MAUREEN'S WEB

In his introductory post, Official RENT Blog contributor Andrew Milne selected Maureen as his favorite character in RENT.  Andrew is back to give us a breakdown on the allure of Maureen.

The name Maureen can mean “bitter,” “uncertain,” or “popular.” Jonathan Larson definitely knew what he was doing; Maureen is both vitriolic and attractive, spiteful and charming, vinegar and honey at once, and she catches hordes of flies. Mark and Joanne cannot get enough of her; Maureen charms them into her web until they wrap themselves tighter in her grasp, spinning them faster and faster – until she gets bored and moves on. Despite themselves, Joanne and Mark fall under her spell endlessly, and they “yearn and churn and rebound,” because no one can say no to Maureen, not even Maureen herself. Despite (or perhaps because) of her changeable (and often downright mean) moods, they find themselves drawn back to her, no matter how selfish or indifferent she becomes.

Maureen doesn’t do this because she is a bad person; it’s just because she’s an actress. All of her support, reinforcement, and confidence are external. Just as Mimi craves smack, Joanne seeks order, and Benny lusts for money, Maureen has her own addiction: attention. Capricious by trade and by nature, she’s an actress through and through; they project bravado because they don’t want anyone to sense they lack it. She needs applause like Angel needs Collins’ kisses. Not that she needs approbation; positive or negative, she just wants a reaction. This is why she makes a scene with Joanne during “Take Me or Leave Me.” She’s a diva who definitely “needs her stage;” and she sees everyone else in her life as merely players.

Emma Hunton as Maureen and Corbin Reid as Joanne.  Photo by Joan Marcus.

This is why I compare her to Marilyn Monroe, not for any similar looks (for Maureen’s hair is as dark as the effect she has on her lovers’ respective psyches) but because of their shared idiosyncrasies and the similar influence they hold on others. They’re beautiful and magnetic, but unfulfilled and damaged. Marilyn once described herself as “whole superstructure and no foundation,” an affliction the two women share. Maureen has no foundation of self-worth; she draws upon her audience, changing herself for her art, becoming who she needs to be. Unfortunately, she cannot turn off this facet of her personality, and as a result, she never truly knows how talented or wonderful she is. Thus she oscillates between affection, rejection, hyper sexuality, and near-mania. This unpredictability makes her mysterious, an appealing enigma to lovers, but also makes her closed off and impossible to ever really understand. It’s what chases her to cheat – it’s nothing Joanne or Mark do; she’s just running away from her own demons into the arms of others.

Maureen is a spider, manipulative, entrancing, and consuming. She’s not a bad person; her issues just make her intemperate and fiery, and often impulsive and self-destructive. They also make her irresistible to Joanne and Mark, and ceaselessly fascinating to RENTheads everywhere. She’s the most flawed, and also the most relatable and compelling.

Andrew

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