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Part 4, Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Time, Happiness, and Eternal Return
Lightness, Weight, and Dichotomies
Sex, Love, and Duality of Body and Soul
Words and Language
Power, Politics, and Inequality
Summary
Analysis
Tereza sits in the sauna, sweating with the other naked women, and she stares at a young and beautiful woman with huge breasts. Tereza notices that the woman has a rather large backside as well, and Tereza wonders if she ever stares in the mirror and tries to see her soul. The woman smiles at Tereza, and she ignores her, going to the shower to rinse off.
Again, Tereza’s trip to the sauna is baffling. She strictly guards her own body and privacy, but she studies the other woman’s body intently. Tereza usually represents the soul, but here she disregards the other woman’s soul and treats her like only a body when she doesn’t reciprocate her smile.
Themes
