The men and women of "The Hours" see death as an escape from an ordinary lifestyle that lacks anything truly extraordinary or exhilarating. Laura Brown sees death as an alternative to the constraints of her role as mother and wife. Both Richard Brown and Virginia Woolf ultimately commit suicide to escape their illnesses and their failure to meet society's expectations. Although Laura does not end her life, she dies symbolically for her family. Over the course of the day, Laura Brown gradually succumbs to her overwhelming desire to break free from her mundane life. His life has taken a very different direction than he ever intended, and he finds himself doing mundane household chores that he doesn't want to do; he feels he has no control over his existence. Her entire life seems like a failure, and neither her husband nor her son can fill the void of true meaning in it. At first, Laura sees the possibility of suicide to escape her problems as a far-fetched idea reserved only for those who lack the sanity necessary to survive; all the while, she deceives herself into thinking she is sane. As his day unfolds, he becomes lost in desperation to free himself from the shackles of family life and society's lack of understanding of his fragile condition. Suicide then becomes a more seductive option: "She might decide to die. It's an abstract, shimmering idea, not particularly morbid... It might, she thinks, be deeply comforting; she might feel so free: to just walk away" (Cunningham 151) . He no longer sees suicide as an extravagant act of temporarily inflamed passions, but rather as a basic and perhaps very satisfying choice... middle of paper... for his novel, eagerly anticipating that in his writing, he can integrate himself into some extent in the life of thriving London society. Therefore, he chooses to use Clarissa Dalloway to represent the life he aspires to have, and instead chooses to have Septimus be the misunderstood genius who sacrifices his life. Ironically, both characters represent her inner conflict, and unable to resolve it, she actually commits suicide to relieve herself and her husband. Laura, Clarissa, and Richard each struggle in some way to navigate their mundane existences. Death, both literally and metaphorically, becomes their method of liberation from such a life. They hope that this death will bring new life to them or to the people they love most. Works Cited Cunningham Michael. The Hours. New York: Farrar, 1998.