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Chapter 52
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
In 1988, six years after Evelyn and Max’s wedding, Celia plays Lady Macbeth in a film adaptation and submits herself for Best Supporting Actress—a category more likely to bring her a win than Best Actress, which she’s also viable for. Evelyn votes for her. When Celia wins, Evelyn is at home with Harry and Connor, having refused to go to the Awards with Max, both because she wanted to be with her family, and because she didn’t want to be compared to the new generation of actors. Evelyn is getting fewer offers of roles, and the ones she does get are mother figures. She feels like the industry is “putting [her] out to pasture.”
Even though Evelyn has no contact with Celia, she reads into her actions from afar to find the cunning streak she’s always admired. Unlike Max, Evelyn has no desire to be seen publicly, and her family has become her top priority and her main source of happiness. Max isn’t an integral part of that family. In fact, he’s more of a nuisance at the edge of her life. On top of that, she dislikes being somewhere she’s not valued and prioritized—and the movie industry is becoming that kind of environment for her.
Themes
Evelyn, Connor, and Harry watch Celia accept her award. In Celia’s speech, she warns “anyone tempted to kiss the TV” not to chip their tooth, and Connor asks Evelyn why she’s crying. Harry tells Evelyn to call Celia; instead, Evelyn writes her a letter congratulating her. She signs it “Edward,” then crosses that out and writes her own name. She doesn’t expect a response, but a week later, she receives a letter from Celia. The two begin to correspond frequently. Evelyn apologizes for her errors in their relationship, but Celia admits that each time Evelyn made a decision that kept the outside world at bay, she felt relieved. She adds that she watched Three A.M. recently and feels it would’ve been wrong for her to stand in the way of such an important film.
When Evelyn and Celia’s love for each other is brought into the public sphere, it’s heavily coded. Here, Evelyn begins to reject that code for the truth by crossing out her male pen name. It’s possibly this small editing decision that convinces Celia to write back—she can tell that Evelyn is ready to prioritize their love over her public image. Celia has also come to appreciate the safety Evelyn tried to ensure for her, which implies it wasn’t simply Evelyn she was angry with, but the social circumstances that made it impossible for them to have an uncomplicated relationship.
Themes
Evelyn writes a letter to Celia asking if lovers can ever be friends. Celia writes back, asking if Max is like Harry and Rex; Evelyn replies saying no, but asking to meet. Celia writes that she doesn’t know if she could bear seeing Evelyn under those circumstances. Evelyn writes to Celia asking her to return her calls, which she’s avoided for the past week.
Celia needs to be entirely convinced that she’s Evelyn’s priority. The desire to be placed above all else is one that they share, which makes it difficult for either of them to move past stubbornness toward reconciliation.
Themes
