Student Question
How does Circe's character in Miller's novel change our perception of witches and female power?
Quick answer:
Circe's character in Miller's novel changes the way we perceive witches because she is not a stereotype. She is powerful, intelligent, and able to practice her magic skills in her own way. She does not need to be dependent upon a patriarchal system for survival. Circe becomes self-sufficient and powerful through her experiences of persecution, exile, and loneliness.
Witches and their earth-based ways of living and healing came under intense persecution by patriarchal and christian-dominated societies beginning around the 15th century. Persecution was especially pernicious in Europe. While not all accused of being a witch or killed due to accusations of witchcraft were women, most were. Men held powerful positions within society to determine the trials and sentencing of the accused.
Before the witch hunt hysteria and fear mongering driven by misogyny, witches were often regarded as women who held herbal knowledge. They could cure common ailments, support people during childbirth, and were often respected within their village as having well-rounded knowledge of the earth, seasons, and natural systems. As societies became more and more patriarchal and rooted in statism and christianity, witches became a threat to the power and authority of the church and state. The church and state had to coerce people into being subservient, loyal,...
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and dependent upon the ruling system. Witches represented a threat to this order. They depended not upon the ruling system, but upon the earth, and found their own power through their knowledge and connection to the land. Therefore, rulers of the church and state began an intense campaign of anti-witch/misogynistic/anti-animistic hysteria and persecution.
In the novel, Circe has traits similar to that of the stereotype of a witch.
These stereotypes are rooted in misogyny. She has a hawk nose and is described
as ugly. Her titan father sees her as worthless because she is not beautiful
and does not possess the specific kinds of power that he believes she should
possess as a goddess. However, she has the powers of a witch. She learns the
power of plant magic and becomes skilled in pharmaka. Circe is
eventually banished to a life of loneliness on an uninhabited island by her
cruel father. However, she prevails as she practices her magic skills with
herbs and fights back against the mortal and divine men who harm her or seek to
harm her. Eventually takes her own fate into her hands and transforms herself
to live as a mortal away from the cruelty of her divine family.