Michael Cunningham’s “The Hours” is arguably one of the greatest works of the American novelist. The author takes a daunting task of reworking Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway”, one of the greatest literal works of twentieth century (Young 33). Mrs. Dalloway follows the life of Clarissa, Dalloway’s wife through a day spent in London. The story also tracks a youthful ex-soldier Smith, who reads as a negative double of Mrs. Dalloway. Finally, their two lives intersect to bring out Woof’s contention that all lives are somehow connected (Young 34). Cunningham borrows the characters from Woolf’s novel and integrates imaginary scenes of Woolf’s life with the plot of Woolf’s novel to produce a masterpiece that makes him a literal genius. This paper seeks to present a summary and character analysis of “The Hours.” “The Hours” presents three women as they navigate a day in their lives and as they struggle to identify themselves in the society (Cunningham 126). In 1923 England, Virginal Woolf is depicted struggling with mental sanity and depression in her society. In 1949 Los Angeles, Laura Brown is depicted questioning her marriage and the need to make a perfect home. In the late twentieth century in New York, Clarissa Vaughan is depicted struggling with her life as a lesbian and a lost heterosexual romance (Young 33). Cunningham outlines the struggles and challenges women go through when seeking acceptance and a place in the society. “The Hours” has been commended as an accurate portrayal of common female dilemma, though written by a writer of different gender. Cunningham refers to his characters as “Mrs. Dalloway, Mrs. Woolf, and Mrs. Brown” to highlight their place in the society (Young 33). This designation contrasts the interests of Virginia and Laura and presents the ironic lesbian lifestyle of Clarissa. The novel has been written in three different situations of the women’s battle between individuality and duty. The women’s reactions towards their struggles is characterized by endurance, defeat, and defiance but the reader sees that the protagonists have another hour ahead (Cunningham 226). Cunningham has used a variety of sentence structures including complex and simple structures to follow the thoughts of his characters. Although the novel has been written in third person, the author has used the protagonists’ thoughts and emotions to drive the story. The reader is lost in the thoughts of these women regardless of the third person narration that has been employed (Young 33). Cunningham broadens the themes presented by Woolf in Mrs. Dalloway and puts them in a different context; this emphasizes the universality of these themes (Young 35). Cunningham succeeds in relocating a great work of literature, updating it to resonate in the new age. The beginning of the first story depicts Virginia as she starts her novel in 1923.The next story features the day of an American housewife, Laura Brown who spends her time reading Mrs. Dalloway in 1949. The third story takes place in twentieth century and features a party hosted by Clarissa for her friend Richard. In the prologue of “The Hours”, a detailed suicide of Virginia Woolf is presented. Virginia leaves a suicide note to her husband and sister and drowns herself in a river (Young 33). The chapters that follow tell how the