Where It All Goes Down
West Village, New York City; Richmond, England; Los Angeles, California
The Hours is set in three different places and times: Richmond, England in the early 1920s; Los Angeles, California in the late 1940s; and, finally, New York City's West Village at some point in the 1990s.
Although all three of those places and times have similarities, the novel is most interested in exploring the differences between suburban and city life. It's no coincidence that the novel's most dissatisfied protagonists—Virginia Woolf and Laura Brown—are living in the suburbs, while the novel's happiest and most liberated protagonist—Clarissa Vaughan—is living in a vibrant, lively city.
Both Laura Brown and Virginia Woolf dislike their suburban homes. Laura feels that suburban, post-war Los Angeles bears an uncanny resemblance to the backdrop of a play, and Laura knows what role she's expected to play: that of the perfect wife, perfect mother, and perfectly happy American citizen. Virginia's dislike for Richmond, England, stems from slightly different circumstances, but she dislikes the suburbs just as much as Laura does. She feels as though she's "evaporating" in calm, boring Richmond, and she longs for the hustle and bustle of London (5.4).
Clarissa Vaughan is the only one of the novel's three protagonists who lives exactly where she wants to. Not only does she have a beautiful apartment in New York City's West Village, but she and her partner Sally also have the great privilege of living together openly. Although they do face discrimination—they don't yet have the right to marry each other, for instance—their social and economic circumstances give them a considerable advantage over Laura and Virginia.