Feminine imagery
In the following passage, Circe describes the strength and vivacity of Penelope:
"I looked at her, as vivid in my doorway as the moon in the autumn sky. Her eyes held mine, gray and steady. It is a common saying that women are delicate creatures, flowers, eggs, anything that may be crushed in a moment's carelessness. If I had ever believed it, I no longer did."
Here, Circe takes common "feminine" and delicate imagery such as flowers and eggs, and inverts them, saying that Penelope is nothing like this.
Ithaca
Ithaca is described using rich imagery and is depicted as an almost mystical place. Circe does not visit Ithaca, which increases the mysterious quality of the Island. Later, she learns the truth about Ithaca, that it is actually a place rife with poverty and corruption.
