Firstly, I thank Allah for everything in my life.

I
would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Fuad Abdul
Muttaleb for his encouragement and assistance to
complete this study. Of course I would like to thank
the

examining

committee

Dr.

Hussein

Al-

Hawamdeh and Dr. Azeez Jasem. I would like to

thank everybody here.
My thesis talks about Magical Realism in Angela
Carters The Magic Toyshop, Nights at the Circus,
and Wise Children.
It consists of four chapters and a conclusion.
Chapter one is an introduction to the thesis. It
tackles the life and the novels of Angela Carter
from

the

suggests

perspective

of

definition

of

magical
magical

realism.
realism,

It
its

historical background and its characteristics.

Chapter two examines The Magic Toyshop from the
viewpoint of magical realism.
Chapter three introduce Night at the Circus, and it
studies magical realism features in the novel.
Chapter four talks about Wise Children, and it
treats the novel as a magical work. Finally, a
conclusion follows to gather the result of this
project.

Magical realism has been widely recognized as an

important genre in literature of modern world. In
magical realism, magical things are dealt with not
just as possible but also as realistic.
Magical realism is associated with Latin American
writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He used magical
realism technique in his writing. Some critics
believe that magical realism novel returns to One
Thousand and One Nights, so it is considered as
inspirational for the magical realist writers.
Magical realism consists of two contradictory
parts; the magic and the real. Magic refers to
something

unacceptable

to

human

mind,

something fictional cannot occur in ordinary life, it

refers to something happens in dream and in the
unconscious mind. But in the term of magical
realism

magic refers to something acceptable to

human mind as it can occur in ordinary life.

Magical realism is accepted as a way of life style by
the characters in the story.
Magical realism connects with other genres; such
as: surrealism.

Surrealists try to describe something above from

the real world, such as hypnosis and dreaming.
Surrealism takes us to the unrealistic world which
exists in our minds. It expresses the unconscious,
so it failed to act in the theatre. But Magical
realists describe the real world itself as having
bizarre aspects inherent in it. The novel which
contains magical realism can be acted in the
theatre.
Magical realism fiction describes the real world of
people whose reality is different from ours. It tries
to show us the world through other eyes.
When you dream of something you find the effect
of this dream in real life in the morning. For
example; when we dream that we are in the
garden and wake up in the morning with the rose
in our hand.
The Main Characteristics of Magical Realism are
Hybridty: It is an arrangement between paradoxical
elements like life and death, reality and unreality,
and

ordinary

and

extraordinary.

Another

characteristic of magical realism is Supernatural:

The writer should deal with supernatural elements

as realistic events as if they could happen.

Supernatural is never described as questionable.
Fantastical elements are accepted but are never
explained according to our knowledge of the world.
Also, time is another element of magical realism. It
is described as nonlinear instead of linear. The
narrator sometimes takes the reader back to past
and sometimes turns back to the present.
Magical realism mode affects on some English
writers such as Angela Carter. Carter was born in
1940 and died in 1992. She was known for her
feminist and magical realism works. Carter wrote
The Magic Toyshop.
It was published in 1967. It talks about girl named
Melanie who is fifteen years old. She lived in
wealthy family but after her parents death she
moved to live with her uncle Philip, and her life was
turned upside down. The novel has Magical Realist
features such as Hybridity: Melanie is sent to live
with uncle Philip in south London, here setting are
opposites such as urban and rural. Uncle Philip has
power to make a dead puppets come to life. Also,
Melanie and her parents are considered educated,

civilized, clean, and modern people. But uncle

Philip is considered the opposite of them. Another
element of magical realism is Carnival. The carnival
is place where people can laugh. When uncle Philip
is out of the house it is full of vitality and energy.
His family make parties of music and dancing. The
novel has Real setting. It happened in real place
which is London. Carter uses the fairy tales in her
novel such as Leda and the swan. Also, Terror is
dominate element from the beginning of the novel.
When Melanie wore her mother's dress, and she
became in the middle of the garden she was afraid.
Everything in Uncle Philip's house frightens her;
like cuckoo clock.
Supernatural is another element of magical realism
in the novel. Uncle Philip has a power to make his
toys come to life. In the Leda and the Swan acting,
the swan is described as a monster. The swan hurt
Melanie and the girl cannot thrust it. Thus, Philip
has a power to make a huge puppet swan like a
real swan. At the end of the novel Finn deals with
the puppet swan as a person. He wants to bury it.
He behaves like a killer. Through the novel Carter

uses details in description: Melanie gives more

details of uncle Philip in the wedding photograph.
Moreover,
makes

Carter

things

uses

behave

Personification.
like

the

Carter

person.

She

describes pearls as a tears of fish.

The second novel in this project is Nights at the
circus. It was published in 1984. It is a story about
woman named Fevvers who is an aerialist woman.
She has the power to fly. She proclaims that she is
a bird woman. She has wings. She claims that she
was hatched like a bird from an egg.
This novel has many characteristics of magical
realism such as: Supernatural. Fevvers has real
wings. She gives evidence that she is a bird and
human being at the same time because she does
not have a navel. There are another supernatural
characters in the novel, such as Toussaint. He is a
person without mouth. This character is impossible
to survive. Because without mouth cannot eat and
as a result cannot live. Another one is Fanny Four
Eyes. she is a person with additional pair of eyes in
another place of her body. Carter uses unreal
characters throughout the novel and within this

bizarre world it becomes ordinary for Fevvers to

have wings and fly.
Also, the novel has a real place which is London.
And time is considered nonlinear narrative. Walser
who is a journalist in newspaper heard the clock
striking midnight three times within one night
during his interview with Fevvers.
The atmosphere of carnival is clear in the novel.
In this novel we can see a circus and foolish
character. Fevvers works in a circus, and she gives
happiness for the audience.
Another element of magical realism in the novel is
Hybridity. Favvers is associated with the slogan is
she fact or is she fiction. Another binary opposite
is male and female. Also, the transformation within
the characters in the novel is an example of
hybridity; Fevvers changes from normal child to a
bird woman.
The third novel in this thesis is Wise Children. it
was published in 1991. It is a story of a twin Dora
and Nora. They are seventy five years old. Dora is
the narrator. Their father denies them because

they are illegitimate children. Dora writes her

memoir.

She

knows

everything

about

her

childhood. She tells the story with all the energy of

a young woman.
This novel also has many elements of
realism such as:

magical

Carnival and real setting. Dora

and Nora become the most

celebrated dancing

girls in London. Uncle Peregrine connected with fun

and laughter. Also, he is a character in the novel no
one can predict about him. He has a magical
power. No one knows where he might appear. He
appears from nowhere at all parties. Also, Identical
twins of characters is another element of magical
realism. There are many pairs of twins such as:
Melchior and Peregrine, and Dora and Nora. Also,
most characters in the novel have the same day of
birth which is the date birth of Shakespeare.
This story is considered nonlinear narrative like
Night at the Circus. Dora uses time as a tool of her
narration. While she is narrating the events she
uses flashbacks and flash forwards.
Carter uses Fairy tale in the novel. Dora starts to
narrate the story like fairy tale. Every part in the

novel begins in the fairy tale sentence which is

Once upon a time.
Dora sees their life as fairy tale so the novel has
happy ending like fairy tales.
Myth is an element of magical realism. After the
death of Nora and Doras grandma, they enter to
her room and they can hear her ghost. Another
element of magical realism is Hybridity. The novel
contains many opposites such as: North and South
London, legitimate and illegitimate girls, tragedy
and comedy events, and life and death.
In these three novels Carter tries to solve the
problem of the patriarchal society and gives the
women their liberation. In The Magic Toyshop ,
Uncle Philip and his oppression of his family
represents this problem. In Nights at the Circus,
Fevvers suffers from this problem. There is a man
who wants to sacrifice her to attain immortality,
and another one who wants her with his collection.
Also, in Wise Children, Dora and Noras father and
brother deny their children. They do not take their
responsibility for their family.
There are some differences between the three
novels.

In The Magic Toyshop, the protagonist of the novel

is Melanie. She is an adult girl. She is not famous
and she never acts on the stage , but uncle Philip
forces her to act in the theatre .

She hates

theatre . But in Night at the Circus and

Wise

Children the protagonists of the novels, Fevvers

and Dora and Nora are famous actors, and they
have audiences. Also, they love acting. Moreover,
in The Magic Toyshop, Carter uses the linear
narrative. But in Night at the Circus and

Wise

Children Carter uses nonlinear narrative.

As a conclusion Angela Carter's novels The Magic
Toyshop, Nights at the Circus, and Wise Childern
embody characteristics of magical realism to focus
the attention of the readers to some issues related
to woman treatment in her life.