Sisterly bond
The bond between the two sisters is undeniable and comes before anything. Dora and Nora are inseparable and face the entirety of life together. Not even love for a man can come between them which is proven when Dora talks about her first lover, who was also Nora's lover, and despite the feeling she had for him, her sister was always a priority, she never thought of putting a man before her. Dora was even ready to fall into a marriage with a stranger for Nora's sake, so that she could be happy. Despite the obvious difference in characters the sisters are making decisions in unison and even at the end decide that they can only take care of the twin babies together, they must not be separated-they are two bodies but one soul; wherever one goes, the other one follows.
Life is a stage
Inspired by Shakespeare and his works, the novel is embossed with the notion that life, world, is a stage and everyone is an actor. Most of the Chance sisters' lives have been on the stage. Their father Melchior is living in his own stage made out of aspirations of fame and performance. Peregrine is almost a sketched out character that plays the role of a god fairy magician who never seems to age. The plot itself has characteristics of being a play in itself, especially in the climactic ending where the shocking family truths are revealed. Dora's truthfulness in her autobiographical narration is questioned, considering that only at the end she reveals that it was Peregrine who was her lover all along.
