Character Analysis
If Hanna had a contemporary counterpart, we're thinking it would be Gwyneth Paltrow. She's a gorgeous actress whose branding is on fleek—and she knows it. Hanna knows that even the disasters of her life—conscious uncouplings, missing son, horrible head colds—can only inflate her stock among her admirers:
She had the smile of a woman who knows that on her, even a red nose is charming. She lived in exemplary harmony with herself. She loved her nose, and she also loved the audacity with which she called a cold a cold and a nose a cauliflower. The unconventional beauty of her red nose thus complemented her intellectual audacity, and the circular course of her thumb...expressed the indivisible unity of her personality. (VII.3.4)
In short, she knows she's got it. But beyond that, we don't know anything more of Hanna. Or of Gwyneth, for that matter. We don't even know why Kundera includes her in the work, other than as a character sketch. She shows kindness to Passer by taking him out to hunt for mushrooms. Sure, that outing leads to the weakness that ultimately kills him, but when you're golden, like Gwyneth—uh, Hanna—only the admirable part of the story remains.