In Los Angeles in 1949, Laura Brown reads Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway. She reads to avoid getting out of bed, to avoid having to live her life and behave like the wife and mother she's supposed to be. It is her husband Dan's birthday, and Laura cannot face the idea of going downstairs and making breakfast for him and her son, Richie. She promises herself a few more pages of reading in exchange for making Dan a birthday cake later. Laura knows Dan won't mind if she sleeps in, especially since she's pregnant, but she's overcome by a disproportionate sense of guilt when she hears him making the breakfast.
Laura is a post-World War II bride, having married - to his mother's horror - the conquering local hero, returned from war. She was a.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 602 words. This
study guide contains 15,882 words (approx. 53 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our The Hours Access Pass.
