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A review by bellebooks
Circe by Madeline Miller
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Instant classic. It's a narrative re-analysis of Circe under a more feminist lens. Much of Greek and Roman mythology was written by men for men, and in a misogynic society, many of those themes develop:
- The perfect woman cannot exist. She must suffer and/or die.
- When women have power, especially goddesses, they are monstrous and destructive.
- Praised women take on the name of their male representative (husband, son, father). Shamed women have their own name.
These themes weave the mythologies together, and it reinforces the notions within the society.
This masterpiece, however, re-examines this myth in particular, looks back at the text with a more careful eye and develops motive. Many of the mythologies leave this out, highlighting motives based on selfishness and corruption. However, it ignores or minimizes where those desires come from, how the society itself really is the true villain of every goddess origin story.
This isn't to excuse all of Circe's actions nor any and all women in this book. It's wonderfully messy and complicated, all shades of gray area. Miller skillfully shows that the black and white that was so hard pressed in Antiquity is much more muddy than people want to realize, especially as the myths do not exist in a vacuum.
I do hope that this appears as part of the summer reading list for high schoolers. I would have loved to read this instead of The Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter, Oedipus Trilogy, all of which highlight women that are marginalized and victimized because of the society they live in (I have less sympathy for Daisy Buchannan, but that's beside the point). This book deserves to join the ranks, and I most certainly plan to wear out my copy one reread at a time.
This masterpiece, however, re-examines this myth in particular, looks back at the text with a more careful eye and develops motive. Many of the mythologies leave this out, highlighting motives based on selfishness and corruption. However, it ignores or minimizes where those desires come from, how the society itself really is the true villain of every goddess origin story.
This isn't to excuse all of Circe's actions nor any and all women in this book. It's wonderfully messy and complicated, all shades of gray area. Miller skillfully shows that the black and white that was so hard pressed in Antiquity is much more muddy than people want to realize, especially as the myths do not exist in a vacuum.
I do hope that this appears as part of the summer reading list for high schoolers. I would have loved to read this instead of The Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter, Oedipus Trilogy, all of which highlight women that are marginalized and victimized because of the society they live in (I have less sympathy for Daisy Buchannan, but that's beside the point). This book deserves to join the ranks, and I most certainly plan to wear out my copy one reread at a time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Death and War