22 pages 44 minutes read

Margaret Atwood

The Circle Game

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1964

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

This Is a Photograph of Me” by Margaret Atwood (1964)

“This Is a Photograph of Me” is in the same collection as “The Circle Game,” and both poems include a first-person narrator addressing the theme of “surface versus depth” with heavy subject matter and an occasional light way with words. In this poem, the speaker announces that they are in the photograph, but the observer will not be able to see them right away:

The photograph was taken
the day after I drowned.
I am in the lake, in the center
of the picture, just under the surface (Lines 15-18).

In My Ravines” by Margaret Atwood (1964)

“In My Ravines” is part of the Circle Game collection and, similar to “The Circle Game,” introduces elements of nature and young children playing. This time, the children play with, rather than against, their environment: “small boys climbing / in the leafless trees / or throwing pebbles” (Lines 12-14). Yet, just as the poem suggests comfort in the actions, a sense of horror, similar to the Gothic imagery in “The Circle Game,” appears at the end of the poem, as shown by “bloodred night / falling, bursting purple / as ancient rage” (Lines 32-34).

Related Titles

By Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Backdrop Addresses Cowboy

Margaret Atwood

Backdrop Addresses Cowboy

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Cat's Eye

Margaret Atwood

Cat's Eye

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Death By Landscape

Margaret Atwood

Death By Landscape

Margaret Atwood

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE

logo

Hag-Seed

Margaret Atwood

Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare's The Tempest Retold

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Happy Endings

Margaret Atwood

Happy Endings

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Margaret Atwood

Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Lady Oracle

Margaret Atwood

Lady Oracle

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Life Before Man

Margaret Atwood

Life Before Man

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

MaddAddam

Margaret Atwood

MaddAddam

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Rape Fantasies

Margaret Atwood

Rape Fantasies

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Stone Mattress

Margaret Atwood

Stone Mattress

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Surfacing

Margaret Atwood

Surfacing

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood

The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Heart Goes Last

Margaret Atwood

The Heart Goes Last

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Landlady

Margaret Atwood

The Landlady

Margaret Atwood