What is the theme in Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter?

Magic realism is another theme in this book. In the aesthetic of Magical Realism, the author blends magical elements with the real world. Carter does this brilliantly, with several allusions (as opposed to illusions?) to well-known occult figures and themes. She also liberally borrows literary structure from myths and fairy tales, including the Fool’s Journey. The circus itself is a magical place where nothing is as it seems, and in the tale, even the oddest things are commonplace, and in many ways “normalized.”