The Hours Women and Femininity Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

The cake is cute, Kitty tells her, the way a child's painting might be cute. It is sweet and touching in its heartfelt, agonizingly sincere discrepancy between ambition and facility. Laura understands: There are two choices only. You can be capable or uncaring. You can produce a masterful cake by your own hand or, barring that, light a cigarette, declare yourself hopeless at such projects, pour yourself another cup of coffee, and order a cake from the bakery. Laura is an artisan who has tried, and failed, publicly. (9.25)

Laura Brown's failed cake is the equivalent of the failed party that Virginia Woolf intends to create for her heroine, Mrs. Dalloway. Why is Laura so put out by her failure to create a perfect, beautiful cake?