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Chapter 15
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 throws a copy of Sub Rosa on Harry’s desk and asks why nobody at Sunset Studios paid the magazine not to print the story. He tells her that the magazine will make more money by printing rumors than the studio can afford to pay them, especially because they’re making less money than they used to. Celia enters the office and fails to offer a positive spin on the situation.
Sunset’s diminishing authority and finances show that Hollywood is changing—and that Evelyn’s career, tied up as it is with Sunset Studios, is far from secure. Celia’s realism in this moment is a sign that she’s stopped acting naïve, especially around Evelyn.
Themes
A week earlier, filming wrapped on Little Women and Harry told Evelyn and Celia that they were likely to be nominated for Oscars for the film. During the shoot, Evelyn and Celia stayed late every night to rehearse together, and under Celia’s influence, Evelyn started paying attention to the newer, grittier work happening in Hollywood—Method actors and messy plots. As she sits in Harry’s office now, she knows she’s in the company of two people who bring out the best in her.
Evelyn’s idea of close interpersonal connections is underpinned by the deep, serious conversations she has with the people with whom she’s close, especially when they’re discussing her career. These aren’t conversations she has with her husband, Don, but she has them regularly with Celia and Harry—a hint that Evelyn and Don’s relationship is fundamentally unsatisfying for Evelyn.
Themes
Harry encourages Evelyn to leave the studio lot with Celia so that Don can’t find her when he’s in a bad mood about the article. She says that’ll only encourage the rumors, and she realizes her maid, Paula, is the one who sold the story. Harry offers to fire Paula, but Evelyn knows she has to spin the story in a way that will win back the sympathy of moviegoers. She asks Harry to have Dr. Lopani ring the house in the evening sounding concerned; she writes out a note for him to read on the phone call. Don comes into the office holding the magazine. Evelyn tells him the plan for the evening: she’ll fake a miscarriage and gain pity for both herself and Don.
For Evelyn, securing her status as a beloved star is more important than protecting her privacy. She deals with problems by choreographing her life as if it’s a movie, and she expects the people around her to play along. It’s clear here that she’s willing to fabricate and publicize even highly personal details if it’ll help her career. She knows, too, that she’ll get more sympathy from the public if they think she can’t have a baby than if it appears she’s chosen not to. In other words, it's socially acceptable for a woman to be helpless, while a woman with power and agency is condemned.
Themes
When Evelyn picks up the phone that evening, she starts crying as loud as possible to make sure Paula knows something is wrong. Don fires Paula, making sure to be rude enough to make her angry so she’ll go to the tabloids. Soon after, Sub Rosa publishes another article titled “Bless Don and Evelyn! They Need It!” which details the miscarriage and encourages readers to send their best wishes to the couple.
Here, Don and Evelyn bring their acting skills into their personal lives, and it seems natural for them to ignore the boundaries between their daily lives and their professional obligations.
Themes
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