn’t consider that Don would abuse Ruby when she read about Ruby’s marriage to Don. This perhaps suggests that Evelyn saw herself as a unique victim, while the truth is that she simply crossed paths with a violent man who would—and did—act the same way with other women, too.
Themes
