Summary Of No Woman Born By Cl Moore

The chosen passage, from “No Woman Born” by C.L. Moore, plays a pivotal role in the story about Deirdre. This beautiful and successful entertainer (dancer, singer and artist) had her brain implanted into the metal body, after a theater fire critically damaged her human form. The excerpt describes her first live performance after she obtained her new cybernetic body. The audience is unaware of her true identity. Consequently, the reader understands if the audience will accept her in this current state-the symbiosis between a human flesh and a machine. Ultimately, people are contented by her performance and recognize her true identity as Deirdre. Following this passage, a thematic question emerges-what constitute a human? Many examples from …show more content…
The art is a bridge between living beings. Deirdre is a cyborg. She doesn’t have anything left of her human form except her brain. She is performing something that usually only human beings were doing before her. She is a novelty in this art. The whole description of the dance and singing scene isn’t completely human. Her movements, voice and composure are not something that human beings can replicate. Initially, the audience thinks Deirdre is just a remotely controlled machine. However, her performance is alluring to her audience. She dominated them during this performance in her cyborg body as effectively as when she had her human one. Her sudden laugh, at the end of her performance, is her connection to the audience. Deirdre’s voice and emotions, projected through her metallic body, allowed her to connect with her audience. At the end, people recognize her as Deirdre and applause her, just like they would do to humans. This art is accepted because the audience connects to …show more content…
She is the representation of what can happen if an entire human body (except a brain) is replaced with a metallic one. Her performance is viewed as inhuman. However, she still retains her connection to the audience through the laugh (voice). She has many qualities that are unattainable for humans (dancing and singing techniques, physical and noise shock forces). According to Maltzer, the man who placed her brain into the metallic body, for a woman a huge part is placed on a physical appearance and Deirdre completely lost it. He argues that her essence (soul) is still present, but she wouldn’t be able to integrate it due to the lack of physical appearance and the loss of multiple senses (touch, smell and taste). Deirdre only retains her sight and hearing. She completely lacks facial expression. It is important for social connections, especially eyes that allow people to connect to each other. In time, she will gradually lose her sanity. Furthermore, he is afraid that her own audience will turn against her once her novelty will fade and they will realize that she is different from them. Deirdre refers to herself many times as a freak and compares herself to a Frankenstein monster. However, she states that she is alive and human, but she lacks a companion, who can be just like her. In this context, the emphasize is placed not on being resurrected from the dead, but being alive in the mechanical