The Night Circus

Often times in high fantasy and in fairytales, complex moral situations are presented to the protagonist to figure out on their own terms. Usually, these moral conundrums come to the young protagonists as a result of outside or familial drama that proves to be out of their control. They are not the root causes of these problems, however they must deal with and resolve the issue nonetheless. The demons of parental or authority figures are left to the new generation to deal with. This scenario can be seen in classic pieces of work such as Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, however, can also be observed in contemporary pieces of literature, such as “Harry Potter” and, more recently, Erin Morgenstern’s 2011 novel, “The Night Circus”. 

“The Night Circus” follows two young Magicians, named Marco and Celia, who are unknowingly thrust into a dangerous game of life and death by their mentors. Celia is involved by her own biological father, Hector Bowen, a very practiced magician who makes his living by performing on stage, and Marco is taken from an Orphanage by Alexander (or “Mr.A.H”) a mysterious figure who does not even perform on the circus stage. The two master magicians have taken the two adolescents under their wings, in an attempt to prove who is the strogest between the two. The game is over when the other’s underling is fully exhausted and dies. In both cases, the role of the character meant to protect the children are the ones who have directly put them in danger. When Marco and Celia finally learn the rules of the game, they immediately seek a way out of their seemingly predetermined fates in order to be together as they have developed feelings for one another. However, the only way to “beat the system” so to speak, is to shed themselves of their corporeal forms and live “off the grid”. 

While an intense example, “The Night Circus” play with themes of being thrust into a situation beyond your own control that “Romeo and Juliet” also touched on. At the end of the day, this argument between their mentors of “who is the stronger magician” should have nothing to do with them. Yet here they are, having to pay the price for the guardian’s own mistakes, a theme that perhaps many children that are coming of age can relate to. Every family has demons, every child will be presented with moral complexities beyond their control. This story serves as almost a warning to authority figures, as “Romeo and Juliet” did, to realize the error of the petty squabbles, and shows young readers, albeit in a morbid sense, that sometimes the only way out is to cheat the system.