This story is intricate and layered, filled with humor, exaggeration, and sharp irony. It prompts readers to question the underlying assumptions in our lives, embark on both literal and metaphorical journeys of self-discovery, challenge patriarchal values and ideas of commodification, and explore who has the authority to define identity.

One effective method used to disrupt the patriarchal system is the natural removal of the pater figure. Walser questions whether Fevvers' mother was Lizzie, but who could have been her father? The not-quite-human Fevvers seems to lack any male parent, defying easy categorization within the dominant framework. It's notable that her name—typically Fevvers, though "Sophie suffices for her legal handle"—was given by her surrogate mothers, who apparently saw no need for a paternal surname.

Nights at the Circus is divided into three unique geographical segments: London, Petersburg, and Siberia. The main characters journey through these locations together and individually. As the story transitions from the familiar landscapes of Britain to more exotic destinations, it immerses the reader deeper into a magical realm. Throughout this journey, the novel playfully engages its audience by upending expectations and challenging various conventions, parodying genres such as Romance and Myth.

The magical realism in the narrative often conveys a partially Utopian theme, presenting an imagined fantasy that delivers a subversive political message. However, it steadfastly avoids offering readers a simple, escapist fictional reality. In the story's final section, the "army of lovers" who escape prison observe that "the white world around them looked newly made, a blank sheet of fresh paper on which they could inscribe whatever future they wished." While this romantic ideal is celebrated in an exaggerated manner, it is also ridiculed. Although they strive to create a perfect female-only community, they must seek out a man to provide sperm, allowing them to reproduce and "ensure the survival of this little republic of free women." Lizzie's typically sarcastic remark is, "What'll they do with the boy babies? Feed 'em to the polar bears? To the female polar bears?" Angela Carter's work is perhaps better described as an anti-romance, emphasizing the illusion of Utopian dreams. Her female characters are given the opportunity to step outside the romantic confines that much of life and realist fiction depend on, discovering a new realm where they can assert agency and become the protagonists of their own stories, albeit through the use of magic.

In her non-fiction work, The Sadeian Woman (1978), Carter claims that "a free woman in an unfree society will be a monster." The main character in Nights at the Circus personifies this idea. Fevvers resists external labels; she is both female and not, human and bird-like, innocent and promiscuous, heavenly and Cockney. Her refusal to conform to societal norms of "woman" makes her a monster, and it's this very peculiarity that initially captivates men. Despite her allure, she also incites fear and unease, common reactions to challenges against traditional norms.

Walser, an American, arrives with the intention of labeling her as a fraud, a harlot, or a freak. He aims to record her story, to capture her narrative. More troublingly, he seeks to reveal her life and identity as a sham, forcing her into his perspective by denying the truth of her self-asserted identity. As critic Michel Foucault points out, language is equivalent to power, and the exclusive ability to describe someone in language, to publish their story in a foreign outlet by anonymous individuals, represents power in its most formidable form.

Carter is particularly concerned with the negative depiction of women by those in power. Fevvers realizes that openly challenging male portrayals...