In Quake and A Sleeping Country, Melanie Marnich has characters that have similar goals and experiences, even if they act upon them differently. In Quake, Lucy and That Woman have a similar struggle, as do Julia and Isabella in A Sleeping Country.
In Quake, Lucy (the protagonist) hears about a serial killer (That Woman) and becomes obsessed with her. Lucy says, “I think I’m obsessed. […] I might be. Obsessed. […] With a serial killer who has a full tank, a good map, and a mean romantic streak. See, I keep going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going. I’m not even sure where I am. […] Won’t know till I get there. You ever think you’re obsessed?” (Marnich, Quake, 22). In comparison, That Woman tells Lucy in Scene Five: “Like I always say, don’t get scared. Get angry. And get going. And go and go and go and go and go and go and go. ‘Cause we want better, we want bigger, we want more. It’s go to be perfect and we won’t stop until we find it” (Marnich, Quake, 25). Both Lucy and That Woman are on journeys. Lucy is looking for her one true love, and so is That Woman. Lucy asks That Woman why she hates the men she kills. “I don’t hate them,” the woman says. “I love them. I love them so much. Like crazy. That’s the problem. I love them inside out, upside down, every which way and back again from head to toe. And I just can’t take what love is really like compared to the love I want. But I keep trying. I keep looking. [For] I don’t know what. I’ll stop when I find it” (51). This parallels what is happening with Lucy. Lucy says earlier: “I keep moving. Following the curve of the world, looking for the love of my life” (20). Lucy meets one man after another and none of them are what she is looking for. She and That Woman are looking for the same thing.
In A Sleeping Country, Julia (the protagonist) travels to Italy to meet with Isabella, to whom she thinks might be related. Isabella and Julia both may have fatal familial insomnia. Isabella has it and Julia thinks she might have it, especially if she turns out to be related to Isabella. When Julia meets Isabella, Isabella and Julia have similar struggles and wants. Isabella says, “I would, too, like to meet an Orsini. For my own reasons” (30). When Julia admits that she has been thinking about suicide, Isabella says, “You have come to the right place, Signorina. I have pondered the suicide myself and wondered if I should do it before I become unable. I pray that I leave this world with dignita. Comprenda?” Julia answers, “I completely comprenda” (31). Just as Julia wonders if Isabella could possibly be of some help (26), Isabella also wonders: “So perhaps I could be of some help to you. And you to me?” (31). Julia and Isabella have tried all the same methods of getting rid of the insomnia and none have worked. “I have left no stone and no charlatan unturned,” Isabella says (33). Julia does point out the fundamental difference between herself and Julia:
I am not like you. I am not like anyone. I am singular and fantastic. I am fabulous and fabled. I am an eclipse. I, Isabella Orsini, am a force to rival the heretical glory of Galileo’s galaxy. I do not have this disease. I possess it. I own it. It is my inheritance, my legacy, my cross and my kingdom. That is how I will live, that is how I will survive until I am gone. I am not like you. You are a victim of something. But I am the victim of nothing (36).
Yet in hearing Isabella say this, we see that she and Julia are a lot alike. By the end of the play, we can argue the Julia does own the illness, even if it isn’t FFI. When Greg asks Julia to ask him to take her back, Julia asks, “Would you take me like this? In…jet lag and dirty clothes and humility? […] Would you? […] Would you take me like this? In honesty and hope? […] Like I am? Like this? Would you?” (48). To me this means she is telling Greg that this is who she is. When she sees the moon off the balcony, Julia says “Ahhh…luna bella,” and asks Franco to lower the moon into her hand. Her journey is over; she has recovered an answer about her insomnia from a woman different yet similar to herself, and she is finally ready for sleep (48).
After reading this play I realize that characters like Lucy and That Woman, as well as Julia and Isabella, can be interesting tools for a story. They can make the themes of the play seem more universal as well, because if two people are driven toward similar goals and meet, it hints at the likelihood that there are many people that have these goals, problems, or journeys. I want to keep this in mind in case I decide to write a play with a character who has goals similar to those of the protagonist. It can be useful to tell a story and heighten understanding of themes within the play.
Works Cited
Marnich, Melanie. Quake. New York: Bret Adams Ltd.
Marnich, Melanie. A Sleeping Country. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2010.
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