Family, Community, and Belonging Theme Analysis

The Night Circus presents an unconventional view of family structures, as most of the characters have, for one reason or another, separated from their biological families and adopted the circus as a de-facto family unit. Set in Victorian London, the novel reflects the fact that historically, the circus was known as a refuge for performers who were shunned for their differences or unique abilities and, in turn, looked to the circus community for acceptance and shared experience. As Isobel the fortune-teller affirms, “I loved the circus. I felt like I finally had a home, a place I could belong.” This sense of community is played out in the novel not only in the relationships among the performers, but in the profound connection among the devoted fans of the circus as well. The community in The Night Circus provides the performers and organizers a sense of belonging that, for most of them, would not be available otherwise. That this bond is stronger than many blood relations suggests the power and importance of chosen families, which offer refuge to those who feel excluded from their own kin or otherwise marginalized in society.

The novel begins as a story of orphanhood, as neither Celia nor Marco has a mother figure in their life, and their paternal influences are distant and mission-oriented. Celia’s mother committed suicide once she realized that Hector Bowen was unable to love her; Celia recalls her mother “pine for him, steadfastly […] far beyond the time when he had lost what little interest in her he ever held.” Marco was rescued from an orphanage only to be abandoned by the cold and mysterious Mr. A.H. He describes his guardian as “distant and not terribly forthcoming, but he is the closest thing to family I have.” Despite being forced into competition, Celia and Marco find a family among the circus performers and organizers. Even the organizers of the circus, who plan the show from a distance and do not live together as the performers do, feel the same sense of family and solidarity. Mr. Barris, the engineer, tells his friend Lainie Burgess that she and her twin sister “are as dear as family to me, all of you. More dear, in some cases.” More than just business partners, they develop a sense of family that is based on mutual support, love, and shared experience. For Poppet and Widget, who were born to two performers on opening night, the concept of the circus as family is literal rather than metaphorical. Their birth within the magical confines of the circus has also bestowed supernatural powers on them, making them a more integral part of the circus than their own parents. They grow up among the tents and spectators, and Celia watches over them and encourages their special gifts. As an orphan herself, Celia has embraced the circus as family, and reinforces that family structure by playing a maternal role for the twins.

The circus also becomes a kind of extended family for a select group of spectators, known as rêveurs, many of whom “follow the circus wherever it may lead.” These devoted fans feel a deep connection to it that helps build a sense of community and belonging; for them, the circus “is wonder and comfort and mystery all together that they have nowhere else.” It is one of these rêveurs, the young Bailey, who becomes the new caretaker of the circus once the bonfire goes out and Celia and Marco pass into a different dimension. Enamored with the circus, Bailey runs away to join a community that immediately embraces him and offers him a place of value. And for this young man, with new family come new responsibilities: Celia asks him to hold part of the circus within him, which he understands as “an even greater commitment than inheriting responsibility for the family farm.” Bailey accepts this responsibility, which ties him to his new family and community indefinitely. The family that Bailey leaves behind is bound together by duty, responsibility, and expectation, symbolized each night by dinners filled with “silence broken by his mother’s attempts at polite conversation and [his sister’s] occasional sighs.” For this family, their connection is static and unchanging, with the expectation that each new generation will replace the previous one, in an infinite repetition of predetermined roles. There is no room for expressions of joy or the pursuit of dreams, and this is not enough for Bailey. His final farewell to his sister illustrates the ways in which traditional family structure can be both stifling and taken for granted: when Bailey tells his sister that he is running away, she does not believe him. She is unable to recognize the possibility of a fluid and changing family dynamic, and encourages her brother to grow up, associating maturity with a blanket acceptance of life’s circumstances. Bailey responds that growing up “is precisely what I am doing,” countering with his view that family and community can be created by choice.

The Night Circus reinforces the importance of chosen family: run by two orphans whose knowledge and power separate them from the rest of the world, Le Cirque des Rêves is much more than just a circus. The family and community that the circus provides is not just a form of refuge, but also a support system in which its members find meaning in their lives and are able to realize their full potential.