Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

The way that Carter chooses to portray Fevvers was very unexpected for me. Instead of being the perfectly beautiful and feminine showgirl, Fevvers is described as being larger than life (literally) with everything about her being in excess. For example, Walter comments on her size in Book one as taking up most of the dressing room, going as far as saying that her arms extended accross the room when she yawned. Fevvers' physical largeness is not the only thing in excess; she has a loud booming voice and un-ladylike manners to accompany her somewhat masculine physique.

I think that the way that Carter chooses to portray Fevvers adds to her theoretical narrative about gender being a life-long balancing act. Fevvers certianly goes beyond traditional feminine beauty when, for example, Walser asks himself if she is really a man. Thus, being a woman, her transvestite-like appearance supports Carter's narrative of gender and how the very act/existence of gender is a performane. Fevvers contradicts what the majority would do in her actions and mannerisms. For example, Walser is continually taken aback in Book 1 by her farting and belching, moreso by her non-chelance about these un-ladylike actions. The very fact that Fevvers is manly, yet is a famous swan-like trapeze beauty confronts stereotypical discourses and assumptions surrounding the definition of femininity.

It is interesting how Carter chose to set the narrative on the brink of the turn of the 20th century. During the first few pages of the book, I initially thought the book must be set in the 60's and was suprised to learn it was set in 1899. Moreover, the date the book is set in makes Carter's gender argument stronger becuase it is set in a time of the New Woman emerging, which makes the transcendence of gender boundaries by Fevvers all the more intriguing. The era of the New Woman was in a time of fear by men that the women were becoming more powerful and blamed the fall of men on women. Thus, the subversion of gender roles, with Fevvers being the powerful, masculine-like character, makes the narrative serve a purely political agenda for the message Carter wants to send.