It explores the subversive nature of fatherhood, the denying of which leads Nora and Dora to frivolous "illegitimate" lechery.

The novel plays on Carter's admiration of Shakespeare and her love of fairy tales and the surreal, incorporating a large amount of magical realism and elements of the carnivalesque that probes and twists our expectations of reality and society.

[4] Dora and Nora's birthday gets off to a dramatic start when their half-brother, Tristram Hazard, who believes himself to be the nephew of the twins, arrives on their doorstep.

Dora is deeply hurt by Melchior's rejection, contrasting the loving nature of Peregrine, who becomes the twins' father figure.

In the 1930s, he goes to Hollywood and produces a film version of A Midsummer Night's Dream in which Dora and Nora play Peaseblossom and Mustardseed.

After the Second World War, during which Grandma Chance is killed in the Blitz, Dora and Nora attend the 21st birthday party of Saskia and Imogen.

The same night, Lady A falls down a flight of stairs and becomes confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life; she moves in with Dora and Nora.

Carter frequently uses objects and places which take on meanings beyond the literal and begin to develop ideas about society, for example: A grandfather clock represents their absent father, as it was given to them by their great Aunt (Ranulph's Sister) and sent to their house as the last known address of Melchior.

The pairing of opposites is shown in sets of twins and in the family names "Chance" and "Hazard" (two words with the same meaning, perhaps emphasising the superficial nature of the differences between them).

Illegitimacy versus legitimacy: Nora and Dora are from "the wrong side of the tracks" and were "born out of wedlock", their father is "a pillar of the legit theatre" and throughout the book the twins are constantly trying to become legitimate and be accepted.

However, Carter questions the concept of legitimacy, and whether it is just a perception rather than reality: even the characters that are seen to be from the legitimate side do not always act in a respectable way, for example Saskia has an affair with Tristram, her half-brother.

Incest: for example Saskia and Tristram are half brother and sister (although may be cousins), Nora loses her virginity to a pantomime goose when playing a gosling, Perry sleeps with Dora.

Melchior and Peregrine also share partners (e.g. Daisy Duck, Lady A); Nora and Dora both sleep with the Blond Tenor.

The term "wise children" occurs in two other works by Angela Carter: The Bloody Chamber and Nights at the Circus.