The Dead Lady of Clown Town
Encyclopedia
"The Dead Lady of Clown Town" is a science fiction
short story
by Cordwainer Smith
, set in his Instrumentality of Mankind
future history
. It was originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction
in 1964. It was included in the collection The Best of Cordwainer Smith and most recently in The Rediscovery of Man
short story collection
. A graphic novel
adaptation by Elaine Lee
and Michael Kaluta was to have appeared in DC Comics
during the late 1980s, but never materialized.
. There are also points of commonality with the Civil Rights movement and the early Christians.
The story tells how D'Joan becomes a martyr
for the underpeople, which leads to the founding of the religion of 'The Robot, the Rat, and the Copt' that stands behind the future vision of love and equality that forms the basis for the end of the novel Norstrilia
.
It is set at least seven generations before another short story, "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell
".
III. A therapist named Elaine becomes involved with a group of fugitive underpeople, who are being helped by Lady Panc Ashash (a personality recording of a deceased Lady of the Instrumentality) and a telepath called The Hunter. Panc Ashash had predicted Elaine's coming, and how she would help the dog-girl D'joan create history.
With help from Elaine and the Hunter, D'joan leads the fugitives from their hiding place in a march into a city. The underpeople go knowingly to their deaths professing their love and asserting that they too are people to the humans they meet along the way. Soldiers eventually arrive and end the revolution by killing all the underpeople, with the sole exception of D'joan. One of the Ladies of the Instrumentally on the scene chooses to put D'joan on trial, remarkable since underpeople did not have any such right. D'joan is sentenced to be burned to death.
However, the martyrdom of D'joan and the underpeople affect the human participants and witnesses in powerful, unanticipated ways. The lasting consequences eventually lead to the rebirth of religion, rights for the underpeople, and the Rediscovery of Man. One of those most moved is a Lady of the Instrumentality. She decides to gene code a son to strive for justice for the underpeople. He is an ancestor of Lord Jestocost, who plays a critical role in "The Ballad of Lost C'mell" and Norstrilia.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Cordwainer Smith
Cordwainer Smith
Cordwainer Smith – pronounced CORDwainer – was the pseudonym used by American author Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a noted East Asia scholar and expert in psychological warfare...
, set in his Instrumentality of Mankind
Instrumentality of Mankind
In the science fiction of Cordwainer Smith, the Instrumentality of Mankind refers both to Smith's personal future history and universe and to the central government of humanity...
future history
Future history
A future history is a postulated history of the future and is used by authors in the subgenre of speculative fiction to construct a common background for fiction...
. It was originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
in 1964. It was included in the collection The Best of Cordwainer Smith and most recently in The Rediscovery of Man
The Rediscovery of Man
The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith is a 1993 book containing the complete collected short fiction of science fiction author Cordwainer Smith. It was edited by James A...
short story collection
Short story collection
A short story collection is a book of short stories by a single author, as distinguished by an anthology of fiction by more than one author. The stories in a collection can share a theme, setting, or characters and sometimes can also include work of poetry. Notable collections include Nine Stories...
. A graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
adaptation by Elaine Lee
Elaine Lee
Elaine Lee is an American actor, playwright, comic book colorist and comic book writer.-Theatre:She received a 1980 Daytime EMMY nomination for her role on NBC-TV’s The Doctors and was a founding member and artistic director of Manhattan-based theatre company, Wild Hair Productions.Wild Hair began...
and Michael Kaluta was to have appeared in DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
during the late 1980s, but never materialized.
Background
Cordwainer Smith wrote several stories set in a fictional milieu called the Instrumentality of Mankind. Although humanity achieves a utopian state, people live sterile and shallow lives. The underpeople are animals who have been heavily modified to look human and have human intelligence. Despite this, they have no rights and are treated like animals, to be used and destroyed without qualm. The story takes obvious inspiration from the story of Joan of ArcJoan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
. There are also points of commonality with the Civil Rights movement and the early Christians.
The story tells how D'Joan becomes a martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
for the underpeople, which leads to the founding of the religion of 'The Robot, the Rat, and the Copt' that stands behind the future vision of love and equality that forms the basis for the end of the novel Norstrilia
Norstrilia
Norstrilia is the only novel published by Paul Linebarger under the pseudonym Cordwainer Smith, which he used for his science-fiction works...
.
It is set at least seven generations before another short story, "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell
The Ballad of Lost C'Mell
"The Ballad of Lost C'Mell" is a science fiction short story by American writer Cordwainer Smith. It was first published in October 1962 in Galaxy Magazine, and since reprinted in several compilations and omnibus editions....
".
Plot summary
The story is set on the planet FomalhautFomalhaut
Fomalhaut is the brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus and one of the brightest stars in the sky. Fomalhaut can be seen low in the southern sky in the northern hemisphere in fall and early winter evenings. Near latitude 50˚N, it sets around the time Sirius rises, and does not...
III. A therapist named Elaine becomes involved with a group of fugitive underpeople, who are being helped by Lady Panc Ashash (a personality recording of a deceased Lady of the Instrumentality) and a telepath called The Hunter. Panc Ashash had predicted Elaine's coming, and how she would help the dog-girl D'joan create history.
With help from Elaine and the Hunter, D'joan leads the fugitives from their hiding place in a march into a city. The underpeople go knowingly to their deaths professing their love and asserting that they too are people to the humans they meet along the way. Soldiers eventually arrive and end the revolution by killing all the underpeople, with the sole exception of D'joan. One of the Ladies of the Instrumentally on the scene chooses to put D'joan on trial, remarkable since underpeople did not have any such right. D'joan is sentenced to be burned to death.
However, the martyrdom of D'joan and the underpeople affect the human participants and witnesses in powerful, unanticipated ways. The lasting consequences eventually lead to the rebirth of religion, rights for the underpeople, and the Rediscovery of Man. One of those most moved is a Lady of the Instrumentality. She decides to gene code a son to strive for justice for the underpeople. He is an ancestor of Lord Jestocost, who plays a critical role in "The Ballad of Lost C'mell" and Norstrilia.