The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern
Contents
Reflections and Distortions
Overview
The Hall of Mirrors reveals itself as a controlled distortion rather than a simple attraction, with reflections that drop objects, add people, and contradict what is physically present. A bowler-hatted figure appears only in the glass, suggesting unseen presences and unreliable perception within the circus. The mirrored final room expands a single lamppost into an infinite cityscape, emphasizing Le Cirque des Rêves’ disorienting, reality-bending magic.
Summary
A visitor enters a tent marked Hall of Mirrors, expecting plain mirrored walls, but finds hundreds of mirrors in different shapes and frames.
As the visitor walks, the reflections behave inconsistently: one mirror shows boots while the next shows empty space; the scarf vanishes and reappears across adjacent panes. In several mirrors, a man in a bowler hat appears behind the visitor, but when the visitor turns, the man cannot be found in the room.
The passage opens into a bright, round chamber lit by a tall black iron lamppost with a frosted glass lamp. With fully mirrored walls aligned to the striped ceiling and matching floor, the reflections multiply until the room becomes an endless field of repeating streetlamps and fractal stripes.
Who Appears
- Man in a bowler hatMysterious figure who appears in some mirror reflections but cannot be found in the room.
- Circus patronsOther visitors glimpsed in reflections, suggesting more people than seen directly.