Is She Fact or is She Fiction?

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Summarising the argument in the journal article Is she fact or is she fiction? Angela Carter and the enigma of women, Fernihough argues that gender is a performance, our ideas of masculinities and femininities become knowable through representations of them. The article states through performance we are able to break away from our sex/ gender dual notions which have become socially recognisable.

Fevvers constitutes her identity through performance in which audiences are unable to distinguish between whether she is real or whether she is fake. This could be disputed because the audience may be aware that Fevvers stage persona is not real yet are still entertained by her performances and want to believe it is reality. The novel directs the reader into thinking that Fevvers true identity will be revealed at some point, the article suggests this will happen when Fevvers mask, for example her makeup is stripped off and each layer will reveal more and more of her true self. Furthermore, Fernihough demonstrates that Fevvers embodies this idea of masquerade; she hides her true identity with an artificial mask, so she will be seen as more desirable to a man and their idea of a women. On the other hand, is she just acting out her own idea of gender? It could be thought that Fevvers disguises her true identity because she takes pleasure in being the centre of attention and centre of the male gaze. For instance, “Look at me! With a grand, proud, ironic grace, she exhibited herself before the eyes of the audience as if she were a marvelous present too good to be played with. Look, not touch."( Carter, 1984: p13). The quote highlights she is demanding everyone’s attention and does not want to be touched she thrives on attention from her audien...

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...ef Lives: Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus." Journal of Narrative Technique 28: 2 (1998) 161-85.

Guffery, Robert. "White Noise: Don Delillo's Postmodern Autopsy of the Twentieth Century." New York Review of Science Fiction 20: 1 (2007) 8- 13.

Kohike. M.-L. "Into History through the Back Door: The' Past Historic' in Nights at the Circus and Affinity." Women: A Cultural Review 15: 2 (2004) 66- 153.

Martin, Sara. " The Power of Monstrous Women: Fay Weldon's The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1983), Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus (1984) and Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry (1989)" Journal of Gender Studies 8:2 (1999) 193- 210. http://docserver.ingentaconnect.com.ezproxy.tees.ac.uk/deliver/connect/routledg/09589236/v8n2/s5.pdf?expires=1298230278&id=61314097&titleid=391&accname=Teesside+University&checksum=2898893BE0AFDC1DF11479EEA7F65916 (20. 2. 11).

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