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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
Monique feels a sensation in her chest, a feeling of fury. Until this moment, she blamed Monique’s father for his own death, believing that he had been driving under the influence even though it seemed totally out of character. Now that she knows her father was not responsible, she has someone else to blame. She can tell from Evelyn’s body language that she’s ready to take the blame. She pushes Evelyn against the sofa and tells her she’s glad there’s nobody left alive to love her. She asks her whether she thinks giving Monique her story makes up for her actions. Evelyn says she doesn’t want absolution: she wants to give Monique the chance of knowing her father properly. While Monique says she knows who her father was, she realizes she’s not telling the truth.
This is presumably the first time Monique makes physical contact with Evelyn—an act that emphasizes her uncontrollable rage. At first, Monique is satisfied by blaming Evelyn, but she soon realizes that what she really needs is to accept these new truths about her father—a much more complex undertaking. While Monique is angry at Evelyn, Evelyn has also given her an opportunity to learn an important truth about her father, whom she deeply loved and who’s still a guiding force in her life.
Themes
Monique takes the piece of paper from Evelyn—something she found in Harry’s pocket the night of his death. She opens it to see bloodstains. Before reading it, she asks Evelyn to leave. The paper holds a letter from her father, James Grant, to Harry. In it, he writes that he loves Harry in a way he never thought he could love, but he can’t go to Europe with him or marry Celia in order to create the life Harry wants in LA. Though he doesn’t love his wife the way he loves Harry, he won’t leave her—he refuses to break his family apart, because his daughter is the most important thing in his life and his wife is his best friend. After reading the letter, Monique realizes at last that her father was in love with a man.
The bloodstains on the letter are a tangible connection between Harry and Monique’s father, and they also connect Monique and Evelyn in a concrete, irreversible way. Monique’s father’s letter highlights that the manipulation and secrecy that underpin Harry and Evelyn’s relationships isn’t a reasonable price for other people. The letter also suggests that the love and security of a family unit can be more important than the pursuit of romantic love.
Themes
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