The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Chapters 51 and 52 demonstrate Evelyn’s changing emotional landscape as she finds professional fulfillment but still lacks romance. The greatest representation of this is her overwhelming desire for Max; she is moved more by the return of her passion than she is by his proclamation of love, indicating that what she perceives as love for him is gratification from being desired and feeling desire. However, Max validates Evelyn’s insecurities by falling in love with the concept of Evelyn Hugo rather than the person.

Chapter 52 expresses this with the famous Rita Hayworth quote, which applies to Evelyn’s experiences. Men have consistently objectified and fetishized her to the point they only see her as a possession. This highlights The Oversexualization and Commodification of Women’s Bodies. When they finally “have” her, they discover that she is only human—and not the embodiment of their every fantasy—and resent her for it. These experiences have conditioned Evelyn to view her beauty and sexuality as her strongest gifts, making her believe that her interior self is less worthy of love. Thus, Max is the most disappointing of all because she thought she was finally past this in her life. This discovery contributes to Evelyn’s character development in that she recognizes this not as a flaw in herself, but as a flaw in others.

The next three chapters show Evelyn’s immense growth and demonstrate her finally embracing her true self and not fearing consequences. In Chapter 53, as Evelyn signs her real name to Celia’s letter for the first time, she signals her readiness to no longer rely upon pretense. In both admitting their blame, Celia and Evelyn choose one another over pride. This is most apparent through Evelyn’s confrontation with Max in Chapter 54; his anti-gay slur and degrading comments fail to scare her into docility, and she endures them with strength and grace. In not cowering from what was once her worst fear—being publicly outed—she proclaims her identity. Therefore, this chapter completes the novel’s thematic study of Reconciling with One’s True Self.

By the time Celia and Evelyn meet in Chapter 55, their roles are all but reversed; Evelyn’s desire to be out is contrasted by Celia’s sudden caution. This suggests that time and age have taught them to understand the other’s perspective more fully; Evelyn learns that material possessions and fame are meaningless without love, while Celia realizes that Evelyn was protecting them both. This reversal stresses how very well suited they are for one another, perhaps even more so for knowing what is to lose each other. The tragic news that Celia is dying heightens their desire to be together; Evelyn’s decision to spend the rest of Celia’s life with her indicates their powerful connection and her inability to live without Celia. The most significant consideration of Chapter 54, though, is the reference to the AIDS epidemic; Celia fears coming out more than before because she has seen how those who died of AIDS are treated posthumously: “They just think that he deserves it because of how he got it” (317).

Celia is conveying how her legacy will be affected if she comes out just before death, and she is unwilling to lose something she fought for her entire life. Moreover, this reference roots the narrative in a temporally pertinent moment; the 1980s, along with the AIDS epidemic, marks the US administration’s willful neglect of the health of the LGBTQ+ community and explicit denial of their civil rights. Ronald Reagan, president during the epidemic, not only ignored the crisis at its height but unambiguously stated that gay rights are not the same as civil rights (1980 Campaign speech, cited in Robert Scheer’s Playing President, 154). Therefore, by referencing Reagan and the AIDS epidemic, Reid reminds her reader that though society has progressed greatly since the 1950s, it has not come so far as to allow these two women—and indeed the entire queer community—to live openly and without fear.