synopsis
Circe is a story of a greek nymph, living in a mans world. The novel takes the reader on a journey from her childhood all the way to her exiled island. The book is perfect for those who love classics with famous greek figures such as Icarus and Odysseus part of the tale. Circe explores her powers as a witch as well as her power of being a woman - whilst reminding modern readers of the strength of femininity.
'' He showed me his scars, and in return he let me pretend that I had none''
Analysis
Madeline Miller is a significant author, who is becoming popular in modernizing Greek mythology. Her most famous book has to be the song of Achilles which is a heart-wrenching and beautiful coming of age novel, which made me sob for days. Circe, however different from the song of Achilles follows the theme of re writing history which is present within her books. Miller Re-paint's mythology shining a light on homosexual relationships in the song of Achilles and the power of femininity in Circe. The Odyssey in which the tale of Circe can be found portrays her as a harsh witch who turns Odysseus's men into pigs and begs for him to sleep with her. Miller paints a different story. The story of Circe written by Miller shows the beauty of being a woman and the raw brutality of love. By Circe being a nymph, she is immortal therefore the novel includes many different lovers who all teach her a different meaning of what it is to be a female. With Zeus and her powerful dad Helios watching over her and punishing her for how she loves, we see this brutality of men in power.
What is most wonderful is the character development throughout the book; we see Circe through love, loss, explorations, conflict, healing, and more. Circe’s character explores what it means to be immortal, to live in a patriarchal world ruled by gods, and also, more simply, what it means to love. Circe carries the ideological significance of love, that we may love a man or our child but that means nothing if we do not learn to love ourselves. Circe is an empowering novel allowing us as a society to see the dichotomy between mythology from a male perspective and female. Millers' literature shines a light on the beauty of mythology and finds a way to convey the significance of growth. A novel that takes the reader on a journey has always been the most attractive to me, the detail and amount of mythological well-known creatures in the novel not only fulfilled my love for a good book but also my love for classical history.
Miller has spoken out about her novel which was shortlisted for the woman prize of fiction in 2019 and said “I wasn’t trying to write Circe’s story in a modern way… I was just trying to be true to her experience in the ancient world. It was a very eerie experience. I would put the book away and check the news. The top story was the same issue I had just been writing about — sexual assault, abuse, men refusing to allow women to have any power … I was drawn to the mystery of her character — why is she turning men into pigs?” Analyzing Millers' statement it's disgusting to see the parallel between the treatment of women in mythology and history and the treatment of women today in which we are still oppressed. Circe acts as a reminder that - No matter how much a man tries to mute your story, there is always a woman out there ready to rewrite it.
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