It takes a writer like Angela Carter to make the connections between circus clowns and prostitutes. His novel, Nights at the Circus, depicts the two, and they are more similar than one might first imagine. In Nights at the Circus, Carter uses circuses and freak shows as symbols of the artifice necessary for sex work performed out of desperation—an inherently degrading performance for one who works for the pleasure of others. She writes about several characters - from the half-swan to the man without a mouth to the circus clown - who, without better options, become living spectacles through fantastic characters like these, she is able to portray dark truths; about sex work in real life.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"?Get the original essayThe first section of the book tells the story of Sophie Fevvers, a trapeze artist supposedly half-swan. artist who grew up in a brothel. From the beginning, Carter draws connections between the circus and the brothel, and the most obvious of these connections is the aspect of performance, or artifice. According to Fevvers' account, she was abandoned as a child and raised by the prostitutes who found her. From the age of seven, his job was to be a spectacle. With roses in her hair and a toy bow and arrows, she was forced to sit in the brothel's living room and play the role of Cupid – an "apprenticeship to be looked at", in the words of Fevvers ( 23). Although she does not condemn Ma Nelson, the owner of the brothel, for entrusting her with this work at such a young age, and even congratulates her for not having "put her into the profession" as other madams might have done. with such a young child, it's clearly not the healthiest upbringing for a girl. He instills in Fevvers the idea that she is an object to be contemplated and initiates her into the work of pleasure. She describes herself as both a “living painting” (23) and a “living statue” (39) and thus dehumanizes herself. Although she was not abused at Nelson and said she enjoyed her life there, these events early in her life would lay the foundation for a more humiliating future, with the idea already ingrained in her his head that one could live by degrading oneself until it became a human being. object through performance and costume. Costumes play an important role in Carter's novel. Sophie Fevvers moves from one costume to another at each stage of her life. She goes from the Cupid costume of her childhood to the representation of "Winged Victory" after growing wings, with a sword as an accessory and her hair powdered white, with "the wet white that clowns use in the circus" covering his face and torso. (37). This is the first mention of clowns in history, and it is linked to Fevvers' costume while he was at the brothel, the first link with the professions of clowning and prostitution. Although Fevvers is not a prostitute herself, according to her account, she works in the pleasure business, much like a clown does. The costume is important to both the client of the clown and the sex worker: it contributes to their objectification. It is a decoration, something that draws even more attention to a person's body so that it is easier to forget about their mind. For clowns, it's big shoes, bright colors and white makeup – the same white makeup Fevvers wears as a "living statue." Like a clown, she is a spectacle in a place of pleasure, and her true self is not meant to be seen, but rather an artificial, invented self. Later, in “The Abyss" of Madame Schreck, her costume becomes that of the Angel of Death, and in this Abyss she and other girls are subjected to much degradation and humiliation. (70) Fevvers' work for Madame Schreck - and the work of the other residents - is work done out of desperation, as a last resort. The inhabitants of the Abyss engage in sex work, or something similar (whether they engage in sexual acts or not, it all depends on the pleasure of the male clientele), because they do not believe they have any other options. Fevvers decides to work there due to lack of money. For someone with an unconventional appearance or even a disability like Fevvers' wings can be compared - after all, Walser describes her as always looking like "the cripple" when her wings were folded under her clothes outside of her performances (19) - Money-making opportunities may be harder to come by than for those born into happier circumstances. Fevvers, when she grows wings, “fears the proof of [her] own singularity” (34) because she knows she will. will become a spectacle if she can succeed in the body she was born into. Using his uniqueness, his "quirk" to make money in an underground show is his last option to make money when his adoptive family was in need. As Lizzie, her adoptive mother, said, "the painful litany of the poor's woes is a series of 'if onlys'" (55) - if only the doctor's bills, the sick baby, Lizzie's sister making a fall down the stairs, etc. then Fevvers wouldn't have to degrade himself for the sake of money. But as mentioned above, the idea was implanted in her head that she had the ability to work as an object, and so she does. In a situation as desperate as the one Fevvers finds himself in, people are sometimes willing to do more than they feel comfortable with, or more than their morals and values ​​allow. For example, someone who has entered sex work may begin with oral sex, not wanting to engage in other forms of sexual activity, but with the goal of earning more money and to build a larger customer base, he can continue to add more and more. their list of things they are willing to do. In the sex trade and in the entertainment trade of which Fevvers is a part, there is a clear difference between the worker and the client, and that is that it is only pleasant for the latter. . As Fevvers puts it, prostitutes are "just poor girls who earn their living, because, although some clients swear that the whores do it for pleasure, it is only to ease their own conscience, so that they feel less stupid when they prostitute themselves. shelling out cold hard cash for a pleasure that has no real existence unless it is given freely - oh, indeed! we knew we were only selling imitations. No woman would go into business unless driven by economic necessity, sir. 39The women who work for Madame Schreck are all desperate in one way or another and therefore allow themselves to be humiliated. The Wiltshire Wonder, for example, is a dwarf who works there because she believes "she has fallen so far from grace that she has never been able to escape the Abyss, and she regards herself with the greatest hatred." (68) The Wiltshire Wonder, who was sold by her mother, forced to sit in cakes despite her claustrophobia, and abandoned by men who treated her cruelly, helps Carter illustrate the importance of self-esteem in a sex worker. A lack of self-confidence can lead a person to commit.