‘Circe‘ was published in The World’s Wife, one of Duffy’s most popular collections, in 1999. It is one of the poems in this publication that focuses on a female figure from history or mythology. In this case, Circe, one of the secondary characters from Homer’s Odyssey. In Homer’s story, she is only defined through her interaction with Odysseus. In Duffy’s poem, she is the narrator, defining her own life and recasting Odysseus in a very different light.
Explore Circe
- 1 Myth of Circe
- 2 Summary
- 3 Structure and Form
- 4 Literary Devices
- 5 Detailed Analysis
- 6 FAQs
- 7 Similar Poetry
Myth of Circe
In Greek mythology, Circe was the daughter of Helios, the sun god, and Perseis. She lived on the island of Aeaea, where she met Odysseus on his journey home from the Trojan war. He sent his men to explore Circe’s island and accepted her hospitality. But, one man who remained outside Circe’s home saw Circe use magic to transform all the men into pigs, lions, and other animals. This man, Eurolychus, informed Odysseus about what happened, and they came up with a plan to free the transformed men. Hermes told them to put a specific plant into a drink so that they wouldn’t be transformed. Odysseus threatened Circe and forced her to restore the men to their proper forms. He went on to spend a month with her and they had a son together before he left her.
Summary
‘Circe’by Carol Ann Duffy is a retelling of Circe’s story from Homer’s Odyssey. It recasts how she was treated and the way Odysseus and his men behaved.
In the first part of the poem, the speaker starts out by describing the various ways that she cooks different parts of pigs. She takes the reader through the ears, brain, skin, and balls. Line by line, she reasserts her dominance over the men who thought they could take advantage of her home and dominate her. Mixed in with the cooking imagery, she suggests the cruel ways that men have treated women throughout history. At one point, she even addresses the listener, asking when men had “listened” to them. The poem concludes with a few lines that directly reference the arrival and Odysseus’s departure from her island.
Structure and Form
‘Circe’ by Carol Ann Duffy is a four-stanza poem that is written in free verse. This means that the poem does not conform to a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. But, that doesn’t mean the poem is without form. For example, “sty” and “sky” at the ends of lines eight and ten of stanza one. These half-rhymes are a great example of how free verse allows for instances of rhyme and meter. The first stanza has eleven lines, the second: nine, the third: nine, and the fourth: eight.
Literary Devices
Throughout ‘Circe,’ Duffy makes use of several literary devices. These include but are not limited to:
- Allusion: throughout this poem, Duffy alludes to tales from Greek mythology. Specifically, she explores Circe’s role in Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan war.
- Alliteration: seen through the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words. For example, “nereids and nymphs” in line one and “bristling” and “backs” in line four of stanza one.
- Enjambment: occurs when the poet cuts off a line before its natural stopping point. For example, the transition between lines six and seven of stanza one as well as lines five and six of stanza three.
- Enumeration: a rhetorical device that occurs when a writer chooses to list out items. For example, “should be blanched, singed, tossed / in a pot, boiled, kept hot, scraped, served, garnished / with thyme” from stanza three.
Detailed Analysis
Stanza One
I’m fond,nereids and nymphs,unlike some, of the pig,
of thetusker, the snout, the boar and the swine.
(…)
like a lemon popped in the mouth of the sky.
But I want to begin with arecipe from abroad
In the first lines of ‘Circe,’ the speaker, Circe herself, begins by telling the listener what she’s fond of. This includes “nereids,” or female water spirits, and “nymphs,” or female nature spirits. Juxtaposed against these more feminine images is the “pig,” something else she’s fond of. She lists out pig attributes, all things that she admires. Readers should take note of the use of a perfect rhyme at the ends of lines two and three with “swine” and “mine.” This is one of the only examples of perfect rhyme in the poem.
As the lines progress, it becomes clear that Circe admires the pig for what it adds to meals. There is also some sexually suggestive language in these lines. For example, “under my thumb” and “skin of their backs.” These phrases allude to something more going on in Circe’s world than a simple interest in the characteristics of pigs. She uses progressively insulting words in the next lines. For example, “hogs and runts.”
The pigs, which are a clear allusion to the men Circe transformed in the original story, are kept behind a “creaky gate” in a “sty.” There, they eat swill, which she feeds them at dusk.
Stanza Two
which uses the cheek –and the tongue in cheek
at that.Lay two pig’s cheeks, with the tongue,
in a dish, and strew it well over with salt
(…)
nymphs, with those piggy eyes.Season with mace.
In the next lines, the poet goes back and forth between having her speaker insult the man-pigs, and allude to a distaste in men in general, and describing how she cooks pigs. Circe goes back and forth quickly, listing out techniques and ingredients. In the second half of the stanza, she uses personification to depict these animals. This is another way that she alludes to the men they used to be. They are “wise,” “cruel,” “kind.” All of them have “piggy eyes” and will be seasoned “with mace.” This alludes to the spice as well as the weapon, mace. It is a defensive tool often used by women in the form of pepper spray.
Stanza Three
Well-cleaned pig’s earsshould be blanched, singed, tossed
in a pot, boiled, kept hot, scraped, served, garnished
(…)
from the slit, bulging, vulnerable bag of the balls.
When theheart of a pig has hardened,dice it small.
The cooking terms come back at the beginning of the third stanza. The poet uses enumeration and accumulation to list out the steps to cooking “pig’s ears.” After describing how the ear should be cooked, the speaker asks a rhetorical question regarding how the “ear” treated her. As a representative of men, and of their ability to hear and listen to the women in their lives, she asks if the ear ever listened “to you, to your prayers and rhymes, / to the chimes of your voice, singing and clear?” This is a beautiful lyrical line that juxtaposes the brutality of men, seen through their depiction as pigs, against the beauty of a woman’s presence in their lives. The fact that they can ignore “your voice, singing and clear” further emphasizes how cruel these men are. She emasculates them with the next lines references “balls.”
The last line of this stanza reads: “When the heart of a pig has hardened, dice it small.” Circe’s depiction of men makes a “hardened” heart seem inevitable. It’s going to happen eventually, so one should be prepared to do away with it.
Stanza Four
Dice it small.I, too, once knelt on this shining shore
watching the tall ships sail from the burning sun
(…)
Of course, I was younger then. And hoping for men.Now,
let us baste that sizzling pig on the spit once again.
In the final stanza, the speaker finally brings in some real details in regard to Odysseus and his men. When she says “I, too” at the beginning of the sentence, she’s acknowledging that the listener is in the same place she is. She, too, once hoped for men. Now, she sees them for what they are. Without ever explicitly saying the pigs and men are one and the same, she makes the reader aware of the fact.
The lines in this stanza contrast significantly with the previous. They are far more lyrical and poetic-sounding than the cooking imagery. The past was beautiful in a way that the present isn’t. But, the speaker admits she was a different person then. She was young, naive, and unaware of what the men coming to her island was going to mean for her life.
FAQs
What is the poem ‘Circe’ by Carol Ann Duffy about?
It is about Circe’s methods for cooking pigs, taking back her power over men, and detailing the different person she is today versus when Odysseus visited her.
What are the themes in ‘Circe’ by Carol Ann Duffy?
The themes in ‘Circe’ are control and women’s empowerment. Circe takes back her power from the men who visit her island and attempt to control her. She empowers herself through the detailed cooking demonstration. She asserts her own power over her story.
When was ‘Circe’ by Carol Ann Duffy published?
It was published in 1999 in The World’s Wife.
Why did Carol Ann Duffy write ‘Circe?’
Duffy wrote this poem in order to retell Circe’s story and depict her in a different light. Now, her story is told by a woman from a woman’s perspective.
Was Carol Ann Duffy the first female Poet Laureate?
Carol Ann Duffy was the first female Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom.
Similar Poetry
Readers who enjoyed ‘Circe’ should also consider reading some other Carol Ann Duffy poems. For example:
- ‘A Dreaming Week’ – suggests that books and writing are the ideal forms of escape.
- ‘Beautiful’ – focuses on the damage beauty can cause. Duffy speaks on Helen of Troy, Princess Diana, and others in these lines.
- ‘The Light Gatherer’ – explores motherhood and the happiness a child can bring. The latter is represented by light.
FAQs
'Circe' by Carol Ann Duffy is a poem about Circe's reassertion of control over her life and how she now considers men. 'Circe' was published in The World's Wife, one of Duffy's most popular collections, in 1999. It is one of the poems in this publication that focuses on a female figure from history or mythology.
What are the themes in Carol Ann Duffy's poems? ›
Duffy's themes include language and the representation of reality; the construction of the self; gender issues; contemporary culture; and many different forms of alienation, oppression and social inequality. She writes in everyday, conversational language, making her poems appear deceptively simple.
Is Carol Ann Duffy a feminist? ›
Carol Ann Duffy, as a feminist and the current laureate poet of the UK, has played a great role in contemporary English literature. She is known for her feminist writing intended to give voice to the marginalized women who were silent in history.
When was Circe by Carol Ann Duffy published? ›
"Circe" was published in Duffy's 1999 collection, The World's Wife, which features poems told from the perspective of the female counterparts of famous male figures from history and myth.
What is Circe's power? ›
Circe was renowned for her vast knowledge of potions and herbs. Through the use of these and a magic wand or staff, she would transform her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals.
Why did Circe turn them into pigs? ›
Miller said she novelized the story of Circe, a witch from The Odyssey who turns men into pigs, because she wanted more freedom to explore the character.
What is the tone of the poem originally? ›
Carol Ann Duffy's "Originally" reflects on both the specific sadness of emigration and the universal sadness of growing up. In this poem, a small Scottish child, confused and frightened by her family's move to England, slowly loses her sense of cultural identity.
Why is it called Worlds wife? ›
The famous daffodils, we remember, were Dorothy's. The title of The World's Wife is both a tacit understanding that it's (still) a man's world, and a joke on the world's most popular dedication: To My Wife.
What is the themes of the poem originally? ›
In this poem, Duffy reveals the importance of early childhood memories and experiences in shaping identity and also considers the impact of significant domestic changes during the formative years.
What is Carol Ann Duffy most famous poem? ›
One of Carol Ann Duffy's most popular and frequently discussed poems, 'Prayer' is a Shakespearean sonnet about the various reminders of prayer – heard in the rhythm of a train, or the sound of piano scales, or the familiar routine of the radio shipping forecast – which we experience in our daily lives.
Influence from other Poets
Carol Ann Duffy was notably influenced by writers such a Pablo Neruda, Aimé Césaire, William Wordsworth, T.S. Eliot, and Robert Browning.
Is Carol Ann Duffy religious? ›
Raised Catholic, Duffy dispensed with religion aged 15, when her convent school became an old people's home. She's escaped the guilt of the lapsed, but remains gripped by a heightened sense of the ritual of language. 'Poetry and prayer are very similar,' she explains.
What is the message of the world's wife? ›
The themes of the poems focus on the complexities of gender relations, the roles of women, and the often ill treatment of women through fictional, biblical, mythical, and historical contexts.
What is Delilah about Carol Ann Duffy? ›
'Delilah' by Carol Ann Duffy is a thoughtful poem that retells the story of Samson and Delilah from the latter's perceptive. The poem describes the relationship the two had in new terms. It focuses on how unhealthy Samson's concerns with his strength and image are while also showing a tender side of him.
What is Mrs Lazarus about? ›
Lazarus" reimagines the biblical story of Lazarus, whom Jesus famously resurrected, from his wife's point of view. In the poem, Mrs. Lazarus grieves the loss of her husband intensely. But as soon as she's finally "healed" and started to move on with her life, Lazarus is raised from the dead.
What happens at the end of Circe? ›
The book ends with Circe making a potion to bring forth her true self. She then has a vision of herself as a mortal, growing old with Telemachus. She drinks the potion. For more detail, see the full Section-by-Section Summary.
Does Circe marry Telemachus? ›
According to later tradition, Telemachus married Circe (or Calypso) after Odysseus' death.
Why did Odysseus sleep with Circe? ›
Odysseus refuses unless she meets his conditions: Circe must turn his men whom she earlier transformed into pigs back into humans, and she must promise never to use her magic to harm him. Once they strike a bargain, Odysseus sleeps with Circe.
Is Circe good or evil? ›
For thousands of years, the world has only known Homer's Circe—an evil witch, destined to create mischief on her island of pigs.
Does Circe fall in love with Odysseus? ›
In the Odyssey, she turns Odysseus' men into pigs, but after he challenges her, she takes him as a lover, allowing him and his men to stay with her and aiding them when they depart again. Circe has had a long literary life, inspiring writers such as Ovid, James Joyce, Eudora Welty, and Margaret Atwood.
Circe is referring to Homer's version of the story, in which Odysseus arrives on her island sea-battered and mourning for his men killed by the cruel Laestrygonians. Circe entraps his remaining men and turns them into pigs.
What is Enjambment poem? ›
Enjambment, from the French meaning “a striding over,” is a poetic term for the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next. An enjambed line typically lacks punctuation at its line break, so the reader is carried smoothly and swiftly—without interruption—to the next line of the poem.
What type of poem is originally by Carol Ann Duffy? ›
'Originally' by Carol Ann Duffy is a three-stanza poem which is divided into sets of eight lines. The stanzas do not follow a specific rhyme scheme, nor do they contain one overpowering technique. Duffy makes use of a number of different ways of contrasting images in her reader's minds.
What does all childhood is an emigration mean? ›
What is the meaning of the metaphorical phrase 'All childhood is an emigration'? That growing up will always mean constantly changing and evolving.
What does it is a moon wrapped in brown paper mean? ›
Metaphor – 'a moon wrapped in brown paper' refers to the romantic connotations that the moon carries. The moon influences the tides and all water on earth. Since 75% of the earth is water and our own bodies also contain the same amount, it means it also has an effect on our emotions too.
How many poems are in a world's wife? ›
Each of the thirty poems in this book takes as its theme a character from history, mythology, literature or popular culture and gives it a feminist treatment, usually by telling the untold story of the woman lost in the shade cast by a better-known male character.
Who was Frau Freud? ›
Freud lived in the Victorian patriarchal era, was a tyrannical paterfamilias – head of the family – and was unable to see the world from a woman's perspective. Frau Freud is a short but witty poem, which depends on the reader understanding a little Freudian psycho-analysis.
What is the theme of the poem explain your answer? ›
The theme of a poem is the message an author wants to communicate through the piece. The theme differs from the main idea because the main idea describes what the text is mostly about. Supporting details in a text can help lead a reader to the main idea.
Do poems have themes? ›
A poem can contain a single or multiple themes based on the story of the poem that it tells. The theme is an important part of any work of poetry or literature as it provides meaning to the story.
Why is Carol Ann Duffy important? ›
She rose to fame in the UK after winning Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition (1983) for her poem 'Whoever She was'. Carol Ann Duffy is the first female poet to be appointed to the position of poet laureate. She wrote a poem after becoming poet laureate regarding a scandal faced by the British MPs expenses.
When did Duffy write her poems? ›
Duffy's poetry collections included Standing Female Nude (1985), The Other Country (1990), The World's Wife (1999), Rapture (2005), and Sincerity (2018). During this time she also authored such plays as Take My Husband (1982) and Little Women, Big Boys (1986).
Who was Duffy influenced by? ›
Duffy wanted the contemporary. She found it in the local bookshop, where on one shelf she could browse and buy (with the proceeds of a Saturday job) the Penguin Modern Poets series. These writers - Neruda, Prévert, Aimé Césaire - had a stronger influence on her writing than the English poets she studied at school.
Why did Carol Ann Duffy write Feminine Gospels? ›
The Feminine Gospels was published in 2002. She said: "What I was trying to do was use the idea of the gospel truth: in a sense the gospels are a tall story told as truth, so these poems were about trying to find truth about particularly female issues, but doing it within tall stories."
What does intone a mass mean? ›
this were a church and he a priest,” Here the meaning of 'Intone a Mass' is to recite a religious ceremony without any intonation.
Does Carol Ann Duffy have a daughter? ›
Why did Duffy write Valentine? ›
Carol Ann Duffy wrote Valentine after a radio producer asked her to write an original poem for St. Valentine's Day. Duffy likes to break conventions and in Valentine she is criticising society's views of being materialistic.
How many books has Carol Ann Duffy written? ›
Carol Ann Duffy
What does the ending of Circe mean? ›
Actually, the ending of the novel is a huge pushback against mythology, because the Telegony ends with Circe, Penelope, Telemachus, and Telegonus all becoming immortal: she makes them all immortal, and they live as gods on the island of Aeaea.
Is Circe good or evil? ›
For thousands of years, the world has only known Homer's Circe—an evil witch, destined to create mischief on her island of pigs.
The book was intended for twelve-year-olds and older, but my mother was well aware that my reading level was far in advance of my peers', and so had no qualms about handing me the book.
Is Circe a feminist book? ›
Circe channels many feminist themes, incorporating a rejection of patriarchal norms, empowerment, and self-reliance. However, the focus is always on Circe and her story as an individual first, and as a woman second. Miller avoids any forced performance of feminism in favor of a more rich, dynamic story.
What is the climax of Circe? ›
The remainder of the chapter concerns Telegonus' growth from infant to man, and the narrative climax comes when Aiaia is visited by a group of sailors whose ability to travel and see the world greatly allures Circe's son.
Why did Circe give up her immortality? ›
But, in the end, Circe resists, for it is only when she feels love that she feels joy. Instead of giving up her capacity to connect with others, Circe gives up her immortality. For Circe, love, personal growth, and empathy—all of which are rarely found among the gods—are integral to life.
Does Circe marry Telemachus? ›
According to later tradition, Telemachus married Circe (or Calypso) after Odysseus' death.
What does the name Circe mean? ›
Greek. From the Greek Kirke, meaning "bird". In Greek mythology Circe was a sorceress who tempted Perseus and changed his men into swine and back again.
What kind of character is Circe? ›
In classical mythology Circe is a unified figure. Like the other Greek gods, she is very human, but her personality traits are consistant throughout each myth. She is lonely, sexual, deceitful, and greedy.
Does Circe fall in love with Odysseus? ›
In the Odyssey, she turns Odysseus' men into pigs, but after he challenges her, she takes him as a lover, allowing him and his men to stay with her and aiding them when they depart again. Circe has had a long literary life, inspiring writers such as Ovid, James Joyce, Eudora Welty, and Margaret Atwood.
Is Circe a love story? ›
Madeline Miller's 2011 retelling of the Iliad, The Song of Achilles, recast the epic as a love story between Achilles and Patroclus, taking us into the emotional heart of some of the most moving and memorable passages in the poem.
Can a 13 year old read Circe? ›
There's mature subject matter. The ancient gods were very into sex and violence! I suggest you read it first and decide based on that.
Genevieve There is some; Circe has sexual relationships with several men in the book. However, only one reads as romantic to me. It feels factual and doesn't use the tone of romance. That is to say, I don't think most readers would feel any giddiness or lightness at Circe's relationships.
Why is Circe such a good book? ›
What to love: Circe is brilliant because (1) it gives a voice to women in Greek mythology, and (2) it features a morally gray heroine. Epic tales have been traditionally male (featuring heroes like Achilles and Odysseus), which is why a female's perspective in the genre is so exciting.
Is Circe a seductress? ›
Another character that represents one of the varying roles of women in The Odyssey is Circe in her role as a seductress. When Odysseus and his men arrive on Circe's island, they are lured in by her seductively beautiful voice.
Who is the goddess Circe? ›
Circe is a nymph, daughter of the sun god Helios, banished to the island of Aiaia for using magic to turn a romantic rival into the monster Scylla. Alone, she begins to hone her craft.
