Vocabulary in Context
Unit One
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Circuses have been entertaining people for thousands of years. At the public games in
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ancient Rome, for example, riders demonstrated their courage and fortitude by standing on the
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bare backs of horses and racing around circular tracks while the assembled crowds gaped in
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wonder and astonishment. In fact, the word circus comes from the Latin word for “circle” or
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Circuses
“oval.”
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Jugglers, those ambidextrous performers who deploy many objects in the air with both
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hands and keep them in constant motion, have an even more ancient history. Egyptian wall
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paintings and early Greek sculptures show jugglers, many of them women, balancing balls and
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clubs in the air. In the Americas, pictures of jugglers tossing torches have been found in ancient
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ruins.
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In the Middle Ages performers called jesters entertained royalty and commoners alike
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with jokes and physical comedy. In fact, even their names suggest a jest or gibe. Shakespeare
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features court jesters in some of his plays, where they often function as more than mere clowns
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who adulterate the seriousness of the text. In King Lear, for example, the Fool speaks a great
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deal of sense and is quoted verbatim by others. But this reiteration, cloaked in the guise of
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foolishness adds to the plot line.
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The modern circus began in England in 1768, when a man named Philip Astley presented
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fancy horseback riding, glittering acrobatic acts, and clowns, who are all accompanied by live
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music. Astley’s circus was quickly imitated in America. A century later, showmen such as P. T.
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Barnum, augmented these opulent spectacles with a great variety of acts including trapeze artists,
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tightrope walkers, trained animals, and pliable and supple dancers. The modern circus comprises
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talented professionals who are hardly tentative and wary. Instead, they boldly perform their
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stunts for eager audiences who are left without intimation of their talents.
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The clowns, however, are at the heart of any circus. Awkward and unkempt, bereft of all
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good grooming, the clowns strut and stumble in outlandish clothes and makeup, delighting one
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and all with their antics. Far from being insidious, these actors openly wish to make people
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laugh. These are hardly stolid actors with dour dispositions. Who can keep from laughing when
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a dozen clowns climb out of a tiny car?
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