Summary
In a searing indictment of societal pressures and the precariousness of identity, "A Sleeping Memory" unfurls the tragic odyssey of Eleanore Marston. Driven from her patrician perch by her father's public disgrace and subsequent suicide, Eleanore finds herself cast into the unforgiving anonymity of a New York department store. It is here that her path intersects with the enigmatic, affluent Powers Fiske, a man who offers not merely salvation from penury, but a radical escape from her past: a complete obliteration of her memory through a cranial operation. Eleanore, desperate, assents to this Faustian bargain, only to emerge from the procedure a chillingly altered entity. The woman Fiske believed he was rescuing has vanished, replaced by a ruthless, self-serving, and utterly remorseless individual, a stark testament to the profound link between memory and moral compass. Horrified by his creation, Fiske enlists the aid of Dr. Trow, a friend whose hypnotic prowess delves into Eleanore's subconscious, unearthing a succession of formidable past incarnations. First, she surfaces as a formidable, heartless Viking matriarch; then, a cunning Borgian princess, steeped in intrigue; and finally, a tormented woman persecuted during the Salem witch trials. Trow's increasing, almost obsessive, control over Eleanore culminates in a terrifying sequence where he compels her to the precipice of a cliff. A glimmer of Eleanore's former self, a desperate plea for succor, is answered by Henry Johnson, a loyal compatriot from her department store days, who has doggedly pursued her. In a climactic struggle, Johnson heroically tackles Trow, and both men plummet to their demise. Fiske arrives moments later, guiding a traumatized Eleanore to safety. A subsequent, redemptive surgical intervention by a renowned scientist restores Eleanore's fragmented memories, culminating in her embracing a future as Fiske's bride, a narrative arc suggesting that true identity, once lost, can indeed be reclaimed through a perilous journey through the self.
The disgrace and suicide of her father drives Eleanore Marston from her comfortable existence into a life as a department store clerk in New York. There she meets wealthy Powers Fiske, who offers her a life of luxury if she will consent to an operation on her brain which would deprive her of her memory. Eleanore agrees, and after the operation, Fiske is horrified to learn he has robbed her of her individuality and that she has become cruel, selfish and remorseless. Dr. Trow, a friend of Fiske, hypnotizes Eleanore to learn of her previous incarnations. Eleanore first remembers herself as a heartless Viking woman, then progresses to a Borgian princess, ending as a woman persecuted as a witch in Salem. Continuing to exercise his power over her, Trow draws Eleanore to the edge of a cliff. They are followed by Henry Johnson, one of Eleanore's compatriots from the department store, who traced the girl to Fiske's house. At Eleanore's plea for help, Johnson leaps upon Trow and the two plunge to their death over the cliff. Fiske arrives just in time to lead Eleanore back to the house. He appeals to a great scientist who restores her memory by means of a second operation, and Eleanore then becomes Fiske's bride.
