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Chapter 36
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
Celia gets drunk at the wedding, struggling not to feel jealous even though she, Evelyn, Harry, and John all know that the marriage is only going ahead so that they can live out their true relationships. After their honeymoon, Evelyn and Harry buy an apartment in Manhattan down the road from Celia and John’s. Before they move, Evelyn has Harry investigate whether her father was still alive, but they find out that he died eight years ago, which clarifies to Evelyn why he never came after her for her money. Feeling freed by this news, Evelyn agreed to relocate and persuades Luisa to come too.
The stress of living a double life—loving Evelyn, but acting as John’s wife—is clearly harder on Celia than it is on Evelyn. Rather than mourning the loss of her father, his death sets Evelyn free, emphasizing the fact that she feels closer familial connections to people like Harry, who care about her deeply, than to people like her father, who neglected and abused her.
Themes
A month after moving to Manhattan, Evelyn takes Celia to Hell’s Kitchen and points up at her old apartment from the sidewalk. Celia takes her hand, and Evelyn worries what people will think until she realizes they’re not paying any attention. She and Celia spend their nights in Evelyn’s apartment; Harry and John spend their nights in John’s. The four of them go out together appearing like two straight couples.
Evelyn wants Celia to understand her entirely—not just as a beautiful and successful woman, but someone who had to work hard to get there. She’s able to be vulnerable with Celia, which is a sign that they’ve learned to trust each other again.
Themes
The morning after the Stonewall riots, Evelyn realizes for the first time that the four of them aren’t alone: there are others like them. But unlike her, the Stonewall protestors have hope for a future in which people like them can live freely, without fear. Celia suggests that they join the second night of rioting, but the other three disagree. Harry says that by joining in, they’d take media attention away from the cause and direct it toward themselves. Instead, they should contribute what the protestors lack: money. They begin to privately filter money toward the cause, and Evelyn continues to do so for the rest of her life.
Evelyn has come a long way in accepting her sexuality, but she still lives a restricted life and is bound by fear. Her comparison of herself to the rioters demonstrates how her fame and success have trapped her, not only socially but also mentally: she’s unable to have the same hope they do. Here, Celia once again shows herself to be the most naïve of the four, while Harry and Evelyn are especially pragmatic and can easily see themselves as financial assets rather than human beings.
Themes
The next year, Celia wins her second Oscar. She calls Evelyn after the ceremony and says she wishes she could be there with her. Evelyn gets annoyed: why does it always have to be about Celia’s feelings, and not her own? Celia drunkenly accuses Evelyn of not wanting to be with her in public because she doesn’t want people to call her a lesbian. Evelyn’s frustrated that Celia constantly ignores part of her identity—while she loves Celia, she also loves men. She calls Celia a “brat,” to which Celia replies that Evelyn is only “a nice pair of tits” before crying and apologizing.
Evelyn’s irritation reveals a deep-seated anxiety about her role as Celia’s partner. Even though she knows she couldn’t celebrate with Celia, Celia still wants her to have the reckless courage that’d allow her to go to the party, and Evelyn knows she lacks that. Again, when the couple is under stress, Evelyn attacks Celia’s dreamy idealism while Celia attacks Evelyn’s sexual history.
Themes
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