If Haddaway is still looking for someone to tell him what love is, he could do worse than hitting up The Hours for a clue. Love comes in many shapes throughout the novel: we see romantic love between straight, gay, and lesbian partners; we see lifelong friendships that have required loving devotion and care; we see marriages in which sexual attraction takes a backseat to other forms of companionship; we see unrequited infatuation; we see the bonds of love between parents and children; and, above all, we see love for life itself.
Love—in any number of forms—is part of the human experience, and The Hours is all about exploring the ties that bind its characters to one another, and to the world they inhabit.
Questions About Love
- Who or what does Clarissa Vaughan love more than anything, according to The Hours?
- How does Clarissa Vaughan's love for Richard Brown compare to her love for Sally?
- What metaphors are used to characterize Mary Krull's infatuation with Julia? What exactly do they mean?
- Does Louis Waters really feel that there's a scarcity of love in the world?
Chew on This
Because Clarissa Vaughan spends most of her day swept up in memories of the time when she was romantically involved with Richard Brown, we learn comparatively little about her relationship with Sally. As a result, her love for Richard comes through more clearly than her love for her partner of nearly eighteen years.
More than anything or anyone else—more than Richard, more than Sally, perhaps even more than her daughter, Julia—Clarissa Vaughan is in love with life, and in love with the world.