The Hour of the Star

Macabéa buys a red lipstick for herself the day after Olímpico breaks up with her. She takes it into the bathroom at work and paints it on her mouth, hoping she’ll look like Marilyn Monroe. Glória makes fun of her when she returns to the office, insisting that Macabéa will never look like Marilyn. They start arguing about who is more attractive and who is uglier. Then Glória asks why Macabéa always takes so much aspirin. Macabéa admits that she lives with a pain that she can’t explain. Rodrigo thinks her pain is a sign that she’s alive, yet no one but him notices her. Glória dismisses what Macabéa says and insists that someday she’ll choke on one of the pills.

Soon after this, Macabéa encounters a giant tree while out walking. She’s thrilled by the tree, as it’s so big she can’t even “wrap her arms around its trunk” (54).

Olímpico starts regularly visiting Glória at the office. He hugs and kisses her in front of everyone. Whenever he shows up, Macabéa dismisses herself to the bathroom. She stares at herself in the mirror and realizes that Glória isn’t really her friend. Macabéa guesses that Olímpico likes Glória because she bleaches the hair on her legs, under her armpits, and above her lip. Everything Glória does has started to annoy Macabéa. She realizes that she has no one in the world and wonders whether things would be different for her if she looked more like Greta Garbo. One day, she mentions this to Glória, who laughs in her face. Macabéa realizes that Glória wants nothing to do with her.

Rodrigo returns to Olímpico’s story. Olímpico tries to impress Glória as soon as they start dating. He doesn’t regret breaking up with Macabéa and thinks Glória is part of his destiny. However, Glória sometimes feels guilty for stealing Macabéa’s boyfriend. To make amends one day, she invites Macabéa out for food. Macabéa is shocked and delighted, because she can never afford to go out to eat. While out, she drinks a cup of chocolate that makes her sick the next day. She goes to the doctor, and the doctor criticizes her for dieting to lose weight. The doctor knows that she can’t afford to feed herself but takes no pity on her. Instead, he tells her that she has a psychological problem and needs a psychoanalyst. Then he informs her that she’s “in the early stages of pulmonary tuberculosis” (59), which Macabéa doesn’t understand. He doesn’t prescribe her anything and simply suggests that she start eating spaghetti instead of the hot dogs and bologna she says she always eats.

Rodrigo realizes that he feels sorry for Macabéa and wishes she would say something truthful and admit how alone she is. For Rodrigo, it’s easiest to be truthful when he’s by himself.

Macabéa doesn’t tell Glória about the doctor’s visit. She doesn’t admit that she envies Glória or feels hurt every time she sees her with Olímpico. One day, Glória assures Macabéa that she’ll find a new boyfriend someday. She suggests that Macabéa visit the fortune teller she saw recently to figure out her future.

Rodrigo feels sick telling Macabéa’s story. He takes three days off from writing to get a break from his characters.

Glória lends Macabéa the money for a session with the fortune teller, Madame Carlota. She tells Macabéa about her own session with Madame Carlota. Although this story unnerves Macabéa, she decides to go anyway and takes a cab to Olaria.

Madame Carlota invites Macabéa inside her apartment when she arrives. Macabéa is delighted by her space and impressed that Madame Carlota gets all the facts of her early life correct. In addition, Madame Carlota tells Macabéa about her own life and shares stories with her about her past. She tells Macabéa that if she wants to experience real romance and good sex, she should be with a woman. She guesses that Macabéa hasn’t had any relationships with women because she doesn’t take care of her appearance.

Madame Carlota deals her cards in order to read Macabéa’s future. She shrieks in surprise at what she sees. She tells Macabéa that although her life has been terrible, everything will change for her. Her boss won’t fire her as he plans, and her boyfriend will return to her and propose to her. Macabéa feels suddenly hopeful. Rodrigo feels hopeful for her, too. Then Madame Carlota reveals that Macabéa will meet a blonde man from a foreign country by the name of Hans, who will fall in love with her. He’ll be rich and buy her many expensive things.

Overwhelmed by excitement, Macabéa pays Madame Carlota for the session. Madame Carlota insists that this is the best fortune she’s told in some time, as she had to tell her last client that she’d be killed when she exited her apartment.

Macabéa leaves Madame Carlota’s feeling elated. She studies the beautiful sunset and realizes this is the first time in her life that she has actually felt happy. She now understands that her entire life has been harder than she ever understood. Suddenly, an expensive car races by and hits Macabéa, throwing her to the curb. The handsome foreign man driving the car momentarily looks at her before racing away. Macabéa lies helplessly on the ground. People gather around her, but no one does anything. Rodrigo realizes that he could reverse this event but also feels incapable of doing so. He wants Macabéa to live but isn’t sure what will happen next. People continue to gather around Macabéa and stare at her. One woman places a candle beside her in case she dies. Then a violinist jaunts by, playing his violin. Macabéa’s eyes keep blinking as she lies motionless in the street. Rodrigo considers everything she’s thinking and everything she has experienced. Eventually, she dies.

Rodrigo wonders about the truth of his character and her story. He realizes that Macabéa has in fact killed him, although she has freed herself. Silence follows her death. Finished with the story, Rodrigo lights a cigarette and returns to the street. While walking, he realizes that he too will die.