The Evocative Symbolism of "Circumstance" by Harriet Spofford

Jan 1, 2012
Stetson Thacker

Harriet Prescott Spofford - Brown Brothers

This is a discussion of the sexual and spiritual symbolism and its purposes in "Circumstance" by Harriet Prescott Spofford.

“Circumstance” by Harriet Prescott Spofford appeared in The Atlantic Monthly in 1860, which was a time in Spofford’s life that was “she was regard as one of the most promising writers in America,” but it was also a time that was “marred by desperate financial need” because she supported her parents, younger brother, and younger sisters. Thus, the work that Spofford produced during the early and mid-1860s was written with much haste and under enormous pressure.

The context in which “Circumstance” was produced influenced its content, meaning that Spofford wrote “Circumstance” “as a symbolic investigation of the agonies facing creative women” of her time. Consequently, on the surface, “Circumstance” is the horrific tale of a heroic, unnamed woman who avoids becoming the dinner of a wild beast by singing to it, but on the symbolic level, the beast functions as the American public and the unnamed woman is Spofford or any creative woman, who is forced to cater to the audience of the American public in order to provide for her family and attempt to earn critical acclaim. Spofford’s symbolism also functions on a broader level so as to critique the general position of women in a male dominated society.

Singing for Her Life

The predicament created by the Indian Devil’s entrapment of the protagonist is evidently symbolic of the dilemma faced by female writers such as Spofford in the 19th century. As soon the unnamed woman is in the Indian Devil’s clutches and is wounded, she realizes that she must sing to the beast to put it under a sort of spell or “strips of living flesh [will be] torn from her bones.” She also learns that the beast’s appetite for her song is not easily satisfied and that “she must vary the spell” to truly elude harm.

Both these aspects of the stalemate between the beast and the woman are ostensibly related to song, a form of art, which is done purposefully by Spofford to make the song a symbol for female art. Spofford uses this symbol to illustrate how female art must meet the desires of a ferocious society or face destruction, which is represented by the song’s effectiveness being dependent on the beast’s whim. Moreover, the woman is forced to cycle through “rude, mournful ballads” to “ghastly rhyming romances” to “sailor songs” to “Covenanting hymns,” which is again symbolic of the result of society’s pressure on women to produce a great variety of art.

This cycling through the different types of songs hints at the two sides of the dilemma faced by creative women because on one hand, women are asked to produce sensational, sentimental art to appeal to the masses but on the other hand, women are asked to produce profound, meaningful art if they wish to please critics. Although this is a dilemma that is hard to impart given Spofford’s current symbolic framework, she is subtly able to do so with the evolution of the types of songs the protagonist sings.

Initially, the women sings songs related to earthly issues especially related to her family, symbolically aligning them with sentimental art while later, the woman sings songs with spiritual and divine subjects, symbolically aligning them with high art. The tension between writing high art for literary achievements and writing popular pieces for financial gain is a tension that Spofford experienced intensely, explaining the impetus of her symbolic framework.

Critique of Sexual Violence via Symbolism

Spofford’s symbolic framework is also used to criticize the position of women in society. The language used to describe the behavior of the Indian Devil toward the women is rife with undertones of sexual violence. For example, the wild beast licks his prey’s “bare arm with his rasping tongue” and pours over her with “hot, foetid breath.” All of the imagery related to the wild beast is associated with the color of red, which is a color evocative of lust and lascivious appetites. Spofford even associates the nature of the beast with what she terms “our lower natures let loose.” All of this language relating to sexual violence suggests women’s lack of control over their sexual identities and preferences. Throughout the woman’s entrapment her songs related to domestic obligations or her maternal status draw her closer to peril and death, but as soon as she shifts to masculine and spiritual songs she seems to pacify the beast. This symbolism illustrates that women’s domestic roles are stifling and pose a threat to their well-being.

Spofford’s “Circumstance” operates on multiple symbolic levels. The relationships between the woman’s singing and the beast are illustrative of the struggles of women artists in a patriarchal society. Moreover, the tension of this struggle is intensified by the dichotomous, whimsical desires that the beast of society has of female artists. The symbolism also functions to illustrate the iniquitous position that society has placed women in, where they have neither control over their own bodies nor freedom to pursue their own vocational and spiritual goals without domestic responsibilities.