"The Repairer of Reputations" is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

published by

Robert W. Chambers Robert William Chambers (May 26, 1865 – December 16, 1933) was an American artist and fiction writer, best known for his book of short stories titled '' The King in Yellow'', published in 1895. Life Chambers was born in Brooklyn, New York, t ...

in the collection '' The King in Yellow'' in

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

. The story is an example of Chambers'

horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...

, and is one of the stories in the collection which contains the motif of the Yellow Sign and the King in Yellow.

Plot

The story is set in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the year 1920, 25 years after the story's publication. It is told from the view of Hildred Castaigne, a young man whose personality changes drastically following a head injury sustained by falling from his horse. He is subsequently committed to an asylum for treatment of insanity by Dr. Archer. Due to his accident, Hildred is a prime example of an

unreliable narrator An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility is compromised. They can be found in fiction and film, and range from children to mature characters. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in ''The Rhetoric of Fiction''. While unrel ...

. As related by Hildred, the United States has apparently prospered in the meantime, significantly improving its infrastructure. The rise of a new aristocratic elite in the United States has passed laws that reduce the influence and immigration of those considered foreign, including exclusion of all foreign-born Jews and the establishment of a state for those of African descent. Further forced assimilation of Native populations has also been implemented to resemble the use of Cossacks in the military (Chambers belies the extent to which this "solves" the "Indian problem" by also noting the installation of an equestrian statue of Philip Sheridan). Suicide has been legalized, and has been made generally and readily accessible in the newly established "Government Lethal Chambers" being rapidly rolled out across every town and city. While still recovering from his accident, Hildred obtains and reads ''The King in Yellow'', a

false document A false document is a technique by which an author aims to increase verisimilitude in a work of fiction by inventing and inserting or mentioning documents that appear to be factual. The goal of a false document is to convince an audience that what ...

within the story which is represented as a universally

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

play which deeply disturbs him. Once a wealthy dilettante and affable man-about-town, after his accident Hildred becomes an eccentric recluse who spends his days poring over old books and maps and associating with a more

eccentric Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...

character, Mr. Wilde, the "Repairer of Reputations" of the story's title. Wilde claims to be the architect of a vast conspiracy which uses, amongst other devices, blackmail to influence and command powerful men whose reputations the conspiracy has saved from scandal. Hildred imagines that, with Wilde's help, he will become the heir of the "Last King" of "The Imperial Dynasty of America", which Wilde says is descended from a lost kingdom within distant stars in the

Hyades Hyades may refer to: * Hyades (band) *Hyades (mythology) *Hyades (star cluster) The Hyades (; Greek Ὑάδες, also known as Caldwell 41, Collinder 50, or Melotte 25) is the nearest open cluster and one of the best-studied star clusters. Loca ...

. However, Hildred perceives his cousin Louis standing before him in the line of succession. Thus, he plans to force Louis to abdicate his claim to the throne, accept

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

, and never marry. Louis, who believes that Hildred is still mentally ill, humors him by agreeing to abdicate his claim, but becomes angry when Hildred insists that Louis cannot marry his fiancée, Constance Hawberk. Louis is shocked when Hildred claims that he has murdered Dr. Archer and had Constance assassinated. When Hildred runs back to the apartment of Mr. Wilde, there is confusion in its dark doorway—Wilde's cat rushes out as Wilde is trying to enter, Hildred's "long knife flew" then "tumbling and thumping about in the darkness…and…Mr. Wilde lay on the floor with throat torn open". Hildred's plans of conquering the United States with the help of Wilde's conspiracy are destroyed. The police arrive, and Hildred sees Constance crying as he is dragged away. It's unknown whether or not Hildred actually committed any murders. The story ends with a note that Hildred died in an asylum for the criminally insane.

"Anti-story" nature of the work

Chambers produced in this piece an early version of what has since become called the "anti-story". This is a type of

fiction writing Fiction writing is the composition of non-factual prose texts. Fictional writing often is produced as a story meant to entertain or convey an author's point of view. The result of this may be a short story, novel, novella, screenplay, or drama, ...

where one (or more) of the fundamental rules of

telling is broken in some way, often resulting in what most readers would consider "

experimental literature Experimental literature is a genre that is, according to Warren Motte in his essa"Experimental Writing, Experimental Reading" "difficult to define with any sort of precision." He says the "writing is often invoked in an "offhand manner" and the ...

". In the case of "The Repairer of Reputations", Chambers all but invites the reader to doubt every single detail the

relates. Chambers breaks the basic contract between author and reader by refusing to relate something that is both interesting and truthful (even given the "

suspension of disbelief Suspension of disbelief, sometimes called willing suspension of disbelief, is the avoidance of critical thinking or logic in examining something unreal or impossible in reality, such as a work of speculative fiction, in order to believe it for ...

" required of fiction). He makes this clear at a point in the story when Hildred dons his diadem and describes it as being made of "heavy beaten gold" only to have Louis call it a "brass crown" shortly afterwards; likewise, what Hildred calls a "steel safe" is seen by Louis to be a "biscuit box".

Characters

* Hildred Castaigne: The protagonist and narrator of the story, Hildred's character is much changed after sustaining a head injury and reading ''The King in Yellow'' during his convalescence. Hildred spends much of his time poring over old books; he never mentions work and appears to be independently wealthy. Hildred is a classic example of an

, as he often comments that other people appear to be humouring him or treating things he regards as very important as inconsequential or non-existent. * Louis Castaigne: Hildred's cousin, a military officer. Louis does not share his cousin's intellectualism or ambition, and is mainly focused on his love for Hawberk's daughter, Constance. Louis is horrified to find that Hildred has been reading ''The King in Yellow'', but appears to make an effort to humour Hildred's eccentricities and strange behaviour. * Hawberk: An

armourer Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. In modern terms, an armourer is a member of a military or police force who works in an armoury and maintains and repairs small arms and weapons systems, wi ...

, Hawberk fashions and repairs antique bits of armour in a little shop below Mr. Wilde's. Castaigne and Mr. Wilde both believe that Hawberk is secretly the exiled

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

of Avonshire (a fictional shire in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

). Hawberk is noticeably shaken when Castaigne obliquely implies this in conversation. Hawberk's name likely comes from the word "

hauberk A hauberk or byrnie is a shirt of mail. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. Haubergeon ("little hauberk") generally refers to the quilted undergarment used with a hauberk, but the terms ...

", meaning a shirt of mail. * Constance Hawberk: Hawberk's daughter, a beautiful girl engaged to Louis Castaigne. * Mr. Wilde: A bizarre and eccentric character, Mr. Wilde lives in a dingy office above Hawberk's shop, where his door advertises him as a "Repairer of Reputations". Mr. Wilde is deformed (possibly

microcephalic Microcephaly (from New Latin ''microcephalia'', from Ancient Greek μικρός ''mikrós'' "small" and κεφαλή ''kephalé'' "head") is a medical condition involving a smaller-than-normal head. Microcephaly may be present at birth or it m ...

) and mutilated, having lost his ears and several fingers. He keeps a vicious

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

which he habitually provokes into attacking him. Although his sanity is questionable, the narrator treats Wilde as a genius who is a living library of valuable information, and believes he holds powerful men under his sway.

Critical reception

David G. Hartwell David Geddes Hartwell (July 10, 1941 – January 20, 2016) was an American critic, publisher, and editor of thousands of science fiction and fantasy novels. He was best known for work with Signet, Pocket, and Tor Books publishers. He was also no ...

described "The Repairer of Reputations" as "an extraordinary achievement" and "a horrific tale that is also a sophisticated, avant-garde work of science fiction".

Notes

External links

* *
Online copy of The King in Yellow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Repairer Of Reputations, The 1895 short stories American short stories Fantasy short stories Fiction set in 1920 Short stories set in New York City Fiction with unreliable narrators