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Chapter 6
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Circe, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power, Fear, and Self-Preservation
Women, Power, and Misogyny
Change, Initiative, and the Self
Mortality, Fragility, and Fulfillment
Family and Individuality
Summary
Analysis
The next day, Helios wordlessly flies Circe to her island. As soon as she steps out of his chariot, he departs. Circe refuses to let herself cry, knowing that none of her family mourns her. She surveys her island, spotting a house and a thick forest. The forest fills her with wonder—it is so full of life after the barren halls of the gods—but its unfamiliarity scares her. She finds herself waiting for someone to tell her it’s okay. As the sun sets, Circe decides to explore tomorrow.
Circe’s hesitance to explore her island illustrates her passivity. Having spent most of her life letting other people dictate her life, she relies on others to help her, which indicates that she doubts her own abilities (possibly because she is a woman and has internalized her society’s sexism). Even though she has seen that relying on other people to aid her in her goals—such as hoping that Aeëtes or Glaucos will be her ticket out of Helios’s halls—is ineffective, she struggles to break the habit. Hence, she finds herself waiting for someone to encourage her to explore her island.
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Circe enters the house. It’s lovely—spacious, well-furnished, and well-stocked. In the future, she will learn that the house cleans itself and the pantry automatically refills. All things considered, it doesn’t seem much like punishment. Thinking of Prometheus, Circe feels disappointed at the mildness of her punishment. But she recognizes that she and Scylla were just nymphs—their lives and struggles are meaningless. She is also sure that the luxuriousness of the island is Helios’s way of showing off Titan power to the Olympians.
Helios never passes an opportunity to show off his power, as is seen in Circe’s beautiful new house. At this point, Circe knows that her father has no real affection for her, so she is sure that her home’s luxury must serve him somehow. Circe’s disappointment at her punishment is likely rooted in the fact that its mildness suggests that she is not worth anything more dire. Her defiance was not meaningful enough for them to punish her more severely.
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After the sun sets, Circe lights a fire using flint and tinder and experiences a rush of pride after achieving this manual task. She helps herself to food from the pantry. As the shadows deepen, she becomes afraid and wonders if her punishment involves wild animals tearing through the walls. She makes her way to her bedroom where she lies awake, too terrified to sleep.
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When morning dawns, Circe circles her house, looking for marks that would indicate a sinister presence, but nothing is there. As her solitude sinks in, she realizes that no one will guide her or tell her what’s safe. Suddenly giddy, she heads off to explore and becomes swiftly acquainted with her island. She learns the different plants that grow there and explores every peak and cave. After her bleak childhood, she feels herself thrive at last. The shadows and loneliness no longer frighten her; singing merrily, she embraces the absence of her malicious family.
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Literary Devices
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Initially too timid to try witchcraft again, Circe finally tries her hand at it. She has no idea what to do, so she starts experimenting. Witchcraft, she learns, is a lot of work. She humorously reflects that this form of magic is not for gods, who despise labor of all kinds, especially the tedious work that witchcraft requires. But after such a vapid, purposeless youth, Circe embraces the work that comes with her new power.
At first, everything Circe tries is a failure. She has no knowledge of plants, and so she has to teach herself the basics, trial by unsuccessful trial. After her first success—turning an acorn into a strawberry—she increases her repertoire and builds on her power with each spell. She deepens her knowledge of plants and dapples with illusions. Her strongest skill is transformation, yet she discovers that her capabilities have limitations: no matter how strong the potion or spell, transformed creatures maintain their original minds. This makes her wonder if monster-Scylla is aware of her old self.
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One day, Circe comes across a wild boar, a massive and ferocious creature. Circe locks eyes with it and verbally dares it to try attacking her. After a moment, it walks away, and Circe feels at last like a true witch.
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That night, Circe thinks of the goddesses that have adoring pets. Wanting to “put them to shame,” Circe summons a female lion that, with the help of a potion, becomes a loyal companion. With her magic and her lion, Circe realizes that she looks different: bolder and fierce. She wishes that her relatives could see her now, walking among wolves and casting spells. She now knows how Aeëtes could be so calm before Helios—her magic makes her feel similarly strong.
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