# The Circles — Flatland character guide > The Circles in Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** the Circles, their, themselves **First appearance:** 0014-xi-concerning-our-priests ## Snapshot Flatland's priestly elite, perfect in form and absolute in power, who guard the social order by controlling what may be known. ## Who they are They sit at the apex of Flatland's hierarchy, their many-sided bodies approaching the ideal Circle and their authority approaching the divine, ruling through a priesthood that tolerates no irregularity. Their beauty is real, but so is their ruthlessness: they suppress knowledge that threatens the established order, including any hint of a third dimension. They matter because they represent the system the Square's new vision will inevitably collide with, and because their perfection is the book's most seductive trap. ## Relationships ### [Many of the Highest Circles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/characters/many_of_the_highest_circles) _professional_ The Highest Circles and Circles share a professional relationship as part of the ruling class, collaborating in governance. ### [The Isosceles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/characters/the_isosceles) _social_ The Circles oversee the Isosceles in a rigid social hierarchy, with little personal interaction. ### [The Sphere](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/characters/the_sphere) _psychological_ The Circles and Sphere have a distant, almost antagonistic relationship, as the Sphere's teachings threaten their authority. ### [The Stranger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/characters/the_stranger) _social_ The Circles and Stranger have minimal contact, likely formal or ceremonial. ## In the story ### [Preface to the Second and Revised Edition, 1884](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/preface-to-the-second-and-revised-edition-1884) The Circles are mentioned as the aristocratic class whose supremacy is maintained by intellectual power but doomed by infecundity. ### [Flatland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/flatland) The highest social class in Flatland, considered priests and nearly perfect. ### [Part I: This World](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/part-i-this-world) Mentioned as the highest class in Flatland's social hierarchy, representing priests and rulers. ### [III: Concerning the Inhabitants of Flatland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/iii-concerning-the-inhabitants-of-flatland) The highest priestly order, who arrange intermarriages, oversee the State Hospitals, and use strategies to stifle rebellions by co-opting leaders and fomenting internal conflict among the Isosceles. ### [Concerning the Women](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/iv-concerning-the-women) Described as the wisest statesmen who enact laws and rely on cautious wisdom to ensure safety at the cost of domestic comfort; their households enforce strict customs regarding female behavior. ### [V: Of Our Methods of Recognizing One Another](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/v-of-our-methods-of-recognizing-one-another) The Circles are mentioned as the highest order, preferring the third method of recognition over hearing or feeling. ### [VII: Concerning Irregular Figures](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/vii-concerning-irregular-figures) Referenced as the highest class whose members have sometimes been Irregular in youth but later became men of genius. ### [Of the Ancient Practice of Painting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/viii-of-the-ancient-practice-of-painting) The Priests (Circles) resisted the innovation of painting, remaining colourless along with women. ### [IX: Of the Universal Colour Bill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/ix-of-the-universal-colour-bill) The Circles are the target of the bill, which aims to demoralize them by forcing them to adopt colour and undermining their intellectual training in Sight Recognition. ### [X: Of the Suppression of the Chromatic Sedition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/x-of-the-suppression-of-the-chromatic-sedition) The Circles, led by Pantocyclus, orchestrate the suppression of the Colour Bill agitation, using deception and violence to restore order and abolish colour. ### [Concerning Our Priests](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/xi-concerning-our-priests) The Circles are described as the controllers of Flatland's society, actually Polygons with many sides, and their propagation involves both natural laws and artificial interventions. ### [XII: Of the Doctrine of Our Priests](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/xii-of-the-doctrine-of-our-priests) The Circles are the priests and rulers who propagate the doctrine of Configuration, control marriage pedigrees, and enforce female non-education. ### [XV: Concerning a Stranger from Spaceland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/xv-concerning-a-stranger-from-spaceland) Mentioned as the highest class; the Stranger claims to be a 'more perfect Circle than any in Flatland.' ### [How I Came to Spaceland, and What I Saw There](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/xviii-how-i-came-to-spaceland-and-what-i-saw-there) The highest Circles of Flatland meet in secret conclave and order the suppression of any who claim revelations from another world. ### [XXI: How I Tried to Teach the Theory of Three Dimensions to My Grandson, and with What Success](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/xxi-how-i-tried-to-teach-the-theory-of-three-dimensions-to-my-grandson-and-with-what-success) The Circles issue a proclamation through heralds, threatening arrest, imprisonment, or execution for anyone spreading delusions about another world. ### [XXII: How I Then Tried to Diffuse the Theory of Three Dimensions by Other Means, and of the Result](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/chapters/xxii-how-i-then-tried-to-diffuse-the-theory-of-three-dimensions-by-other-means-and-of-the-result) The highest Circles in the land are the audience for the Square's speech; the President and junior Circles are involved in his trial and sentencing. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/characters/the_circles - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/flatland_se/characters