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Chapter 3: Mrs. Brown
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
Clarissa heads with her flowers to Spring Street. She passes two young girls who recently saw a famous person and are arguing whether it was Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, or Vanessa Redgrave. Clarissa gets swept up in the excitement and waits a few more minutes to see if the person will come out again, but at last, she leaves and goes toward Richard’s apartment.
Like Laura, who tries to read Virginia Woolf to experience brilliance, Clarissa seeks out this celebrity as a way to experience something more than daily life. But, as she has to wait for a long time, she senses that perhaps the reality of greatness can’t live up to the promise and anticipation.
Themes
Clarissa remembers how the part of the city she’s in used to be wilder, with bars, coffeehouses, and the sound of music. She passes a corner where 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 remembers arguing with Richard on that corner and believes that even though the argument didn’t seem significant at the time, it was a major turning point in their relationship.
Clarissa remembers the past as a wilder, less restrained time, and while there are elements of truth to that, it also contrasts sharply with the experience of Laura Brown. Although this novel only presents a day in the life for its three main characters, it covers events that span a much wider range of time, showing how even as Clarissa lives in the present, her thoughts wander to the past and future. This style of moving through time is one of the distinctive features of Mrs. Dalloway as well.
Themes
As Clarissa walks down Bleecker Street and turns onto Thompson Street, the thinks the neighborhood today is just full of tourists, with even the surviving bars and coffeehouses now changing to serve people from out of town. She makes her way to Richard’s apartment, which has an entrance that always makes her think of the word “squalid.” The elevator doesn’t work, so she takes the stairs. Clarissa knocks on Richard’s door.
Clarissa’s preference for the old bars and coffeeshops seems to reflect her longing for the past in general, which may also be related to her desire to turn back the clock on her relationship with Richard. Despite all of Richard’s success as a writer, the details of his apartment suggest that he too may have nostalgia for the past.
Themes
Richard greets Clarissa, still calling her “Mrs. D” (for Dalloway). Richard gets some help for his illness from new medicines, but he’s unlucky compared to people like Evan, who contracted HIV later and benefited more from recent advances. This means Richard’s mind is not as sharp as it used to be. Clarissa shows Richard all the flowers she has for his party, and he asks if all those flowers mean he’s died.
Richard shows the toll of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which continues to have consequences even after new treatments make it possible for people like Evan to live longer. Richard’s joke about the flowers suggests that his condition makes him constantly aware of his own mortality.
Themes
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Clarissa raises the shade on a window, since Richard doesn’t have much light in his apartment. He has an old chair that smells and is falling apart, but he won’t replace it. Clarissa asks Richard if his AIDS is still causing him to hallucinate. Richard says it’s not at the moment. Earlier, though, he was seeing creatures that reminded him of black fire, both dark and bright, that were speaking to him in an ancient language. Clarissa suggests increasing his medication, but Richard says that just because he can’t see the things doesn’t mean they’re gone.
Richard’s hallucinations are a much stronger version of the way Clarissa seems to see the past when she walks around New York City. His old chair seems to reflect his own physical condition, but it also reflects his inability to let go of the past. The fact that Richard’s hallucinations seem to speak in an ancient language further cements the idea that Richard lives in the past and that perhaps he even did so before his illness worsened.
Themes
Clarissa mentions seeing a movie star on the way over to Richard, and although he humors her, she knows he has no interest in famous people. She reminds him that his party starts at five o’clock. Richard gets confused and thinks that he remembers already being at the party, having fallen out of time. He doesn’t look forward to having to pretend to be brave in front of everyone while he’s sick. He thinks he’s only getting the prize because he has AIDS, but Clarissa tries to reassure him.
Richard’s confusion about time ties into the novel’s larger theme about how a person can live in the present but experience time in a less linear way. His life shows how social norms change over time, with AIDS going from a stigma to a cause for honoring someone.
Themes
Clarissa goes over the guest list at the party, and Richard continues to be stressed. He doesn’t want to have to speak to his publisher, Martin Campo, but Clarissa feels that Martin is a good man who spent his family fortune on publishing difficult books. She promises to stay by Richard’s side at the party. Richard wonders if the party can just go on without him, but Clarissa insists that he show up. He feels embarrassed about what a big ego he used to have about his own work.
Clarissa stands up for Martin Campo because she herself tries to justify her current life by rationalizing that, like him, she has at least published some difficult books. Once again, Clarissa has complicated feelings toward Richard, as she simultaneously envies him for his award but pities him as she promises to help him get dressed before the party.
Themes
Richard says that his one regret is that he never got to write anything about his relationship with Clarissa. Clarissa reassures him that he’s done so much that he shouldn’t have any regrets. She promises to come back at 3:30 to help him get dressed before the party. As she goes, she kisses him on the cheek, so as not to spread any germs to him, since his immune system is so weak.
Richard’s comment here about how he never had the chance to write about Clarissa may be a sign of his declining mental condition due to illness, since, in fact, many other characters believe that Richard’s one novel he wrote is all about Clarissa—though this comment might also indicate that his novel wasn’t actually about Clarissa, or at least that he didn’t consciously intend to write it about her. Clarissa’s inability to kiss Richard on the lips recalls her interaction with Walter. Here, it symbolizes how Richard’s illness has now made it impossible for him and Clarissa to have a relationship.
Themes
