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Chapter 42
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’s history recommences in the restaurant where she’s chosen to meet Don before shooting Max’s film together. Don apologizes to Evelyn as he sits down across from her. She says it’s fine—he was only five minutes late—but he’s really apologizing for his behavior as a husband. He tells her he’s been sober for 256 days. Evelyn doesn’t immediately accept his apology—she hadn’t prepared for this conversation—and orders a Reuben sandwich to fuel up for it. Don reiterates his apology and tells Evelyn that he regrets treating her so badly and that he loved her very much.
Don has been sober for less than a year, and his specific day count is a sign that sobriety still demands constant vigilance and careful attention. Evelyn didn’t expect Don to apologize—he’s clearly lost some of the arrogance she came to expect from him. Still, she knows she’s worth more than a single apology.
Themes
Evelyn realizes that in the years since her marriage to Don, she’s never wanted to go back and get it right with him. Now that she has a good husband, a daughter, and her relationship with Celia, Don doesn’t pose any threat to her. She doesn’t verbally forgive him, but she shows him a picture of Connor, and after the meal, she tells him she’ll do the movie with him.
Evelyn’s lack of regret about her divorce from Don emphasizes the fact that she perceives her relationship with Celia to be fated, or at least inevitable in some way—every failed marriage has led her to Celia, and so Celia must be the one she’s meant to be with.
Themes
