Historical Context
The turn-of-the-century setting dictates much of the novel's content and its personas. The female characters, in particular, encompass a transition between one century and the next and from one time period's ideals to another's. Specifically, Lizzie's character is not only a protector of the aerialiste, Fevvers, but of women's rights. She considers marriage a personal and social impediment and takes it upon herself to ensure that Fevvers does not fall into the trappings of a patriarchal society. Lizzie herself is a symbol of the nineteenth century's suffrage movement. The women of Ma Nelson's brothel similarly defy the female mold of previous centuries as Lizzie refers to them as suffragists in Chapter Two of Book One. The duality of prostitutes and suffragists is an interesting image and again depicts the females as novel forward thinking women.
Jack Walser's character also encompasses nineteenth century thought in his pragmatic approach to life, while the many members of the circus represent a transition towards a new century with different ideals as they struggle to find themselves, leaving their dark circus pasts behind.
Read more about this topic: Nights At The Circus
Famous quotes containing the words historical and/or context:
“Among the virtues and vices that make up the British character, we have one vice, at least, that Americans ought to view with sympathy. For they appear to be the only people who share it with us. I mean our worship of the antique. I do not refer to beauty or even historical association. I refer to age, to a quantity of years.”
—William Golding (b. 1911)
“Parents are led to believe that they must be consistent, that is, always respond to the same issue the same way. Consistency is good up to a point but your child also needs to understand context and subtlety . . . much of adult life is governed by context: what is appropriate in one setting is not appropriate in another; the way something is said may be more important than what is said. . . .”
—Stanley I. Greenspan (20th century)