Angela Carter (1940-92)

 English novelist, short story writer and journalist, known for her feminist
and picaresque works that employ magical realism.
 Born in Eastbourne
 Stayed with her grandmother in Yorkshire because of the German aerial
attacks of world war II
 As a teenager battled against the eating disorder, anorexia
 Studied in University of Bristol; worked as a journalist
 Relocated to Tokyo; explored the United States, Asia and Europe
 In 1978, took a controversial step for a feminist by embracing the works
of the Marquis de Sade, offering a generally positive interpretation of his
work in her study The Sadeian Woman: And the Ideology of
Pornography(1978)
 Much more independent minded than the traditional feminists of her time
 Contributed many articles to magazines and newspapers
 Wrote libretto for an opera of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando
 In 2012, Nights at the Circus was chosen the best ever winner of the
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
 At the time of her death, she had started work on a sequel to Charlotte
Bronte’s Jane Eyre based on the later life of Jane’s step daughter, Adele
Varens; only a synopsis survives
 The novels Shadow Dance, Several Perceptions and Love are referred to
as the ―Bristol Trilogy‖
 Other novels
 The Magic Toyshop (1967)
 Heroes and Villains (1969)
 The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman(1972)
 The Passion of New Eve (1977)
 Wise Children (1991)
 Nights at the circus (1984)

Nights at the Circus (1984)

Perspective and Narrator
Nights at the Circus is predominantly told by a third-person omniscient narrator
who has access to the thoughts and feelings of each character. The last section
of the novel includes some first-person narration from the point of view of
Sophie Fevvers.
About the Title
The main characters are all members of a circus. The title's emphasis on
"nights" is a reference to the duality between reality and imagination. During
the day the circus undergoes the necessary and mundane activities of
preparation and practice. At night the circus comes alive and gives the
participants the illusion of magic and a show.
Sophie Fevvers
Sophie Fevvers is the larger-than-life aerialist who confidently claims to be half
woman and half bird.
Jack Walser
Jack Walser is the well-traveled journalist who falls in love with Sophie Fevvers
and joins the circus to follow her to Russia.
Lizzie
Lizzie is the protective older woman who took Sophie Fevvers in when she was
just a baby, and she continues to look after Fevvers now that she's an adult.
Buffo the Great
Buffo the Great is the lead clown who suffers a psychotic breakdown because of
his alcoholism and existential depression.
The Charivaris
The Charivaris are a family of trapeze artists who have been performing their
craft for generations.
Colonel Kearny
Colonel Kearny is the circus owner who is from Kentucky. He seeks counsel
from his pet pig and is mainly concerned with making a profit.
Countess P.
Countess P. is a woman who murdered her husband and started her own prison
for other women who have murdered their husbands in the hopes of obtaining
salvation.
The escapee
The escapee is an idealistic man who escaped a penal colony and joins Colonel
Kearny in the hopes of starting a new circus.
Grand Duke
The Grand Duke is the wealthy and nefarious man who tries to turn Fevvers into
his own personal toy.
Ivan
Ivan is the little boy whose mother killed his father. He was once scared of
clowns, but his fear turned into fascination and prompted him to become a
clown. religion.
Mignon
Mignon is the young girl who has been severely abused throughout her entire
life. She finally finds peace after she and the Princess become lovers.
The medium
The medium is the older man who takes Mignon in as his assistant and lover.
The murderesses
The murderesses are a group of women who have been imprisoned for
murdering their husbands. Most of these women murdered their husbands in
self-defense.
The narrator
The third-person omniscient narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of every
character.
Ma Nelson
Ma Nelson is the older woman who owns the brothel that housed young Sophie
Fevvers.
Olga Alexandrovna
Olga Alexandrovna is Ivan's mother who killed his father with an axe because
he was repeatedly abusive.
The outlaws
The outlaws are a group of men who have left their homes and banded together
to escape wrongful imprisonment.
The Princess
The Princess is the young woman who plays the piano for her dancing tigers.
She becomes Mignon's lover.
The Professor
The Professor is an ape and the leader of the Educated Apes.
Mr. Rosencreutz
Mr. Rosencreutz is the predatory man who is so obsessed with eternal life that
he tries to sacrifice Fevvers to obtain it.
Madame Schreck
Madame Schreck is the eerily bony old woman who is obsessed with money
and runs the brothel that showcases what she considers to be freaks of nature.
The Shaman
The Shaman is the man who rescues Jack Walser and gives him psychedelic
drinks in the hopes of making him a great shaman.
Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty is the young girl who Fevvers meets in Madame Schreck's
brothel. She is constantly sleeping and is unaware of her surroundings while
sleeping.
Strong Man
The Strong Man is the exceptionally strong man who abandons Mignon after
they have sex and the tiger appears. He is at first incredibly dense, but his
unrequited love for Mignon turns him into a thoughtful and self-sacrificing
person.
Sybil
Sybil is Colonel Kearny's sentient pet pig who is able to predict the future.
Wonder
Wonder is the miniature young woman whom Sophie Fevvers meets in Madame
Schreck's brothel. She is small enough to fit inside a cake, and she claims that
her father was a fairy.

Major Characters : Analysis

Sophie Fevvers
Sophie Fevvers is a dualistic character who changes from the beginning of the
story until the end. When she first meets Jack Walser, she appears confident in
her stage makeup and revealing clothing. She seems to adore the spotlight and
revels in the income that her stage presence generates. However, this confidence
begins to wane after the Grand Duke almost murders her and she is stuck on the
train through Siberia. Her blonde hair grows out to reveal her brown roots, and
she has a broken wing and no adoring audience. Fevvers loses her confidence
and sense of self. In this loss of identity, she discovers that she loves Walser.
She realizes that only his love will reunite her with herself because she will be
able to see herself through his adoring eyes.

Jack Walser
Jack Walser is a young man who at the beginning of the novel feels confident in
his journalistic prowess. He has been nearly everywhere, but everything
changes after he meets Sophie Fevvers. She captivates him, and he follows her
to Russia because he feels magnetized by her very being and strange beauty.
Walser's time in the circus changes his personality. Before, he was a pragmatic
man who only believed what he could verify through research. However, the
magic of Fevvers and the circus makes him question his reality. This
questioning is furthered after his concussion in Siberia. He completely loses his
sense of self when the Shaman looks after him and gives him mind-altering
psychedelics. It's only after Walser reunites with Fevvers that he starts to piece
himself back together as a new man.

Lizzie: Lizzie is Sophie Fevvers's foster mother. She is much older and
described as being withered and witchy. She is fiercely protective of Fevvers.
She seems to have magical powers and is able to curse people in subtle ways,
but Fevvers doesn't consider her to be a witch. Instead, Fevvers thinks that
Lizzie has special knowledge that other people don't have access to. Lizzie
manages Fevvers's affairs, and she doesn't agree with Fevvers's quest for love
with Walser. Lizzie feels jaded against the idea of marriage and love which
could be partially because of her background in the White Chapel brothel.

Summary
Part 1: London – Sophie Fevvers’ childhood and theatrical fame as
revealed in an interview with Jack Walser
Chapter 1
The story begins with the well-travelled reporter Jack Walser interviewing the
world-renowned aerialist and Kearney's circus star Sophie Fevvers
who claims to be part human and part bird. Walser is interviewing her in the
hopes of discovering her true identity. Fevvers gives Walser an intimate
retelling of her childhood. She professes to be hatched from an egg and raised
by Lizzie, who was a former prostitute in an upscale brothel that was owned by
Ma Nelson. Fevvers says that her wings sprouted after her first menstrual cycle.
She learned to fly after much trial and error and coaching from Lizzie.
Chapter 2
Fevvers claims to still be a virgin and says that she never prostituted herself
while at the brothel. Instead, she posed with her wings in the parlour. She
recalls that in her youth, she believed that her wings would take her anywhere in
the world she wanted to go. The wings made her feel free. As Jack Walser
listens to Sophie Fevvers, he feels overcome by her presence. He starts to feel
like a strange magic is at work in her room. He swears he sees a fish swimming
in her bathtub, and he swears the clock keeps striking midnight as if time has
stopped.

Chapter 3
Sophie Fevvers recalls that after the brothel closed, she and Lizzie went to stay
with Lizzie's family. Fevvers quickly fell in love with the children in Lizzie's
family. When the family fell on hard times, Fevvers accepted an offer from the
mysterious and terrifying Madame Schreck. Madame Schreck promised Fevvers
a large sum of money if she would pose in her house-of-horrors brothel, and
Fevvers had hoped to send that money back to Lizzie's family.
Chapter 4
Sophie Fevvers tells Jack Walser that Madame Schreck's brothel felt like a
prison. She feared that "I might never leave this place." The only remedy to her
fear was to befriend the other trapped women. One woman was the miniature-
sized Wonder who claimed that her father was a fairy who had sex with her
unsuspecting human mother. Each woman in the brothel had low self-esteem
from the world looking at them like freaks of nature. Madame Schreck
perpetuated this idea and forced them to stand in a cave-like arena while the
male patrons stared at them. Fevvers and Sleeping Beauty were unique in that
the men were only allowed to stare at their bodies while the other girls were
forced to have any depraved sexual relation that the clients chose.
Sophie Fevvers recalls that Mr. Rosencreutz was a frequenter of Madame
Schreck's brothel. He became obsessed with her. She tells Jack Walser that Mr.
Rosencreutz came every Sunday to "worship at my shrine" or her body.
Madame Schreck told Fevvers that he offered a large sum of money to buy her
and that she'd be leaving to live with him. Fevvers recalls how she forced
Madame Schreck to give her the down payment money that Mr. Rosencruetz
had given her by flying Madame Schreck up to a beam and leaving her on it.
Guards burst into the room and captured Fevvers.

Chapter 5

Sophie Fevvers recalls how the guards brought her to Mr. Rosencreutz's
mansion. It was immediately evident that he was abundantly wealthy. He
believed Fevvers to be an angel and called her Azrael the "dark angel of many
names." She tells Jack Walser that she took a bath, and he made her stay
unclothed with only her hair to cover her nakedness. He was adamant that he
didn't summon her to have sex with her but instead worships her like a goddess.
Mr. Rosencreutz brought Fevvers to his home because he believed that by
"uniting his body with that of Azrael" on the eve of spring he could obtain
eternal life. She tells Jack Walser that she thought "uniting" meant they would
have sex. She soon realized he wasn't interested in sex when she saw a blade
tucked in his robe. She pulled out her small sword. He was so startled by the
sight that she had time to run to the window and fly away. She recalls that she
flew back to Lizzie's family, and they had a warm reunion. Soon after someone
suggested that she should become an aerialist, and she was immediately
successful.
During the interview Jack Walser quickly falls in love with Sophie Fevvers's
larger-than-life physique and personality. He volunteers to walk her back to her
hotel so that he can spend more time with her. His love for Fevvers inspires him
to go undercover as a clown in the circus and follow her to Petersburg, Russia.

Part two: Petersburg- Fevvers and Walser (as clown) tour with Colonel
Kearney’s circus on its Grand Imperial Tour
Summary
Chapter 1
Jack Walser is introduced to Colonel Kearny who owns the circus. Kearny is
skeptical about hiring Walser because he doesn't have any special skills. Kearny
consults with his pet seer pig Sybil who suggests that Kearny should give
Walser a chance. Kearny allows him to join the circus as a clown. He feels
surprisingly freed by his ability to hide behind the makeup. He joins the circus
to be close to Sophie Fevvers, but he realizes that his role as a clown will keep
him largely separate from her. He must stay in the dilapidated clown quarters
while she stays in a luxury hotel.
Chapter 2
Jack Walser meets the many characters of Kearney's circus and becomes
enchanted by the experience. He accidentally interrupts the Educated Apes
during their rehearsal. The Professor who is himself an ape and the leader of the
other apes puts a dunce's cap on Walser. Their eyes meet for a brief moment.
The Professor motions for Walser to take off his clothes. He obeys and realizes
that the Professor is teaching the other apes an anatomy lesson.

Mignon is the human overseer of the Educated Apes. The Strong Man arrives
and undresses Mignon. The two start shamelessly having sex nearby in clear
view of Walser. A tiger gets loose and threatens to eat them. Mignon holds onto
the Strong Man but he "tore off the woman's clinging arms, clutched his
loincloth round his privates" and disappears. This leaves Walser and Mignon
alone and naked.

Chapter 3
Jack Walser was attacked by the tiger before its overseer the Princess sprayed
water on the animal. Walser is being nursed back to health by Lizzie and Sophie
Fevvers. Since Mignon and Walser were found alone together and naked after
the attack, a rumour has started that the two are having an affair. This makes
Fevvers envious.
Chapter 4
Buffo the Great is the leader of the clowns. He is a depressed alcoholic who is
unhappy with his life but doesn't have the will to change it. He likens himself to
Jesus because he believes that he sacrifices himself for the laughter of others.
He views the other clowns as his disciples because they look up to him. Jack
Walser is introduced to Buffo the Great and the other clowns as he eats dinner
with them. He quickly sees that they are all miserable as clowns. Buffo the
Great says that the only redeemable quality about being a clown is the fact that
a clown "can invent our own faces. We make ourselves." Buffo the Great and
the other clowns partake in vulgar dances and songs for Walser's benefit, but
Walser feels too sore from the tiger attack to care.

Chapter 5
Mignon appears to Jack Walser as he's walking down the street. She is grateful
because she believes that he saved her from the tiger. She is bruised all over and
has clearly been abused. Walser doesn't know what to do so he takes her
to Sophie Fevvers's hotel room. Fevvers takes pity on Mignon despite being
envious because she falsely believes that Walser had sex with her. She cleans
Mignon up in a bath and gives her chocolates. Mignon cherishes the chocolates
as if they're the only nice gift she's ever received.
It's revealed that Mignon is married to the keeper of the Educated Apes, and he
is an abusive alcoholic. Mignon's father killed her mother because she was
sleeping with other men. Mignon lived briefly in an orphanage before running
away to live on the streets as a beggar and thief. A self-purported psychic
medium took her in as his assistant. When grieving families came to see the
spirits of their loved ones, Mignon would appear in a cloud of faux smoke. The
medium had sex with Mignon. He was revealed as a fraud and sent to jail.

Mignon sings while in the bathtub and everyone in the other room falls in love
with her mournful and innocent voice. Fevvers still believes that Mignon and
Walser are having an affair and pays for them to share a honeymoon suite in the
hotel. Walser leaves Mignon alone in the room.
Chapter 6
Jack Walser realizes that he is no longer a journalist who's undercover as a
clown. He hasn't been able to write since being injured by the tiger, so he now
feels as if he's fully a clown. He also admits that he's in love with Sophie
Fevvers.

Chapter 7
The routines of circus life are performed. Colonel Kearny walks around
admiring his employees and the money they bring him while the Educated Apes
thrive without the supervision of a human. The Princess takes care of her tigers
and recognizes that their relationship isn't friendship but is instead born out of
necessity. She wishes she had an assistant to help her during their performance.
Her wish is granted when Sophie Fevvers and Lizzie present Mignon to be her
assistant. Mignon and the Princess are "the same height, both little things, frail
... twinned opposites." They quickly become inseparable companions and
lovers.
Sophie Fevvers apologizes to Jack Walser for believing he had slept with
Mignon. He's flattered that she was envious of the rumor because it reveals that
she has feelings for him too.

Chapter 8
The Charivaris are a family of trapeze artists who have been performing their
art for generations. They believe Sophie Fevvers is cheating on the trapeze so
they compromise her ropes. Fevvers's rope breaks while she is swinging on her
trapeze during practice. She doesn't look scared and instead smiles as she
recovers and gains her balance enough to swing to the other trapeze. Jack
Walser realizes that Fevvers "had been in no more danger than a parrot might be
if you pushed it off its perch." He believes that she could have flown to safety,
but she chose not to because she didn't want to break the illusion of her
character. The Charivaris get fired, and Lizzie puts a curse on them. The
Princess and Mignon perform their first show together, and the crowd is moved
by their musical performance. The tigress is jealous that her mate danced with
Mignon, so the Princess asks for a volunteer to dance with her. Colonel Kearny
pushes Jack Walser to volunteer. Walser dances with the tigress even though the
tigress previously attacked him.
After their performance the Strong Man attacks Walser because he still believes
the rumor that Walser slept with his ex-lover Mignon. The Strong Man admits
to loving Mignon and recognizes that he's been a coward. She isn't interested in
him because she's in love with the Princess, and he realizes his love for her will
forever be unrequited.
Chapter 9: Sophie Fevvers has dinner with Colonel Kearny out of pity. He
drinks too much and passes out. Lizzie is writing secret letters to her family
that Jack Walser delivers, although he doesn't know the content of the letters.
Fevvers admits that she's attracted to Walser.
Chapter 10
It's the last circus performance in Petersburg, and Buffo the Great is having a
drunken psychotic breakdown. Jack Walser is dressed up like a chicken for the
performance, and Buffo the Great is confused in his hallucinatory state. He tries
to murder Walser with a carving knife. The crowd laughs because they believe
that it's all part of the act. Offstage, Buffo the Great is put into a straight jacket
and sent away.

The Princess shoots the tigress during her performance because the cat attacked
Mignon. Colonel Kearny is fearful that the show will fall apart, but Sophie
Fevvers takes the stage and woos the crowd. After her performance she is
going to meet the Grand Duke who has promised her diamonds if she
will have one dinner with him. Lizzie is worried for her safety, but
Fevvers forbids her from coming along. Meanwhile, the Educated
Apes revolt against the circus owner Colonel Kearney after a breach
in their contract.

Chapter 11
The Grand Duke's mansion displays his opulent wealth. He offers
Fevvers caviar and champagne and claims to be a "collector of all
kinds of objets d'art ... I love best toys—marvellous and unnatural
artefacts." He shows her his collection of life-sized puppets that play
strange and enveloping music. Fevvers has a bad feeling but is
compelled to stay because she wants the diamonds that he has
promised.
The Grand Duke shows Fevvers his collection of elaborate eggs that
are crafted out of rare jewels. It quickly becomes apparent that he
intends to keep her trapped as his own personal toy. She realizes that
the only way to stay alive is to distract him. As soon as he ejaculates,
she throws one of his toy trains on the floor. The toy turns into a real
train, and she runs inside the train car. She is greeted on the other side
by the familiar faces of the other circus performers.
Part 3: Siberia- The circus train crashes in an expansive freezing and
threatening wilderness, and the characters are marooned here for the rest
of the novel.
Chapter 1
The circus rides in the train through the barren Siberian landscape. Sophie
Fevvers grows bored on the train and contemplates her love for Jack Walser.
Fevvers asks Lizzie to use some of her "household magic" to speed up time.
Suddenly, the boredom is broken by an explosion as the train crashes. Fevvers
and a few others are taken hostage by a group of outlaws. The outlaws force
them to walk through the Siberian tundra.
Chapter 2
Jack Walser is "buried alive in a profound sleep" after the train crash.

Chapter 3
A group of women called the murderesses who have killed their husbands are
being kept prisoner by Countess P. who also killed her husband. She is keeping
the other women prisoner as a way to absolve her own guilt. She believes that if
these women develop a sense of remorse, that remorse will transfer to her and
they will all be saved. Countess P. keeps the women in complete solitary
confinement. They are all in cells that face a centre like a circle. Countess P. is
in the middle and watches them night and day. Eventually, an inmate named
Olga Alexandrovna who is the little boy Ivan's mother touches hands with a
female guard who brings her food. This sparks a romance that spreads between
all the prisoners and all the guards who are all female as well. They all mutiny
against Countess P. and escape. They plan to form an all-female utopia. As
they're walking they come across the wreckage of the circus train.

Chapter 4
The murderesses rummage through the wreckage of the train in the hopes of
finding useful items that they can take to their intended utopia. They stumble
upon Jack Walser who is suffering from a concussion and amnesia and believes
himself to be a chicken. Olga Alexandrovna feels bad leaving him but nurses
Walser and keeps him safe.

Chapter 5
Sophie Fevvers and others from the circus train are brought to the camp of the
"brotherhood of free men." The outlaws' leader wants to see Sophie Fevvers by
herself. He reveals that he and his men have been hiding out in this desolate
camp in the middle of nowhere to escape wrongful imprisonment in their
hometowns. He says that he crashed the train on purpose to kidnap her. The
leader had heard rumours that she is engaged to the Queen of England's son. He
hopes that she can use her societal position to get him and his men acquitted.
Fevvers tells him that he's wasted his time since the rumour isn't true, but she
also has pity on his plight.
Chapter 6
Jack Walser has a concussion that makes him forget his past. His memories
"coursed through his head in concrete but discrete fragments," and it's very
confusing for him. He has been separated from the others and taken in by the
Shaman. The Shaman believes Walser to be a shaman as well because he acts so
strangely and speaks in a language he can't understand. The Shaman is
constantly on psychedelics. Walser motions that he's thirsty, and the Shaman
urinates into a cup for him. When Walser drinks it, he ingests the Shaman's
psychedelics, and the "hallucinogenic urine put the sluggish motor in his skull
into overdrive."
Chapter 7
A man called the escapee appears at the outlaw camp. He is an idealist who
dreams of a hopeful future, and Lizzie doesn't like him for this reason. They all
make a plan to escape. Lizzie talks the clowns into performing for the outlaws
in the hopes that they will be persuaded to let them go. As the clowns are
dancing for the drinking outlaws, a flurry of chaos ensues. A sudden blizzard is
created. The outlaws and the clowns disappear with no trace. The escapee "is
most troubled in his mind over the occurrence," but Sophie Fevvers and Lizzie
know that the clowns "made an invocation to chaos and chaos ... came in on
cue." Fevvers and the others are no longer being held captive, and they start
their long trek in hopes of finding refuge.
Sophie Fevvers and her travel companions come to a little shack on a river.
Inside, an older unkempt man lurks by his piano. Fevvers and the others soon
realize that he's a music teacher who has gone insane from lack of students and
visitors. He is soon brought back to life by the Princess and Mignon's musical
talents. The two women play a duet while Fevvers and the others are out
fishing. They come back to the shack to see tigers perched on the roof and
entranced by the music. In the distance Fevvers sees Walser with the Shaman.
She calls his name and attempts to fly to him using one wing because the other
wing was broken in the train wreck, but Walser and the Shaman run away.

Chapter 8
Jack Walser grows closer with the Shaman and learns his ways. The people in
his village seek him out to perform "exorcisms and prophecies." The village is
wary of the outside world, and they keep to themselves. The Shaman gives
Walser hallucinogens and trains him as his apprentice in the hopes that he will
one day take his place as the village shaman.
Walser's memory is coming back, but he feels trapped "in a state of limbo." He
doesn't speak the same language as the villagers, and every time he attempts to
speak they believe that he's in a shamanic trance. The Shaman begins to love
Walser like his own son and believes that he has been given to him by the gods.
The two take in a baby bear and raise him with the knowledge that one day he
will be sacrificed on the altar to their gods.

Jack draws a picture of feathers, and he remembers the phrase "Only a bird in a
gilded cage!" He remembers notions of Sophie Fevvers but can't recall her
completely. The feathers make him happy because they resurrect the feelings of
love that he has for Fevvers. One day he and the Shaman are traveling in the
woods, and they hear the Princess and Mignon's duet for the tigers. Fevvers
recognizes Walser and attempts to fly over to him despite her broken wing. The
Shaman is afraid and retreats with Walser before Fevvers can reach them.
Chapter 9: Sophie Fevvers feels like she's withering without the attention of
the spotlight. Her hair was once blonde, but now the brown roots are showing
underneath. She misses Jack Walser even more after seeing him in the distance
but being unable to connect with him.
The Princess and Mignon feel like they've discovered their purpose in the music
teacher's cabin. They believe they had "been brought together, here, as women
and as lovers, solely to make—music." They decide to stay there when everyone
else leaves, and the Strong Man stays with them. He knows that his love for
Mignon will never be reciprocated, but he wants to watch over her and the
Princess. He views the experience as an act of absolution for the ways he used
to abuse women and treats them as objects.

Colonel Kearney was once in love with his star Sophie Fevvers, but now he sees
her as a "Feathered Frump." She is becoming more and more depressed without
the makeup and confidence that a crowd gives her. She feels heartbroken
without Jack Walser, and she doesn't see the point to taking care of herself.
Colonel Kearney and the escapee leave in the hopes of starting a new circus
together while Lizzie and Fevvers set off to find Walser.
Chapter 10
Lizzie and Sophie Fevvers soon come across a little shack on the outskirts of the
Shaman's village. Inside the shack a woman who has recently given birth is
feverish and crying. Her newborn is inconsolable too. Fevvers wonders why this
sick woman and her baby are outcast and alone, and Lizzie says that maybe they
are there to be a warning to Fevvers against getting married and having a baby.
Lizzie and Fevvers carry the mother and baby into the village center and
stumble into the shaman church. The Shaman and Walser are about to sacrifice
their pet bear when the women appear. At first Walser doesn't remember
Fevvers due to his amnesia, but when she extends her grand wings his memory
is jolted.

Envoi: A short envoi at the end acts as an epilogue

Jack Walser and Sophie Fevvers are finally reunited. They are naked in the
Shaman's shack and about to make love. Fevvers tells Walser that everything
she ever told him was true, except for her being a virgin. It's implied that the
two become husband and wife.

Analysis: The novel incorporates multiple categories of fiction, including

postmodernism, magical realism and feminism.

Postmodern elements: Numerous episodes told in many sub-stories involving

diverse characters.

Feminism
Feminism is the term used to describe the belief that women should be equal to
men politically, socially, and economically. Angela Carter wasn't bound by the
confines of traditionally defined feminism. Instead, she created her own brand
of feminism that focused on empowering women and challenging misogyny
which is a bias against or dislike of women. She believed women were whole
and powerful beings who could define themselves instead of being defined by
men. She didn't view men as the enemy but saw them as a harmonious and
equal counterpart to women. Her sense of feminism is demonstrated in Nights at
the Circus (1984). Sophie Fevvers is an independent and sexually liberated
woman who defies the definitions that men place on her, yet she seeks to unite
herself to Jack Walser in love. She allows herself to be defined by how Walser
views her, but only because she chooses to. Fevvers's choice to love Walser is
the key to Carter's feminism. Fevvers never reciprocates the desires of other
men because they try to force it on her. It's only when her love is freely
reciprocated that it holds true power for her as a woman.

Fairy Tales
A fairy tale is a story that occurs in an otherworldly time and place and involves
elements of magic or enchantment such as witches, talking animals, or
supernatural items. The events that happen in a fairy tale are unrealistic and
implausible, but they work toward a resolution that delivers a relatable moral
caution. Modern fairy tales have traditionally targeted children, but earlier fairy
tales consisted of dark and often violent subject matter that was intended more
for an adult audience.

Angela Carter was fascinated by fairy tales and implemented many of the
genre's most familiar tropes in her writing. Her short story collection The
Bloody Chamber (1979) is a retelling of classic fairy tales from a feminist and
erotic perspective. In Nights at the Circus (1984), Carter subtly implements the
fairy tale conventions of the witch and talking animals to reveal a feminist
narrative that questions the role, identity, and power of women in society.

Magical Realism: Magical realism is a literary movement that suffuses magical

elements within a realistic setting. Unlike science fiction or fantasy whose plots
exist in other worlds or dimensions, magical realism is grounded in everyday
life on earth. Science fiction and fantasy use blatantly magical or otherworldly
elements such as aliens or fairies, but magical realism imbues subtle magical
elements into otherwise realistic settings and events. Angela Carter uses
magical realism in Nights at the Circus which takes place in realistic settings
and situations but centers on Sophie Fevvers, a character who claims to be part
human and part bird.
The term "magical realism" was first defined in 1940 by the Cuban writer Alejo
Carpentier (1904–80) after he realized that much of Latin American writing was
simultaneously realistic yet magical in nature. The genre may have roots in
Latin American literature, but it has become a universal literary expression.
Early magical realism writers like Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez
(1927–2014) used the genre to explore the ramifications of the postcolonial era.
Postcolonialism describes the socio-political aftermath of Western colonization
which is when European nations conquered and settled various regions of the
world. Western colonialism began in the 1500s and often exploited indigenous
people and forced them to forsake their own culture for a European way of life.

Themes
Suspension of Disbelief
Nights at the Circus functions on the magical realist premise that Sophie
Fevvers was hatched from an egg and is part human and part bird. Fevvers's
performance slogan is "Is she fact or fiction?" This question demonstrates the
central plot of the novel. As the story progresses, audiences, friends, and
strangers must discern whether Fevvers's claims about her wings are true or an
elaborate illusion. The truth about her identity hinges on the idea of the
suspension of disbelief.
Jack Walser is the catalytic character who tries to discover Fevvers's true
identity. When he first meets Fevvers, he is a pragmatic journalist who is solely
interested in discovering the truth about Fevvers. He scrutinizes the intimate
details she recalls from her childhood and young life, and he makes notes about
fact-checking the things she says. However, by the end of the interview, he
suspends his disbelief and begins believing the claims she's making. This is due
partly to her reliability as a narrator and partly to the occurrences he witnesses.
Fevvers's most unbelievable claim is that the wings on her back grew out of her
body after her first menstrual period. She tells countless stories that support this
claim, yet it's her self-declarations as an honest woman in more subtle moments
that portray her as a reliable narrator. She claims to be an "honest girl." This is
demonstrated when she demands only the money from Madame Schreck that
Mr. Rosencruetz allegedly put down in advance to buy her. She also says that
she stayed at Mr. Rosencruetz's house despite having a bad feeling because she's
"an honest woman," and he had already paid a high price for her company.
When she is honest in subtle claims, it makes her larger claims more believable.

Walser doesn't just believe Fevvers's claims, but he believes what he sees
happening around her. As a journalist he lives by the "conviction that seeing
was believing." As he listens to Fevvers's stories and claims, he begins seeing
strange things happening around them. Time seems to stop during the interview,
and he watches her hover during her trapeze accident rather than fall directly to
the ground. These subtle occurrences help him suspend his disbelief regarding
her otherwise unbelievable claims.

The Bird in the Gilded Cage

The idea that Sophie Fevvers is like a bird in a gilded cage is a constant theme
that is explored throughout the novel. The phrase "bird in a gilded cage" refers
to the idea that a person can live an opulent life of luxury and wealth yet feel
trapped by their riches.
Fevvers is the physical representation of the main idea presented in the song.
She has literal wings, yet they never give her a true sense of freedom. When the
wings first appear, she daydreams about using them to fly wherever her heart
desires. However, her wings quickly become the source of her entrapment. Men
pay to see and touch her wings, and she grows wealthy as a result. As she grows
wealthier, she becomes more attached to that wealth. She puts herself into risky
situations with men to gain more riches, and her wings end up becoming a
hindrance rather than a means to freedom.
Fevvers's wings separate her from other women, and her identity results from
this knowledge. She feels part bird and part woman rather than fully woman.
This makes her like the other animals in the circus. The tigers and elephants in
the circus are sentient but because they aren't human, they don't have agency to
escape their situations. Likewise, Fevvers is a woman who is trapped by her
dependence on the attention of others. The animals earn their food and shelter
due to their exotic nature, and Fevvers similarly earns wealth and fame for
being unique. The circus animals and Fevvers aren't allowed to simply exist.
They must instead constantly perform.

Paradoxes
The term "paradox" refers to something that is seemingly contradictory in
nature. Nights at the Circus is built on the paradoxical idea that Sophie
Fevvers is both a woman and a bird. People and audiences come from all over
the world to catch a glimpse of Fevvers in order to discern for themselves
whether her paradoxical claim is true. Walser believes that Fevvers's credibility
as a half-bird, half-woman revolves around illusion. He admits that they are
living in a secular age which refers to a time when the focus is on the material
rather than the religious or spiritual. It's an era that doesn't believe in miracles.
Walser realizes that even if Fevvers's claims are true, she would have to mask
them as a grand illusion in order for them to be taken seriously. If people
believe they're being tricked, they will come from far and wide to discover the
trick for themselves. However, if people outright know that she is telling the
truth, they will label her a freak of nature.