Frustration, Boredom, and Fantasy: Augusta Webster’s “Circe”

Abstract

The present article examines how Augusta Webster’s dramatic monologue “Circe” (1870), represents the problem of women’s boredom, frustration, and fantasy through the reinterpretation of the mythological Greek enchantress Circe. The analysis offers a close reading of the text supported by philosophical, historical, and cultural notions of boredom. Webster’s poem functions as an intriguing commentary on how loneliness and hatred towards domesticity are accompanied by growing sexual frustration and even misandry. My reading proposes a fresh look at Webster’s work, incorporating a number of critical, mostly feminist, analyses of the poem. Indeed, Webster’s “Circe” acts as a provocative glimpse into the psycho-scape of a bored woman who gradually reveals her incessant desires for change and a perfect lover.