“The Repairer of Reputations”

1895 Chambers, Robert W[illiam] (1865-1933). “The Repairer of Reputations.” In his The King in Yellow (New York: F. Tennyson Neely, 1895), 9-54. Also, in Neely’s Prismatic Library (New York: F. Tennyson Neely, 1895), 9-54. Rpt. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1902), 1-44; and in Dystopia Utopia Short Stories: An Anthology of New & Classic Tales (London: Flame Tree Publishing, 2016), 78-98. PSt

The story begins with a detailed description of a eutopia set in 1920. The eutopia was brought about following the almost successful invasion of the U.S. by Germany. The country is prosperous, the cities are being systematically improved, as are the fine arts and the national park system. Religious toleration has been established. Voluntary euthanasia has been instituted. Elements of racism in that racial and ethnic problems have been solved by limiting immigration, expelling all foreign-born Jews, establishing a separate Negro state, and recruiting Indians into separate squadrons in the military. The story then shifts to the protagonist’s belief that he is the descendent of American royalty and that he is fated to rule.