Women, Power, and Misogyny Theme Analysis

Circe explores how women cope with a society that sees them as inferior to men. The novel’s protagonist is a nymph named Circe, who experiences ancient Greece’s misogyny firsthand. Nymphs are at the bottom of the gods’ ladder of power and, as women, they are susceptible to violence and abuse from mortal men and immortal gods alike. From a young age, Circe witnesses how women are not expected to hold power—and, if they do, it is almost always through a man. Some women, however, do manage to create their own power to wield autonomously. Circe is one of these women, as she possesses the power of magic. When her capabilities are revealed, she quickly learns that the misogynistic society in which she lives does not welcome women having power. The gods fear her, with Zeus and Helios exiling her in the hopes of containing her. Upon being ejected from the halls of the gods, Circe becomes enmeshed in the lives of mortals and discovers that their attitudes toward powerful women are similar to the gods’; women like her are consistently met with distrust. Consequentially, Circe spends much of her time in isolation, both physically and emotionally. Circe is not unique in her lonely experience as a woman with power. Circe’s niece Medea and sister Pasiphaë, also witches, have similar fates. Through their experiences, the book illustrates how, in a misogynistic society where women rarely possess power of their own, each independently powerful woman faces the world alone.

In ancient Greece, women are at the bottom of the power hierarchy, which limits—if not totally erases—their means to gain power. Although there are a few powerful goddesses, women are largely represented by nymphs. Nymphs are “allowed to work only through the power of others,” which means that any influence is usually gained through marriage. Circe’s mother, Perse, does just this: she entices Helios to marry her so that she may “hold sway in [his] halls.” Women’s value is generally restricted to their sexuality. Parents, such as Perse and Helios, use their daughters as pawns in marriages in order to “trade[] [them] for something better.” In these arranged marriages, the husband sees the wife as just a means to breed children. Circe’s brothers Aeëtes and Perses approach marriage in this way: the former “dispatche[s] [his wife] as soon as she [bears] him an heir” (he kills her), and the latter “has some goddess [...] he keeps in chains.” In this way, women in ancient Greece have no say in their own lives—they are seen only as bearers of children or as sexual objects, and they’re discarded once they can no longer fulfill these prescribed roles. Moreover, the book’s female characters—from the serving girls whom Penelope’s suitors rape to Circe herself—are also vulnerable to male violence. At one point, a sailor learns that Circe lives alone and rapes her—he does not expect consequences if there is no man to punish him.

When women do have power, they are distrusted, and others in power try to constrain them. When Circe and Pasiphaë’s abilities are discovered, Zeus and Helios are afraid of their powers, and they exile Circe to a remote island so that “she can do no more harm.” As for Pasiphaë, the gods figure that her husband Minos “will be sure she is held to her proper place.” Although Perses and Aeëtes also possess magic, no significant attempts are made to constrict their power—presumably because they’re male. Medea is also treated with suspicion. When Aeëtes discovers that Medea has powers, he tries to discourage her from witchcraft by punishing her—he is scared that she will arm her future husband with magic. Jason, Medea’s husband, is terrified of her powers. Encouraged by his kingdom’s people, who “despise[] her,” he leaves Medea and takes a new wife.

Ostracized for their power, the powerful women of the novel are left to face the world alone. Hardened by the attacks they face, the women often isolate themselves further as a means of self-preservation. To prevent Minos from keeping her “in a jar [...] [to] breed to death,” Pasiphaë wields her poisons and magic with cruel abandon. Relying only on herself, Pasiphaë is loveless and alone. She rejects all forms of attachment, perhaps because she knows that love could be used against her. To her, “loath[ing] [...] is where [her] power comes from.” Medea, too, is a solitary figure. After Aeëtes’s attempts to curtail her powers, she runs away with Jason, whom she loves obsessively. But when Jason, intimidated by her power, leaves her, Medea kills his new wife before slaughtering her own children, “swearing that Jason [will] never have them.” Upon being abandoned, Medea, who “would rather set the world on fire than lose,” rejects the world completely. Circe, on the other hand, is physically isolated by the gods and is plagued by loneliness. Yet even when she meets others, she remains emotionally alone. When ships begin to stop at Aiaia, she learns quickly that the men on them see her only as a woman to dominate—she is raped by the captain of one of the first ships that comes. Traumatized and determined to protect herself, she turns all men who arrive on the island into pigs, further isolating herself. She does not even trust the men whom she creates a rapport with. She is wary of revealing anything about herself to Hermes and Odysseus, as she knows they will “gather [her] weaknesses up” to use them against her when they choose.

Of the three women, only Circe is able to find true love. “[Carrying] his wounds openly in his hands,” Telemachus treats Circe with dignity and respect, which she is not accustomed to. After years of being either feared or abused, Circe at last meets someone who treats her as an equal, and it is for this man—Telemachus—that she decides to give up her immortality. So, although misogynistic societies force powerful women to face the world alone, the book demonstrates that it is still possible for these women to find fulfillment through equality and respect from their peers.