The Hours

MaricaMorikot

Keywords

Stream of consciousnessPoint of viewPostmodernInternal conflictMortalityMental IllnessDomesticity

Michael CunninghamBorn: Cincinnati, Ohio 1952Education: read Mrs. Dalloway at age 15Graduated: Stanford University 1975

B.A. In English Lit.University of Iowa – Writer's Workshop 1980

M.F.A.Debut novel: Golden State 1984

The HoursPublication 1998Awards

Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulker 1999Structure

Retrospective narrative− Point of view

Stream of ConsciousnessThemes

MortalityMental illnessSwitched domestic roles

Inspiration

Mrs. DallowayRead it at age 15

Virginia WoolfQUOTE FROM INTERVIEW

Main Characters

Virginia Woolf1923Sussex, England

Laura Brown1949Los Angeles

Clarissa VaughnLate twentieth centuryNew York City

Virginia Woolf

Commits suicide in the PrologueEnglish novelistWife of publisher, Leonard WoolfStruggles with headaches and voices in her headSwitched domestic rolesBegins writing Mrs. Dalloway

Laura Brown

Housewife and young mother in 1949, L.A.Married to war veteran, Dan BrownSuffers from depressionGuilty and resentful of her domestic lifeReads the novel Mrs. Dalloway

Clarissa VaughnNicknamed, Mrs. Dalloway by her close friend and ex-lover, RichardLesbian editor in New York CityLives a domestic life with her lover, SallyFears mortalityQuestions her decisions that lead her to this point in her life

Similarities to Mrs. DallowayClarissa is given the name Dalloway by RichardRichard becomes depressed from contracting AIDS

Relevance to SeptimusEx-lover, Louis = Peter Walsh?

Sally and Clarissa's lesbian relationship

Similarities continued...Stolen Kisses

Clarissa and Sally− Virginia and her sister− Laura and her neighbor

FlowersDan buys flowers for LauraSally buys flowers for Clarissa

PartyClarissa plans a party later that dayInvites a friend she runs into while running errandsGlimpse of a celebrity

Critics

PraiseWashington PostLos Angeles TimesNew York Times

CritiqueReaders− Tries to interpret the lives of women from the outside

looking in− Mimicry of Virginia Woolf's classic

The Hours film

Premiered in December 2003 Directed by Stephen DaldryScreenplay by David HareStaring

Meryl Streep as Clarissa VaughnNicole Kidman as Virginia WoolfSusan Surandon as Laura Brown

“Capturing Virginia”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30TOgCVavV8&NR=1&feature=fvwp