The reality of History is not fixed as we assume it to be. Fevvers the protagonist in Nights at the Circus, with her fantastic wings serves as the symbol of concept as “New Women” who seeks to deconstruct the Patriarchal Identity. She dramatizes the view that history is not true and is a perception of how an individual view the society. Pertaining to the above-mentioned notion, this paper aims to deconstruct the belief that history is true and Carter reconstructs it by making history as giving importance to women present in the society.
The term Magical Realism first applied to European pictorial art, is now applied to American literary text within the context of Post-Colonial thought. For most of the critics, the term should only be discussed in this context. But Magical Realism can be linked to many theoretical perspectives like psychological thought, historiography and fantasy. Many Magical realist fictions engage in creating a specific version of the historical events.
Nights at the Circus, a postmodern novel by Carter combines fantasy to talk about history. Feminists consider history by uniting Fantasy and Historiographical Metafiction. Historiographic Metafiction is an attempt to construct and re-write history from a Feminist perspective. The novel traces back the history of 1890’s.
The picaresque novel Nights at the Circus narrates the magical adventures of an aerialist. Walser the journalist gives a new definition to her. Fevvers earlier stage talks about how women are confined to patriarchal society. The world in the circus touches upon how hierarchy is reversed. Carter rewrites history in a way that women are not only equal to men but are also stronger than them. They break the fretters of Patriarchal society. Carter’s eighth novel Nights at the Circus published in 1894 takes the reader along with Colonel Kearney’s circus on its Grand Imperial tour. The chief concern of Carter’s novel is how individuals want their society to be. Therefore, we can say that the novel subverts the notion of history.
Carter in her novel attempted to challenge the false assumption that the role and position of women is fixed. Carter gives Fevvers the wings which helped her gain financial freedom and liberated her from male dominated society. It also helped her to escape the reality of how women should be. Carter tries to claim that history is something that is constructed and not that what exists.
Fevvers in Nights at the Circus with her wings is a “New Woman” of the 19th century. She deconstructs the Patriarchal identity imposed on her. For Fevvers clock is the symbol of history. The novel is a different Magical Realism as Carter plots history. This paper talks about history seen through the lens of Magical Realism in Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus.
The women were always deprived during the period when the novel was written. But the Feminist Postmodernists have strengthened them. According to this claim history paid tribute to deprived women. Historiography and Historiographic Metafiction are feminist Postmodern attempt to re-write history through fantasy.
The novel draws a parallel to the public figure Margaret Thatcher. In 1980, this period was characterised by Capitalism that was reserved for males. But Carter’s attempt to compare Fevvers’ with the iron lady is to state that women could also be liberal. Fevvers economic freedom and success paralleled to Margaret Thatcher’s development of British Capitalism.
Carter’s Nights at the Circus is merely a make and believe novel. She makes use of Magical Realism to explore aspects of Patriarchal Culture. She wanted to subvert existing order in the society thus she incorporates fantasy into history. Therefore, her novel can be associated with social and political nature.
Carter weaves magic into reality to symbolise reality. She adopts Magical realism as a Postmodern narrative to express the cultural context and recreate her version of history by making the society women centric. Works of Magical Realism, thus can be claimed to touch upon social issues and criticizes the social notions. The reality of such representations and fantasy conveys a sense of despair over the claim that they are possible. Nights at the Circus moves back and forth claiming to be hybrid in nature. Carter’s novels are empowering.
Fevvers never feels ashamed to narrate her story. She grew up to be a woman who is solely responsible for her happiness. Carter exploits the power of men to create an identity for women. She intentionally overdoes things. By doing so she is creating a society and subverts the idea of history as a concept in itself.
Works Cited
- Carter, Angela. Nights at the Circus. Penguin publishers, 1986. Print.
- Hutcheon, Linda. A Poetivs of Postmodernism. Routledge, 2004. Print.
- Jenkins, Keith. The Postmodernism History Reader. Routledge, 1998. Print.
- Stoddart, Helen. Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus. Routledge, 2007. Print.