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The book follows Le Cirque des Rêves, a circus more mysterious and extravagant than most. It appears with no warnings of its arrival and is only open at night. With black and white striped tents and very little color, the circus is stark and elegant wherever it appears. The literal translation of its name, "the circus of dreams" is an apt description. Its tents contain marvels more amazing than any other circus. However it does not stay in any one place for a long time. It moves all over the world. Several scenes do occur in the surrounding town wherever the circus moves. The book takes place in the 19th and 20th centuries. The beginning of the novel flashes back between the 1870’s and the 1900’s, switching between two plotlines which converge into one at the end of the novel. While somewhat confusing in the beginning, the details fall into place beautifully and everything clicks and is resolved by the end of the novel. Because of the long timeline, outside influences on the circus are changing and evolving. Similarly, the geography and physical factors are changing. It is only the circus that remains constant. However even the circus is dynamic.

When the circus gets up and running, Celia and Marco make moves by adding new tents to the circus, each filled with a new spectacle. For example, Marco creates a garden created purely out of ice. Celia creates a tree covered in candles lit as wishes. Each new tent is a representation of some part of themselves and a demonstration of their abilities. Eventually, they meet in person at Chandresh’s house when Celia attends one of Chandresh’s glamorous dinner parties. Celia notices Marco more than anyone else. Eventually, Celia figures out that Marco is her opponent. However, as they spend more time around each other as well as around each other’s work, they fall in love. While both of their sponsors continue to tell them how stupid and reckless it is, they cannot help it. Their close interaction simply hastened the inevitable. However this only complicates the competition further. A winner must be chosen and their relationship will interfere.

The other plotline of the story focuses on Bailey. Bailey in a small town boy who encounters the circus when it moves to his town. After several interactions with Poppet and Widget, Bailey is in love with the circus. He enjoys Poppet and Widget and their friendship is strong. Poppet and Widget show him all the best tents. However when it is time for the circus to keep moving, Bailey must decide whether he wants to leave behind his home and travel with Poppet and Widget or return to his orchard with no promise of ever seeing them again.

Marco Alisdair was the representative chosen by Alexander. Alexander pulled him out of an orphanage when he was nine. He had been in the orphanage all of his life, since he could remember. After being selected by Alexander, he chose this name for himself, Marco Alisdair, as Alexander instructs him to choose a new one. Marco was taught through books and literature. Alexander provided him with ample reading so that he could learn magic. Unlike Celia, he did not have natural magic. After he was ready for the competition to begin, he started as the assistant of one Chandresh Christophe Lefèvre. From this position, he is able to be a part of the circus and manipulate it to his will. Marco is less involved directly with the circus than Celia. He visits it many times, but he is not a performer and does not spend all of his time there. Marco is also complex and dynamic. He grows up with the story just as Celia does. Marco has natural charm and charisma which he uses to his advantage. He is motivated more by the challenge than Celia is, as he is less involved with the circus. However, everything Marco does, he dedicates to Celia. Marco pushes Celia just as Celia pushes him, even if not directly. They create things that they believe will make the other happy. Their relationship in this way keep the circus up-to-date.

Celia Bowen is the daughter of Hector Bowen as well as his representative in the competition. She is young when the novel begins, around six, and ages to perhaps early 20’s by the end of the book. She is the illusionist in Le Cirque and is extremely talented. Celia is one of the protagonists of the novel and a heroine herself. She is dynamic and multidimensional. More aspects of her personality are revealed as the story progresses and she changes and evolves as she grows older. She is driven by her desire to keep Le Cirque up and running. Celia is kind and supportive of everyone. She always strives to see the good in people and look past their faults which may be a fault in and of itself. Celia’s mother committed suicide when she was very young which is how she came to live with Hector. He began training her almost immediately after she arrived. However her father was nearly abusive. While some people may become rough and abrasive with such a background, Celia did not. She became the opposite of her father as much as she could. She was nurturing towards the Murray twins and helped them to develop their talents. Celia holds the circus together both with her attitude and with her magic.

Chandresh Lefèvre:

Chandresh is the creator/proprietor of the circus. An extravagant man, he often throws together lavish dinners and collaborates with world-renowned people on large projects. The circus is one of the most grand and daring feats he has accomplished. It quickly becomes his obsession and he adores the circus and it awed by it up on his deathbed. Chandresh is a minor character. He serves more as a vehicle for the others and is often manipulated by Alexander, Hector, or Marco so that he will do what is necessary for the competition rather than the circus. He is dynamic, as he becomes less and less sane as he nears his death. He is also complex. While he may seem shallow, he is much more observant than he leads on. He is a character who is very real and allows the reader to believe the novel more readily.

Friedrick Thiessen:

Herr Thiessen is a clockmaker. He is asked to make a special timepiece for the circus. His clock is impressive and seemingly magical though it is simply a work of mechanics. After his commissioned piece is finished, he continues to wonder about the circus. When it comes into town, he visits and immediately falls in love. Herr Thiessen is the first of many rêveurs. The rêveurs are a group of people who visit the circus as often as they can and often follow it. They write about their experiences. Herr Thiessen’s writings, in particular, ar transformative and beautiful. Though he meets an early demise, his insights and beliefs, demonstrated through his writing, show how the circus affects those that visit it. Friedrick is dynamic and complex. While he may appear to simply be a clockmaker in the beginning of the novel, many different sides of him are revealed over time.

Tsukiko:

Tsukiko is a contortionist who simply appears one night. She is soon integrated as a regular part of the circus and performs for the circus-goers. Her actions are always precise and exact. However when people question her, her answers are vague and mysterious. No one in the circus knows much about her. However she is far from flat. Her complexities are revealed later in the book. She moves the plot along and helps Celia in her endeavours. Tsukiko is far from static and always has something hidden up her sleeve. Her knowledge is irreplaceable and she plays a vital role in both the competition and the circus in total.

The novel contains many opposites. Celia Bowen and her father have opposite personalities. Marco and Celia are supposed to be opposing each other in this competition. Hector and Alexander have opposite beliefs on magic. Even Le Cirque is black and white. The book focuses on the fight between “good” and “evil,” between dark and light. The premise of the book is this competition between opposites. This competition originated as the result of a disagreement between Hector and Alexander in the proper way to learn and teach magic. SPOILER: While he is describing the competition to Widget, Alexander explains, “one of my first students and I had a disagreement about the ways of the world,” (Morgenstern 500). Alexander is describing Hector. To determine which of the two opposing methods was correct, they trained students to make them compete head-to-head. The whole book is covered in antitheses and opposites. Poppet can see the future while Widget can see the past. The author examines opposites in the text. She compares opposites and looks at them as less than clear cut. They meld together and compliment each other. one cannot look at the future without first looking at the past and vice versa. Time is not composed of just the present. Many opposites belong together, in pairs, which is part of what the author explores.

One of the other themes in the novel is belief or faith. Celia is an illusionist. Illusionists, and performers, invite the audience to suspend their disbelief, to take in what their eyes are seeing and push aside cynicism. Much of the novel is about letting go of whatever holds you back and stops you from believing. At one point, Bailey enters a new tent he has not seen before with a sign that reads, “Bedtime Stories… Eventide Rhapsodies… Anthologies of Memory… Please enter cautiously and feel free to open what is closed,” (Morgenstern 313) . This tent is filled with tables and shelves full of glass bottles, jars, and lidded bowls. While other tents are filled with kinetic movement and amazing feats, this one seems small and insignificant, as though it has been placed out of the way on purpose. However Bailey, following the sign, picks up a small jar. Upon looking inside there is nothing, but when he inhales deeply, he can smell the smoke from a fire, roasting chestnuts, peppermint, and many other things that remind one of the holidays. He is immediately transported to somewhere wonderful and altogether different. Bailey knows that he is not actually somewhere else. However, he lets his mind go to sleep and allows the jar to control him. He lets himself believe in what he can smell and what his imagination creates. The novel focuses on the idea of belief and allowing the inner child to come out of the adult.

Setting

Plot Overview

The novel follows the competition between two ancient rivals, Hector and Alexander. Their competition is a tradition in their past. The two train competitors to go head to head in an arena. Hector chooses his own daughter, Celia, to be his representative, while Alexander chooses an orphan named Marco. The two are set to be placed in an arena created by Chandresh Lefèvre. This is the circus, Le Cirque des Rêves. The main characters, Celia and Marco, must use displays of magic to “win” this competition. Marco gets a job as Chandresh’s assistant and he helps Chandresh to create the circus. Celia is hired as the illusionist in their circus. As soon as he sees her audition, Marco knows that Celia will be his opponent, however Celia is still unaware that he is who she is competing against.

Plot Continued

The Night Circus

Erin Morgenstern

Summary/Thoughts

Other Characters

Main Characters

Poppet

While explaining the novel is not easy by any means, it is not challenging to read. It is wonderfully written and full of description. It is beautifully relaxed and fulfilling in the best ways possible. While it is not a mystery or an aggressive book, it is something that is enjoyable to read over a break or just whenever time is available. It also comes full circle. The beginning line, “The circus arrives without warning,” is used again later in the book (Morgenstern 3). Most of the loose ends are tied up, and there are no cliffhangers. The novel is a best seller and while sometimes those lists really choose the wrong book, this one is understandable.

Widget

Marco Alisdair

Poppet’s given name is Penelope. She is the sister of Widget. Because she is Widget’s compliment, where he is able to see the past, Poppet can read the stars and understand the future. She is able to see bits and pieces of what is going to happen. Poppet is vital in the development of the plot. She helps Celia prepare for whatever is coming and is the first to know when things are going to go badly. Poppet is genuine and kind. She always wants to help people and tries to make the circus the best it can be. Poppet is dynamic. She is changing and growing throughout the novel. She is essential in plot development and the development of other characters. Poppet is dynamic and complex just like Widget. Their personalities and attitudes change over the course of the novel and more sides of them are revealed.

Widget’s given name is Winston. The brother of Poppet, Widget is Poppet’s compliment. Because he was born inside the circus, he has the ability to see people’s past simply by looking at them. He can understand who people are and what they have done. As he tells Bailey, “the past stays on you the way powdered sugar stays on your fingers. Some people can get rid of it, but it’s still there” (Morgenstern 263). Widget is able to see this residue and read it, for lack of a better word. Widget is dynamic and changes as the book progresses. Similar to his sister Poppet, Widget is essential in moving the plot along and developing other characters. As he is growing up when the novel takes place, he changes between the beginning and end of the novel. He is dynamic and complex.

Theme

Bailey

Other Characters

The novel has two main themes:

antitheses and belief.

Celia Bowen

Bailey is a boy from a small town. When he is very little, Le Cirque comes to his town. His sister dares him to enter it during the day. While inside the circus, he runs into Poppet. Even after the circus leaves once more, Bailey cannot forget Poppet and the black and white stripes of the tent. When the circus comes back into his hometown, it seems as though it must be fate. He goes back to the circus, hoping to find Poppet once more. He succeeds in locating Poppet as well as Widget and the three soon become friends. Bailey is a dynamic character. He changes as the book moves. While he started out as a timid child, he grows increasingly daring and develops his sense of self. The circus helps him to discover his identity and become a braver person. Bailey is important in the movement of the plotline. He facilitates the advancement of the story through his actions. He also demonstrates the importance of Le Cirque, as he was a simple, small-town boy in the beginning and the circus helps him to discover who he is and why he matters.

Belief/Faith

Antetheses

Hector Bowen

Alexander

Hector is one of two ancient rivals. He is a magician who goes by the stage name Prospero the Enchanter. While his performances appear to be illusions, he is actually able to perform real magic. Hector’s life is dedicated not only to magic, but to this competition. He chooses his daughter as his contestant. He trains her relentlessly, barely caring that she is his own flesh and blood, pushing her to the breaking point. He teaches her hands-on, in real time. For example, to teach her how to heal things, he slices open the tip of each of her fingers until she can heal all ten simultaneously. Hector is harsh and does not accept what he perceives to be weakness. This may originate from his inability to see people as autonomous agents rather than different, and worse, renditions of himself. He is driven by his competitiveness and his need to prove that he is best. He is static. He serves to push Celia and develop her character. He is unethical and uncaring. His only focus is his own gain. Hector is a foil. His personality is completely opposite of Celia’s, which makes her more relatable.

Alexander, also known as Mr. A. H. is the other of the two ancient rivals. He is mysterious and aloof. He selects Marco as his competitor, however his training style is much more distant. He gives Marco books and other supplies however trains him very little in the actual application of magic. While his contact with Marco is little, he has more interaction with the other people in the venue of the circus. He is static. His opinions and attitude never change. He only acts for his own gain, which is very different than Marco. He is also a foil, as he makes Marco much more identifiable.

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