The Hours

I watched the movie “The Hours” several weeks ago, its characters have been lingering alongside me since. One of my favorite movies, it is an adaptation of the Pullitzer Prize winning novel of the same name. Written by Michael Cunningham, the story chronicles the life of Virginia Woolf (played by Nicole Kidman) with a modern day Mrs. Dalloway (played by Meryl Streep) as their lives are interconnected through Laura (played by Julianne Moore). The film begins with a depiction of Virginia Woolf’s suicide in the River Ouse in 1941. The film is deeply moving. The first time I saw the film I softly cried. All three women must confront suicide: one is fighting madness, one is fighting for her life, and one is fighting someone else’s fight.

Some see Woolf’s suicide as an act of cowardice. I see Virginia as courageous. She was falling into madness again, having been there many times before she recognized within herself the strength to not allow her mind to fall once more– she recognized that when she slipped back into the abyss she took those she loved with her. She acted with fortitude and gallantry, saving both herself and those she loved.