Charlie in the House of Rue

“Charlie in the House of Rue” is a work of short fiction by Robert Coover originally appearing in chapbook form by Penmaen Press and first collected in A Night at the Movies, Or, You Must Remember This: Fictions by Simon & Schuster.

Plot

“Charlie in the House of Rue” is told in the third-person by a reliable narrator.
The story opens as Charlie—presumably Charlie Chaplin of the silent film era—enters a movie set representing a grand manor house and begins helping himself to food, liquor and cigars. He discovers that the domestic staff and visitors, rather than behaving as classic comic figures, are withdrawn, preoccupied or hostile. Charlie is at pains to enlist them in funny routines, and his increasingly desperate efforts lead to deaths and disasters.
Rather than ending in triumph for the Little Tramp, the comedian is demoralized and crushed by his failure.

Theme

The “Charlie” in the title—though unnamed—is comedian and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin of silent film era fame. Rather than eliciting laughter through a series of slapstick routines, Charlie finds that all his efforts to entertain end in grotesque and bloody homicides. The corpses finally induce expressions of mirth from the audience. According to critic Thomas E. Kennedy “he piece evokes true existential terror in a world of timeless repetitions and unpredictable transmutations.” Charlie, as the Little Tramp, is utterly dismayed at his predicament and bitterly weeps.