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Chapter 20: Mrs. Woolf
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Hours, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Passage of Time
Suicide and Mental Health
Marriage, Relationships, and Personal Fulfillment
Reading and Writing
Summary
Analysis
Laura finishes brushing her teeth, thinking of Richie already in bed and Dan waiting for her. She won’t be able to read because Dan will want to have sex. She looks at a nearly full bottle of sleeping pills in the bathroom, which she can’t use because she’s pregnant. She thinks about how taking all the pills would be as simple as checking into a hotel room.
This passage shows that the actions of everyday life can hide despair. When Laura thinks she can’t use the sleeping pills because she’s pregnant, her thoughts have a double meaning, suggesting that, while she can’t use sleeping pills for their prescribed use while pregnant, she also can’t use them as a means of suicide because she feels a sense of obligation to her future child.
Themes
Laura closes the cabinet and heads into her bedroom. Dan says he had a great birthday and invites her to bed. Laura says she’s coming, but she doesn’t move, feeling like a ghost observing things. Dan invites her to bed again. In the distance, she hears a dog bark.
Like Leonard’s command for Virginia to come to bed, Dan’s invitation to Laura seems innocent but reveals the large power imbalance in their marriage. This timeline ends with the image of a barking dog, suggesting that Laura has realized that her current role as a wife and mother requires her to be as obedient as a dog.
Themes
