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Chapter 26
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 tells Celia she’s going on a date with Mick. Celia becomes angry, but Evelyn says they don’t have a choice if they want to keep their jobs and friends. Celia says she’d give up her career to live a normal life with Evelyn. Evelyn accuses Celia of being a “dilettante” who can rely on her family’s money if acting doesn’t work out for her. She doesn’t want Celia to throw her career away for her; she knows how it feels to have to work back up from nothing, and if she and Celia let their relationship go public, they’ll lose everything, even Harry, who’s endangered by his proximity to them.
Evelyn becomes stressed when the two things she holds most dear—her relationship for Celia, and her career—begin to oppose each other. While Celia wants Evelyn to love her without worrying what others think, Evelyn strategizes a lifestyle in which she can have everything she wants if she keeps some of them secret, which becomes a major source of tension in their relationship.
Themes
Celia says it’d be enough just to have Evelyn, even if she loses everything else, but Evelyn tells her she loves her too much to let her live a life centered around her. She plans to let Mick elope with her, and then to have the marriage annulled. People will stop focusing on her relationship with Celia and will start rumors that Evelyn’s a bad wife with poor taste in men; Celia will no longer be part of the narrative. Celia agrees to the plan, as long as she doesn’t have to hear any more about it, and Evelyn agrees that afterward, she’ll think about moving in with her.
Though Evelyn’s idea of a happy, full life involves Celia, it isn’t based solely on her, and that’s the kind of life she wants for Celia, too. If they gave up their careers and friends for each other, they’d be left with nothing else. For Evelyn, the elopement with Mick is just a brief sojourn to deflect media attention, but it’s clear that it’s a more emotional commitment for Celia, who doesn’t want to share Evelyn with anyone.
Themes
