Discussion Guide: The Night Circus

Although my book club meeting got pushed to next week, I still wanted to share my Night Circus discussion guide with you all! Couldn't leave you hangin' :)

I think this is a great selection for a book club. While the plot is driven by an impending life or death duel of skills, it's still a relatively light read, the playfulness of the circus and influence of the younger characters making the book feel hopeful. Fantasy, romance, and adventure are all at play in this book, making it a great crowd-pleaser. This is the perfect read for the train, or a free weekend, and the changing perspectives will make it fly by. So if you're looking for a quick read that will make you feel like you're somewhere a little more magical, try The Night Circus.

This book is rich in detail, so I felt there was a lot to explore in the minutia. Larger themes were also at play, and I wanted to bring those together, as well. Literary influences, time, names, family, and fate were some of the themes that I explored in these questions.

It'll be fun to unpack them next week with my book club, and I hope you can use this guide for your own reading, or your club's discussions, too :) 

Did you pick up on any other themes? Tell me what they were in the comments, or on my Instagram!

1. "The Tempest" is a clear influence on this novel, from Prospero’s name to the quote at the end of the book. What other thematic influences of Shakespeare do you find? What other plays influence this work? 
2. What role do the reveurs have in the book? Do they influence the plot?
3.  If Hector and Alexander are a generation, Marco and Celia the next, and Bailey, Widget and Poppet another, how do you think the generations have changed? What role did each previous generation have in shaping the next?
4.  How do you think Hector and Alexander’s teaching methods impacted Celia and Marco’s personalities, respectively? Do you agree with the book in that each method unintentionally groomed the contestants to fall in love?
5. What’s your favorite tent in the Circus?
6. Do you think Bailey’s fate is as imprisoning as Celia and Marco’s being bound to the game? Do you think Celia and Marco’s final fate is more like heaven, hell, or purgatory?
7.  Do you think either Hector or Alexander were good fathers to Celia and Marco?
8. Names are a point of interest for the author. Celia refuses to be called anything else, especially Miranda, though Hector forces her to take false names when she reads fortunes. Marco chooses his own name after being taken into the care of Alexander. Widget and Poppet are nicknames for the twins, and Bailey keeps his name. What significance do names hold in the book?
9. It’s often pointed out in the novel that timing is incredibly important. The narrative jumps back and forth through time, time stops for certain characters, and a main character is a clockmaker. Does time control the Circus or does the circus control time? (Partly inspired by the Penguin reading guide)
10. Could you see any other way to end the game than the way Celia ended it? How would the novel have ended if Marco had achieved his intent to kill himself rather than complete the game as it was meant to be completed?
11. How does Isobel serve as a foil to Celia? Who, if anyone, fills that role for Marco? (Taken from the Penguin reading guide)
12. Knowing the horrible effects the game has, did Tsukiko have a responsibility to warn Celia and Marco? Why do you think she sought to be part of the Circus, knowing from experience what torture it could be?
13. With Bailey as the caretaker and proprietor of the Circus, how do you think it will change? What will stay the same? We see that on the back of his business card is an email rather than an address. How do you think technology will impact the magic of the Circus for future reveurs? Will it decrease? Will changes have to be made to impress an audience who has a form of magic in their pocket at all times?
14. The main characters are divided into those inside the circus and those outside. Celia, Poppet, and Widget are inside, while Marco, Mme. Padva, the Burgess sisters are outside. Do you think it was more difficult to be inside the circus, or outside? Do you think it said something about the nature of the characters if they were inside or out of the Circus?