Summary
Anticipation
The circus arrives without warning. It is only open at night, and it is decorated in hues only of black and white. The whole town is excited for it, marveling at what delights it might hold inside the tents.
You are excited, and you arrive expectantly on opening night. All is quiet as the sun sets. The lights begin to pop up in tent after tent, the sign of the circus aglow—Le Cirque de Rêves. It is time to enter.
Part I: Primordium
The theater manager takes the five-year-old girl with the note addressed to Prospero the Enchanter (Hector Bowen) to his office. When Prospero comes to him after his show, the magician is visibly annoyed and surprised. The girl’s name is Celia and she is his daughter. When Prospero criticizes the mother, who killed herself, under his breath, the girl’s anger makes a teacup rattle and shatter. Celia puts it back together again; Prospero scrutinizes her and wonders if she might be useful.
He writes a letter a few months later.
A Gentleman’s Wager
Prospero is performing his last show in a run of limited engagement. A man in a gray suit watches him; after the show is done, he slips out and joins Prospero in his dressing room. Prospero sees the man in the gray suit in the corner and laughs that “he” must have hated it.
The man says stiffly that “passing off manipulations as tricks and illusions” (15) and charging admission are things he disapproves of. Prospero gestures indifferently. He says the beauty is that people are mystified more easily by real magic than by the fake kind.
The man asks why he wrote to him and Prospero explains that the time has come to start the game again. The man is startled, and Prospero brings his daughter out. He asks her to show the man what she can do. Celia is also surprised, having been told she is not to show anyone, but Prospero urges her. The man says her lifting a watch with her mind is basic—but when she shatters and repairs it, he is more intrigued.
After discussing for a bit, the men decide to begin the game again. The man warns him Prospero that wagering his own child is a dangerous thing, but if Prospero truly means it, then he will find a worthy opponent.
Before leaving, the man asks Celia to hold out her hand. He puts a silver ring on her finger, and it burns a scar into her flesh.
The man says he will find his opponent but may need time to do so. Prospero is fine with that.
As for a venue, Prospero says he knows a theater producer who would be amenable to creating something fantastic; it would be a neutral ground. His name is Chandresh Christophe Lefevre, a wealthy and eccentric figure who throws wonderful parties.
After the man leaves, Celia asks why her father called the man "Alexander" when it is not his real name. Surprised, Prospero asks how she knows that. She replies that he wears his name like a hat that he takes off and on.
Shades of Grey
The man in the suit arrives at a gray, cheerless orphanage and interviews several children. One eight-year-old boy intrigues him, and he decides he will take him with him.
Magic Lessons
As a child, Celia travels with her father to major American and European cities. Inititally, she is like a small dog or doll, but as she ages, she is left on her own. She is aware of the coming competition and knows that there is another student being prepared by Alexander, but her lessons have become more fitful.
The boy from the orphanage grows up in London. He spends most of his time reading, writing, visiting museums and libraries, and spending an hour each day with the man in the gray suit, who quizzes him on various things.
Celia learns hard lessons from her father. Once, she tries to fix a bird with a broken wing and her father kills it, saying that living things have different limitations. She must learn those limitations so she can overcome them.
The man in the gray suit takes the boy to France for a week. The boy is not sure why, but they attend a magic show. One “magician” is clearly performing tricks; the one the next night does it in an imperceptible way. That second magician is Prospero, and the man tells the boy that the audience sees what they want to see.
Back with Celia, Prospero uses a pocket knife to slit the tops of his daughter’s fingertips open. The pain is tremendous, but she repairs them. He does it again.
The man binds the boy with the silver ring. The boy asks why, and the man says there is an obligation he has, and an opponent whom he will not meet for awhile.
Le Bateleur
Before he turns nineteen, the man in the gray suit sets the boy up in a flat in London. This is the end of the formal lessons, and he studies independently. He takes notes, reads, and practices. He can go out into the city as much as he wants, so he takes long walks. At first, the volume of people is overwhelming, but he loves being anonymous and being able to go outside.
One day, he realizes he has lost his notebook full of his magic lessons. He ventures out into the light rain to try and find it. He sees a young woman sitting at a café leafing through what is certainly his notebook. He approaches her. She jumps in surprise. They introduce themselves: Marco Alisdair and Isobel Martin.
They spend the afternoon together talking of magic and her tarot-reading. When Isobel asks about his notebook and what he can do, they go outside and he shows her how he can make an illusion. They are in the rain, but now, suddenly, they are in a beautiful forest on a cold winter day. Isobel gasps. They kiss.
False Pretenses
Prospero the Enchanter retires from the stage without providing any reason for doing so. He travels from city to city and has Celia act as a medium, which she does not like. The people make her uncomfortable; their desire for assurance is unsettling.
Hector—Prospero's real name—does not provide his daughter with any more information about the competition, though she asks.
Isobel and Marco continue to get to know each other. One day, the man in the gray suit arrives and tells Marco he (i.e. Marco) is going to interview to work for a man named Monsieur Lefevre. The man has done work with him before and thus Marco has a good chance, but he should do anything to secure the job.
Hector and Celia spend a length of time in New York. She is able to practice breaking and fixing things, manipulating fabric, and more. Her father is acting strangely but will tell her nothing.
Target Practice
Chandresh reads a review that is mostly positive, but the fact that his production was not totally transcendent irks him. He wants real, genuine reactions. He wants perfection. He relies on the reviews, and this one vexes him.
Truth or Dare
Young Bailey is spending time in the oak tree with his older sister Caroline and some of her friends. They are playing truth or dare and Bailey chooses “dare” to try to be impressive. Caroline loftily says he must break into the Night Circus during the day and bring something back. This seems impossible, but Bailey jumps up and says he will do it.
He had been to the circus for the first time the night before and it was utterly mesmerizing. He investigated but felt unprepared. He wandered from tents with acrobats to those with mirrors. He ate delicious food. He felt like he could not describe what it was like, but had to go back.
Now across the field, Bailey is feeling more nervous. There is a complicated lock, a sign that says “Trespassers will be Exsanguinated” (which he doesn’t understand), and everything seems deserted. Bailey cannot back down, so he squeezes through a small opening to get inside.
Inside, he cannot feel the same sort of magic that there is at night. The tents seem old and worn. He quickly becomes lost, but he runs into a girl. She seems to be his own age, is wearing a costume, and has bright red hair. She looks at him and says he is not supposed to be here and had better go. She helps him find a way out and he thanks her. Before he leaves, he asks what “exsanguinated” means, and she says it means draining blood.
He calls back to her as she is about to walk away, saying he is supposed to bring something back. As the words come out, he regrets them. He adds it was a dare. She smiles and pulls off a white glove. He thanks her and she says he is welcome, using his full name, which he later realizes he did not tell her.
Associates and Conspirators
Chandresh’s midnight dinners are famous affairs. They are selective, delicious, and memorable; there is also always some sort of fantastic entertainment.
Tonight it is a more intimate gathering. There is Madame Anna Padva, a retired Romanian ballerina who is a “fiend for aesthetics” (72). Her costumes are divine and impossibly luscious. The Burgess sisters, Tara and Lainie, do a bit of anything and everything. They consult on all manner of subjects. They are observant and intuitive. Mr. Ethan W. Barris, a prominent engineer and architect, is a bit surprised to be invited to this, but he is very excited. The final guest is a man wearing a gray suit of indeterminate age. His card says his name is “A.H.”
It is a lovely evening of conversation. Once dinner is over, Chandresh invites everyone into the study, where he tells them of a project he is beginning. He says it is a circus, a carnival, something utterly magnificent and not commonplace at all. Any preconceived notions of what a circus is will be destroyed. He shows them sketches and ideas and says he needs their help with panache, ingenuity, and style.
There is a moment of silence. Barris asks for a pencil and Marco hands him one. It has begun.
Condolences
An announcement states that Hector Bowen, Prospero the Entertainer, has died. Celia receives mountains of cards, letters, and flowers, and she sighs to herself. Sorting through them, she finds one postdated her father’s death: it simply says, “Your move.”
Celia walks to the upstairs parlor, opens the door, and asks her father what this is all about. He is almost invisible, much of his body missing or obscured. Hector reads the note and laughs.
A Contortionist’s Tattoo
About once a month, there are “Circus Dinners” held at Chandresh’s elegant townhouse. At this particular one, only the ladies are present, Barris having traveled to Germany to track down a clockmaker.
There is no scheduled entertainment, but nevertheless, someone arrives. She introduces herself as Tsukiko. She is tiny, with piled-up and braided dark hair. Chandresh does not know her, but he invites her to perform.
She is wearing scandalous clothing, but that is not what is most surprising: it is the tattoo that snakes across her body. It is a “flowing waterfall of alchemical and astrological symbols, ancient marks for planets and elements all emblazoned in black ink upon her fair skin” (83). She is a contortionist, the guests immediately see, and she is a consummate performer. They are all in awe when she finishes, and Chandresh says all performers ought to be like her.
Tsukiko will remain Chandresh’s favorite example of what the circus is and should be.
Horology
One day, a man named Ethan Barris visits Herr Frederick Thiessen in his clockmaking workshop. Barris says that money is no object and he requires a masterwork; this will be a showpiece, a curiosity. Thiessen is intrigued, especially because there are few other stipulations.
Thiessen begins working. He loves a challenge and he loves details. When he is done, it is “resplendent” (88). When wound, things change slowly over hours. Many small things occur—teapots pour, cats and dogs chase each other, a juggler juggles. Barris writes to him that it is perfection.
Auditory
A gaggle of male illusionists are talking and laughing in the lobby of the theater. A young woman arrives. She is quiet, lovely, and mysterious.
Finally, it is her turn to enter the theater. Marco cannot take his eyes off her; she is radiant to him. inside the theater, Chandresh and Mme. Padva regard her, and Chandresh kindly says they are auditioning illusionists. She says she knows: that's why she's here.
Chandresh is a bit concerned about the prospect of a female illusionist, but Mme. Padva urges him to be more open-minded. He is confused, though, when the girl says she has never performed professionally before. When she adds that she is Celia Bowen, daughter of Prospero the Enchanter, Chandresh is stunned. He tells Mme. Padva that Prospero is the greatest illusionist of his generation.
Celia begins, turning her jacket into a raven and the raven into a dove. Chandresh is more and more astonished. Mme. Padva is thoughtful and wonders about the costuming—white would be too bridal, black too funereal. While they are talking, Celia changes her dress to a fading black and white. They are stunned. Chandresh asks if he can touch the silk, and he marvels at it.
Chandresh is delighted, especially when Celia calls the raven and turns it back into her jacket.
Stratagem
Marco is as white as a sheet while Chandresh extols Celia’s merits. When Marco gets home to Isobel, he sits down and tells her frankly that he knows who his opponent is: it is Prospero’s daughter, and she is very, very good.
While Marco is engrossed in his own thoughts, Isobel takes out her cards. She turns over a single one: The Lovers. Marco cannot stop thinking about whether he is prepared enough and good enough. It is distressing that he will have to do his work remotely.
Isobel volunteers to apply to be a fortune-teller at the circus. Marco isn’t sure how he feels about this, as he always saw his work and Isobel as separate things. She wants to help, though, and will pass information back to Marco. He grudgingly agrees.
Hidden Things
Bailey’s future is constantly under debate: will he stay and take over the farm, as his father wants, or will he go to Harvard? His grandmother simply tells him to follow his dreams.
Bailey takes to wandering around on his own a great deal, spending a lot of time in the oak tree. He reads history and fairy tales and dreams of a different life amid his discontentment. He has a box of special things that he often looks at, and it includes the red-haired girl’s glove. Sometimes he wonders if she even existed.
One day, Bailey climbs high up in the branches of the tree to read. When he looks up from the pages, he almost falls out in shock: the black and white striped circus tents are there.
Analysis
From the very beginning of Morgenstern’s lyrical and beguiling book, readers are made aware that they are entering a magical world in which the line between what is real and what is… enchanted… is not entirely clear. Morgenstern’s choice to begin with and intersperse sections where she is using second-person voice to designate what the reader does when inside the circus makes it more immediate and memorable. It draws the reader into the environment and helps foster an attachment to the characters that inhabit that world once the narrator introduces them. We read these sections as if we were actually there, and Morgenstern’s sumptuous writing helps us feel, smell, see, hear, and taste the circus.
In this first part of the novel, Morgenstern sets up the specifics of the competition, introduces most, if not all, of the major players, and sets the circus’s planning in motion. However, she does not throw all the details at the reader at once; rather, she parcels them out throughout the novel in order to build suspense and reward a patient and careful reader. At this point, the only things that are clear about the competition and its facilitators, A.H. and Hector, are as follows:
1) They’ve been doing these competitions for a long time, and A.H. won the last one
2) They work with very different forms of magic and instruction
3) The competitors are bound to each other and the game through a ring and its resulting scar
4) A.H. is a mysterious figure without a shadow who uses a fake name
5) The rules of the game are ambiguous
6) Marco has to work remotely while Celia gets to be onsite
In regard to the type of instruction Celia and Marco receive, it is clear that Hector and A.H. work quite differently. Hector is a hands-on instructor and a cruel one; he forever sours his relationship with his daughter by criticizing her, holding her to high standards, and requiring her to do painful things such as slitting her fingers and forcing her to heal them. Hector is also a foolhardy and proud man, whose experiments in separating his spirit from his corporeal body go wrong due to overreaching. A.H. is a mysterious figure, but he isn’t as cruel; it is his lack of transparency that irks Marco, as does his isolation of the boy. Marco falls for Isobel because he simply likes her companionship and the fact that someone understands what he is really like.
In this part, the narrator also introduces the character of Balikablelikeable boy whose role in the broader narrative is not yet clear. For now it seems like he might be a simple stand-in for the reader, or a way for Morgenstern to depict the circus through the eyes of a character on the outside. The more we get to know Bailey, though, the more the narrator reveals about his crucial place in the circus’s survival (in fact, the word "Bailey" once meant "steward" centuries ago).
What is clear as the reader embarks upon the first part of the novel is that while it is linear chronologically, Bailey’s story also overlaps; notably, the motif of time and clocks is conspicuous. In an interview with Laurie Grassi, Morgenstern explained, “I knew I wanted a sense of timelessness to make it seem more like a fairy tale, to give it more of a once upon a time quality. Even though the story takes place at specific points in history I wanted it to have a cyclical feel — there are two overlapping timelines and backstories that stretch far into the past and of course there are quite a few significant clocks.”
