Nights at the Circus Lesson Plan

Is Fevvers a “genuine bird-woman”? Or an “artificial one?” Does it matter?

Students may speculate as to whether the text will provide an answer to this question. Is the novel dealing in allegory or fantasy? If an allegory, what might it represent? Consider other texts that blur the lines of realistic or historical fiction and fantasy. Students should consider how the text itself raises the question, and emphasizes the importance of the genuine/artificial dichotomy - or rather, blurring the lines of this dichotomy in meaningful ways. How can we apply the ambiguous “genuine vs artificial” lens to other elements of the text?

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