Nights at the Circus Essay Questions

How does Carter obscure the source of the narration in Nights at the Circus?

Carter begins the novel in the third person, but she also begins with an interview. The interview is conducted by journalist Jack Walser, and the subject of the interview is Sophie Fevvers. Typically an interview-subject exchange contains not equal, but balanced input from both interviewer and subject, with the subject generally taking up more space than the interviewer. However, typically, the interviewer asks questions which somewhat shape the direction of the narrative. This is not the case with Walser and Fevvers. Fevvers dominates the narrative, leaving no room for Walser to ask questions, and the majority of Part 1 is direct dialogue from Fevvers, making her a de facto "narrator."

Then, in Petersburg, Walser writes some flowery copy about Russia, and it may seem like he has some control over the third-person narration, but when he's attacked by the tigress, Lizzie actually takes over writing his copy and sends her own pages to the news editor in the U.S. By Siberia, Fevvers occasionally cuts in with pure, first-person narration, thus confirming her control over the source of narration.

Name examples of characters who hide or downplay their true nature, and explain their respective motivations for doing so.

Lamarck's Educated Apes pretend to be less intelligent than they actually are. They play into the idea that their intelligence is all just a superficial performance, when the truth is, when no humans are looking, they are engaged in real learning and develop a written language of their own. They pretend to be less intelligent to avoid threatening the human beings that keep them captive.

Lizzie and Fevvers both downplay their intellectuality and cultural criticism while speaking with Walser, particularly during their initial interview. They avoid political topics that demonstrate their commitment to workers' rights and women's liberation so as to avoid public-relations conflicts. Fevvers is a beneficiary of the public, and if her paying fans felt threatened by her "radical" views, she may lose the privileges of celebrity.

Explain the symbolic significance of "the gilded cage."

Sophie Fevvers is a wealthy, celebrity bird-woman with a number of lucrative endorsements. At the turn of the 20th century, she has a six-figure contract with Kearney. Even the least of six figures, which would be 100,000 British pounds, would come out, account for inflation, to over ten million pounds today. She is a fabulously and independently wealthy woman who grew up in a brothel in East London. Needless to say, with all of the social obstacles she's been presented with, and with women's rights at the time being scarce, and dispossession a common occurrence, she is, from an economic standpoint alone, somewhat of a fantastical figure.

And yet, with all her privilege and wealth, she's still hemmed in by virtue of her sex. The gilded cage symbolizes Fevvers' material obsession and her willingness to do almost anything to advance her wealth. Her voice is restricted for fear that if she were to speak her true political mind, her opinions would jeopardize her personal fortune. The gilded cage also symbolizes marriage, particularly a woman's place in a financially comfortable marriage of the times. This concept is also present in Carter's story, "Black Venus," in which Jeanne Duval feels like a kept pet in Baudelaire's house. Though is she is provided for, she still feels imprisoned and objectified.

In what ways does Carter suggest Buffo the Great resembles Jesus Christ?

Buffo suggests, in direct dialogue, that "the clown is the very image of Christ" (119), but before he reaches that conclusion himself, Carter shows how Buffo positions himself amongst the other clowns during meals, "not at the head but at the magisterial middle of the table, in the place where Leonardo seats the Christ" (116). Buffo indeed holds court for the other clowns, and they listen, nod along, and repeat his words under their breath like devoted disciples. Finally, Buffo's final act during performances involves his resurrection.

In what key way do the so-called "confidence games" of Herr M. and the shaman differ?

Herr M. is knowingly and, despite his attempts to justify his actions, maliciously and for purposes of financial gain deceiving the bereaved families. His confidence game is imperfect, because there is an element of known deception, and he's arrested for his actions.

The shaman, on the other hand, fully believes in his practice. He engages in sleight-of-hand prestidigitation and ventriloquism in order to satisfy his followers, for whom he understands that seeing is believing. The shaman sees and hears what he projects to his followers. Carter writes, "his was the supreme form of the confidence trick—others had confidence in him because of his own utter confidence in his own integrity" (263).