Summary
Cartomancy
Bailey decides to visit the fortune-teller’s tent. A woman’s voice summons him in and he sits in a comfortable chair opposite the fortune-teller. He says he wants to know about his future, and Isobel spreads the cards. She asks him to pick a single card. One speaks to him and he pulls it out.
It is the Cavalier d’Epees and Isobel explains that it might mean movement or travel. She shuffles them again and sets them in three piles, instructing Bailey to choose one. He does, and she lays out his set.
She begins to tell him that this is interesting: there is a lot of movement and a lot of responsibility. He is part of a chain of events, though he might not see it yet. Bailey is vaguely disconcerted that things are not clear.
The fortune-teller suddenly smiles and says he is looking for Poppet. He does not know what she means, but she says they have an acquaintance in common. When she says his name, Bailey is stunned.
Finally, Bailey splutters out his question: does she know the red-haired girl? She says she’s known her and her brother their whole lives. She confirms to Bailey that he will see Poppet again.
Isobel picks up the card with the knight and puts it on the card with the castle. She asks Bailey if he likes the circus; he replies that it is wonderful and better than any place he’s ever been to. Since she is wearing a veil, Bailey cannot quite tell what her thoughts are as she continues to move cards around, but she frowns at one point.
When he is finished, Isobel encourages him that he will be fine and that sometimes life takes us to unexpected places. Before he leaves, he asks if she would like a chocolate mouse candy, and she says yes. To her surprise, he also asks what her name is, which no other querent has ever done. They say it is nice to meet each other.
Bailey feels lighter when he leaves.
The Wizard in the Tree
The Murray twins grow up in the circus and do not go to a proper school, but rather receive lessons on all manner of subjects in a haphazard way. They love the circus and know every inch of it.
One late evening, Widget asks Poppet if she’d like to read, but she says maybe some other time; last time, things were “red and confusing” (224). There was a man without a shadow and a feeling as if things were unraveling. She has not yet told Celia about it.
She asks Widget to tell her a story. He asks what kind of story she'd like, which is something he does for preferred or special audiences. She says she'd like a story about a tree.
Widget begins by saying how secrets have power and that power diminishes when the secrets are shared. He tells of how the greatest wizard in history had his secrets but told them to a beautiful girl who used them against the wizard and trapped him in a tree. The girl cared about the power more than the wizard and left him. The wizard became part of the tree and gained immortality.
Temporary Places
Tara looks at the address given to her by Barris and realizes it is the Midland Grand Hotel. She’d asked Lainie to come with her, but her sister declined.
For a time, she forgets about the card, but then one day, she impulsively decides to go to the hotel. The manager says there is no one by that name there, so she wanders around the lobby.
Finally, a man approaches her and asks if she was looking for him. She says yes, and when he asks why, she haltingly tries to explain some of the oddities about the circus and asks for an explanation. A.H. replies that it is simply a circus and suggests that she occupy her time with something else.
He notes that she has a train to catch, and he walks her to the station. He says "good day" and leaves. A bit befuddled, Tara stands on the platform. She cannot recall much about the conversation now. A flash of gray across the platform catches her eye, and she sees A.H. arguing with something that looks like his own reflection. Confused, she steps forward, her eyes on the scene. She does not see the train.
Movement
Herr Thiessen is excited to see that the circus is now in Munich. One day, his favorite correspondent arrives. He is surprised to see that Celia is the illusionist. They spend a pleasant afternoon together as he explains the intricacies of clocks.
Herr Thiessen asks why she wrote the first letter. She explains that she loved his writing and his perspective on the circus; she liked being able to see it through his eyes.
Celia notes an exquisite, intricate clock resting on a table. It reminds her of the bonfire. She wonders why it is there, and Thiessen explains that it is broken; it was an experiment and does not work. She reaches out to it and watches it; the mechanisms begin to turn and rotate properly.
Thiessen does not ask how she does this, but he takes her out to dinner. At one point, she asks him why he does not ask her how she does what she does. He thinks for a moment, and then he responds that he does not want to know. This delights her, and they walk back to the circus. He comes to her performance and later walks through the circus arm-in-arm with her.
The circus is not long in Munich, though, once the news comes from London.
In Loving Memory of Tara Burgess
It is a quiet, lovely funeral. Lainie speaks briefly. At the cemetery, one of the living statues, which the Burgess sisters originated at the circus, stands as an angel.
Isobel and Tsukiko are standing under a black umbrella. In a hushed voice, Tsukiko asks how she died and Isobel explains that she was told it was an accident. Tsukiko presses her a bit more, and Isobel admits that she does not think Tara stepped in front of a train. Tsukiko asks if she’s had any accidents at all herself—any illnesses, any issues at all. Isobel thinks, and she replies that she hasn't. In fact, the two realize, no one has ever gotten sick, no one has died, and no one, except the twins on opening night, has been born.
Isobel is confused, and Tsukiko states that “we are fish in a bowl, dear…very carefully monitored fish. Watched from all angles. If one of us floats to the top, it was not accidental” (247). Tsukiko adds that maybe Tara was closer to the edge of things and could see the circus for what it was more clearly.
Isobel asks Tsukiko if she has been in love before. Tsukiko stiffens and says quietly that she has loved many, from princesses to peasants. Suddenly Tsukiko says that “it” will come apart; there are cracks, and sooner or later it will break.
Ailuromancy
After leaving the fortune-teller’s tent, Bailey stops to join a small crowd enjoying a performance. He can make out little kittens performing tricks. Suddenly, when the crowd parts, he sees one of the two performers: it is the red-haired girl, now older and costumed but still the same nonetheless. He is unreservedly pleased when she looks at him and clearly remembers him.
When the crowd disperses, he loses the girl and her brother and becomes distressed. However, a voice calls his name and says hello. She tells him her name, laughing that they were never properly introduced. He explains that Isobel mentioned her, and she smiles, saying Isobel is lovely.
Poppet calls over Widget and introduces him. They invite him to go on a walk and they accept. They talk of the kittens and their parents’ big cats show.
Bailey admires how easily the brother and sister get along, knowing that he and Caroline are not like that at all. The trio is hungry, so Widget goes off to get cinnamon rolls while Poppet and Bailey stand to get hot cocoa. Bailey struggles to get his question out, but he asks her how she knew his name and how he was there that day.
Poppet responds slowly; she tells him she can sort of see things before they happen. These visions are more like fragments or words and pictures in a book.
They rejoin Widget. Bailey asks where they are walking, and the twins look at each other; they reply that they are doing circles to keep an eye on things. They talk as they walk and Bailey is amazed at how they find his mundane stories about life on the farm interesting.
They decide to visit the Stargazer, which allows Poppet to more easily read the stars. They step into a line that ascends a stairwell along the perimeter. The walls have diagrams of the stars and constellations.
While in line, Poppet explains that Widget can read tarot because they’re like stories on paper. Poppet sees things that will happen but they aren’t clear.
Inside the tent, Bailey realizes there is no top and it is very quiet; they sit on a cushioned bench in a little carriage. It moves upward and Widget tells Poppet she doesn’t have to do anything, but she presses her hands to her face. She says she saw something very bright. For the rest of the ride, none of them looks up.
Widget tells Bailey a bit more about how he sees the past on people, which is like how powdered sugar stays on your fingers. Bailey asks if he can see his past on him, but Widget says he tries not to read pasts without permission. Bailey gives him permission, and Widget sees a large tree that is more home to him than his own house but not as much as the circus.
They approach a new tent Bailey hasn’t seen before: the Cloud Maze. It has dark walls and an immense, iridescent white structure in the center. It is a tower, with odd and swooping shapes similar to clouds that are layered like a cake. People are climbing all over it, and Bailey is amazed to see that the platforms don’t spiral up but overlap and hang at all levels.
The trio enters. Widget exuberantly starts to head to the top; Bailey and Poppet take a more leisurely route. Once they make it to the top, Bailey wonders how to get down. He is surprised when Poppet tells him to jump, but they fall into what feels like clouds.
It is almost midnight when they leave and the twins have to get ready for the new kitten show. Poppet tells Bailey she has to get him something before she leaves. She heads over to the ticket booth and comes back. Widget smiles that she is brilliant, and she hands Bailey a special pass that allows for unlimited free admission. Bailey is dumbstruck.
Poppet adds that she told the ticket people to tell her and Widget when Bailey comes so they can meet up. Bailey is extremely happy, especially when she kisses him on the cheek.
By the time Bailey gets home to the farm that night, “he is sure that the Bailey he is now is closer to the Bailey is supposed to be than the Bailey he had been the day before” (269).
Tete-a-Tete
It is lovely but subdued Midnight Dinner. Celia is there, spending most of the time talking to Mme. Padva. Celia watches Chandresh closely.
When the guests begin to depart, Celia cannot find her shawl. Marco locates it and asks if she might want to have that drink he proposed. His gaze is intense and Celia, curious, assents. Just the two of them are left and they go into the dining room where two glasses of wine are set.
They talk briefly about the circus and Marco asks her what she calls “it.” She replies “manipulation,” though as a child she called it “magic” and her father called it “enchanting.” The last word intrigues Marco, and she replies that Marco does that very thing: he enchants, and people like Isobel and Chandresh are clearly in love with him.
Their conversation continues easily, touching on their parents (or lack thereof). Celia comments that he somewhat reminds her of her father. After a moment, she realizes something, and she says that he does not have to do that anymore. He asks her what she is talking about, and she says that she knows he is slightly altering his face for her. He frowns, then his goatee vanishes and his features become softer and a little younger. The false face had been handsome, Celia thinks, but this is better. He is still handsome, but now he is more real. Her cheeks flush.
She tells him that now she recognizes him—with that face, she knows he has come to her shows a lot. She remembers how he looked at her, like he was afraid or wanted to kiss her. He says he was not afraid.
He decides to give her a tour of the house at her request. It is an eccentric, well-appointed place. They walk by billiard tables, weapons, armor, elephant heads, and gaming rooms.
Celia asks why he revealed himself to her; he says he wanted his umbrella back and was tired of hiding from her. Celia says she’d expected anyone and everyone.
They play around with manipulation and illusion for each other, showing off and discussing how they were taught and prepared. Marco thinks it odd they were prepared so differently for the same challenge, but Celia ventures that that was the point, apparently. She admits she sees it as a dual exhibition, which pleases him as he no longer thinks of it as a competition.
He asks if she’d like to see something in progress, so she follows him to a place where the garden once was—now, instead, it is an excavated hole. Marco says that, since Chandresh rarely leaves the house anymore, he might like a project. Marco shows Celia the plans he has—not on paper, but rather with his illusion. She is utterly stunned by the intricacy of the picture he paints in her mind.
Celia compliments him on the bonfire, which he explains he uses to stay connected to the circus. She states enigmatically that it had repercussions, but she will not elaborate.
She asks him whose idea it was to sink the garden below surface level, and he says it was Chandresh’s. He volunteers to show her the inspiration.
They come to the ballroom and descend a stairwell. He opens a door and they enter a room where a walkway circles a sunken area of pillows and large cushions. She pauses, then leaps into it. He follows.
They speak of the circus. He says his favorite tent is hers since she does in public what he had to do in secret. He also likes the Labyrinth. She says the Ice Garden is her favorite since it is like walking into a dream. She mentions the Wishing Tree, saying she made it for him even though she did not know his identity: she felt him and his power, and she thought he might like it.
More questions and answers ensue. He keeps everyone from aging quickly. She moves the circus by magic.
When they get up to step on the ledge and leave, they touch hands. The effect is electric and intense; both are shocked.
Walking out through the ballroom, she asks after Chandresh, and Marco sighs that he is unfocused and his memory is lapsing badly. Marco tries to keep him steady, afraid of what happened to Tara. He wishes he could protect those outside the circus as the bonfire protects those within it.
Celia asks what he means. He explains that it is a connection for himself, but it also keeps those inside safe. He is regretful that he did not cover those outside, and he seems upset. Celia replies that she never even thought of safeguards, and she insists that what happened to Tara is not his fault.
Marco steps closer and holds her hand. The energy is different this time, and he smiles that he is controlling hers so she doesn’t break the chandeliers. She relaxes and they gaze at each other for a few minutes.
A clock chimes and they release hands. He thanks her for staying. She says she forgives him for stealing her shawl.
Analysis
One of the aspects that readers tend to like most about the novel is the sheer variety of fantastical and memorable tents and experiences the circus offers—the Labyrinth, the Wishing Tree, the Stargazer, the Carousel, the Cloud Maze, and the Ice Garden. Morgenstern was inspired in her writing by the theater phenomenon Sleep No More, an immersive take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth held at the McKittrick Hotel in New York. In that “show,” the audience has complete autonomy to wander about from room to room, and no visit is ever the same. Wearing their own mask, a visitor watches or encounters or is part of strange, ethereal scenes. Morgenstern has extolled the merits of Sleep No More in many interviews, explaining that she’s gone over eleven times and that it was a major inspiration to her. She told J.L. Schnabel, “I already had so much of the circus in my head as an imagined experience but Sleep No More was (and is) the closest thing I’ve found in real life. Partially it’s the full immersion but also it’s the self-directedness of it, where you can wander wherever you like, explore rooms and choose doors and staircases based on something interesting to follow or whims or strange noises.”
When it came to her own circus, Morgenstern created the labyrinthine walkway that one moves through after they get their ticket directly from the entryway tunnel in Sleep No More, explaining to Powell’s Books that she felt there needed to be a “transitional space to get from the real world into the performance world.”
In terms of other sources and inspirations for the circus, she has said, “Some began as variations on traditional circus elements, dressed up to fit the flavor of my circus. With the aerialists I took away the safety nets and put them in evening wear and situated the audience directly below. The Hall of Mirrors became more than just a hall with a nod to the Narnia lamppost in the middle. The Stargazer is a sideways Ferris Wheel. The Cloud Maze is vaguely based on my memory of a climbing maze at the Boston Children’s Museum” (Chatelaine).
Another specific nod to Sleep No More is the encounter with the fortune-teller, which readers of the novel get through Bailey, the frequently-used reader stand-in. Critic Jennifer Flaherty, whose journal article delves into Sleep No More and The Night Circus, writes: “The chapter is told from the point of view of Bailey, a teenager who is both confused and delighted by the encounter. Although readers know Isobel as a character from earlier in the novel, she is described only as ‘the fortune-teller’ until Bailey thinks to ask her name. Bailey, a dedicated audience member, is even sent on a ‘ring quest’ of his own when he retrieves objects for the final spell that will bind him to the circus as a silver ring is slipped over his finger. Like Sleep No More, Morgenstern’s Le Cirque des Rêves is an environment to be explored rather than a game to be won, and each characters personal journey through the space is chronicled as they all move toward their chosen experiences or answers.”
Flaherty also identifies an important aspect of Sleep No More and the novel: that they are both “a celebration not just of the private experience of enjoying an immersive theater experience, but of the compelling desire to share the experience afterwards.” Herr Thiessen and the rêveurs, of course, are the best examples of this in the novel. It is significant that within the environment, one enjoys being anonymous, being a voyeur of sorts, whereas once outside the environment, it becomes imperative to share the experiences with the rest of the world. Those connections are deep and intimate for the theatergoers and the circusgoers.
In this part of the novel, however, not all is wonderful and whimsical. Morgenstern ups the tension within the circus and between the circus and its associates. Tara Burgess “accidentally” dies after asking too many questions and getting too close to seeing things she is not supposed to see. Tsukiko verbalizes this to Isobel with a disturbing metaphor of the circus’s affiliates being fish in a glass bowl, always watched. They are disconcerted by the realizations that no one associated with the circus is born, gets sick, ages, or dies—unless someone wants them to. As for the twins, Poppet continues to see distressing and confusing glimpses of the future, but she does not yet have the answers she needs to make sense of them. And Celia and Marco move inexorably towards love, not yet knowing what this will mean for them and for the circus.
