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Chapter 5: 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
In London, Laura makes a cake with Richie. As she makes the cake, she feels like an artist or an architect creating something, perhaps even like Virginia writing Mrs. Dalloway. She guides Richie in what to do. When Richie pours the flour in and it all forms a big mound, he’s afraid he did something wrong, but Laura reassures him. Laura begins to feel that maybe everything in her life is fine—that she will continue to be devoted to Dan and Richie and that she’s all prepared for their second child.
Although the characters in the novel face many setbacks and disappointments, they also have moments of triumph. In this chapter, Laura seems to overcome all her doubts and finally prove that she can be the type of mother and wife that she wants to be. Unfortunately, the hours keep passing, and like the flowers that Clarissa Vaughan and Clarissa Dalloway each buy, Laura’s moment of happiness can’t last forever.
Themes
