The Only Woman in the Room

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-5

Part 1, Chapters 6-9

Part 1, Chapters 10-13

Part 1, Chapters 14-17

Part 1, Chapters 18-21

Part 1, Chapters 22-25

Part 2, Chapters 26-30

Part 2, Chapters 31-35

Part 2, Chapters 36-40

Part 2, Chapters 41-44

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Themes

Wearing Masks

Initially, Hedy dons a mask only for her performances. She sees it as stepping in to the body of a character. As she is more exposed to the world, she realizes that when she alters her personality to fit the interaction, she is also acting. She is perceptive, detecting what others “secretly long for” and becoming that to get “whatever [she] wanted from them” (11). In this way, mask-wearing is both a way for her to achieve her ends and a defense mechanism. She learns that women are given few tools with which to navigate the world, but her beauty and ability to captivate serves her. It also protects Hedy from ever showing who she really is. Having learned that she can be whomever others want her to be, she becomes less comfortable being herself. Gradually, the mask becomes its own prison; the world’s perception of Hedy becomes all that is allowed to exist.

Benedict uses the theme of mask-wearing to critique women’s roles in society. Hedy relies on her chameleon qualities to succeed and to survive. During her marriage with Fritz, she is literally expected to play the role of his wife, to wear a mask that Fritz prefers. After escaping Austria, she must mask her Jewish heritage to succeed in Hollywood. Her beauty is analogized to the concept of mask-wearing; it is something that protects and empowers her, but it is so effective that it obscures all of her other qualities from the world. Due to prejudice, the world comes to belittle and underestimate Hedy, assuming that because she is beautiful she can be nothing else.

However, Benedict turns this burden on its head by the end of the novel; when Hedy retreats further into her beautiful mask, she also learns that she can use her persona to better the world. By accepting the world’s perception of her and playing into it, she raises money for the war effort. It comes, though, at great cost to Hedy’s peace. She struggles to understand herself, if she is what the world wants her to be, or if that is a “smoke screen to distract” (143) the world while she became a weapon against Hitler. Through Hedy’s shape-shifting, the novel articulates the overwhelming pressure convention places unto women to subscribe to misogynist models of femininity, and that these standards limit not only the possibilities for those they oppress, but limit society’s advancement.

Guilt from Social Responsibility

Due to the grand international scale on which the war affects the public, the narrative is permeated with a sense of social responsibility—placed on the individual—to stop others from suffering. In part, this serves as a critique to the international response to the Holocaust, in which interference came much too late. Thematically, the guilt Hedy succumbs to for not doing more to protect the world is a hyperbolic representation of one individual’s connection to humanity. She views herself as directly responsible for the Austrian Civil War for her sharing of the Social Democratic Party’s intention of a coup, and indirectly responsible for the German extermination of the Jews for not sharing Hitler’s plans. This guilt demonstrates her empathy and the long-lasting effects of an individual’s decisions.

Despite Hedy’s beliefs, though, the narrative never places blame on her for her actions. In fact, any time she shares her sense of culpability, it is directly refuted; the people behind these actions were heading in that direction “for years” (80). Therefore, Hedy’s regret functions as both character development and an emblematic effect for the world’s collective responsibility through inaction. If Hedy can be held responsible for not stopping Hitler’s plans, then dozens—if not hundreds—of others can be too.

Hedy’s guilt serves as her major drive for the second half of the novel. The theme infuses the narrative with a sense of urgency, increasing the tense tone as Hedy comes closer to completing her invention. Everything she does in Part 2 is designed to alleviate her conscious; by adopting Jamesie, inventing the radio-hopping system, and raising millions in war bonds, Hedy is attempting to rebalance her karmic scales. The great tragedy of the novel, though, is that “the world would never allow [her] penance” (237). Benedict uses the theme of guilt from social responsibility to convey Hedy’s profound desire to help the world, and communicate lasting impact of personal choice.

The Personal and Societal Limitations Perpetrated by Sexism

Sexism is the most prevalent obstacle in Hedy’s path. It touches her the moment she is born, causing her mother to raise her to be “marriageable” rather than intellectual. Her first professional acting role, in Ecstasy, becomes the greatest stain on her reputation, hanging over her for the rest of her life. She’d been drawn to the artistry in the film and enjoyed its revolutionary take on female sexuality. However, societal standards of propriety condemned her for it, causing her to guard her reputation more closely than ever before. Her courtship and then marriage with Fritz demonstrates the little-to-no power women possess in romantic relationships; he chooses her, changes her, and then controls her. Every bit of autonomy that Hedy attempts to express is met with violence.

Her escape to Hollywood is no different; she comes into the possession of other men, who rewrite her history and objectify her. The sexism in Hollywood is a reflection of the sexism pervasive throughout society. Women are sexually exploited for roles because misogynistic standards posit that their bodies are all they have to offer men, and men are within their rights to exercise authority over them. This misogyny is most concisely represented through Hedy’s role as Gaby; as she tries to bring depth to the exclusively “forbidden fruit” (162) character, she is chastised. Gaby is meant to be an “emblem of womankind” in her ability to “inspire mystery […] with her beauty and her silence” (164). This exchange summarizes the novel’s central thematic issue: society’s estimation of women being solely in the realm of what they can offer men. Indeed, Hedy’s beauty does permit her a bit of power, but it is still a power that operates within and prescribes to a patriarchal standard of femininity. Rather, Hedy is just as disenfranchised by her beauty as she is empowered by it. Due to prejudice, she is only allowed one course through life, and that is to be an object of desire for men and a standard of beauty for women.

Benedict employs this theme to convey the ways prejudice holds all of society back. Hedy’s invention, which distantly prefigures the wi-fi used universally today, would immensely benefit humankind. It’s immediate use could end the war. The military’s refusal to accept what would improve their weaponry because of blatant prejudice succinctly emphasizes Benedict’s point. By marginalizing individuals, sexism—and all forms of prejudice—severely limits society’s collective advancement. The personal ramifications of sexism manifest through Hedy’s real legacy—as the sexpot actress, not the impassioned inventor who outsmarted the Third Reich.