Mirror by Sylvia Plath - 817 Words

Sylvia Plaths poem, Mirror,† represents the disturbed self of the woman, The mirror signifies the unsympathetic male view of a woman and what is socially expected of her: having a flawless beauty and perpetual youth. As the persona ages over the years, the mirror maliciously reflects the alterations in her appearance. Age becomes the persona’s flaw and inadequacy and consequently her foundation of anxiety and alarm. The mirror projects what is thought of the woman as she grows older. It claims to reflect the truth, and by insinuation, the patriarchal perception of a woman’s existence, her value only as a beautiful entity, and her insignificance when she is no longer youthful and attractive. In contrast to the male’s classification of womanhood, which venerates beauty and youth, the persona looks inside to ascertain the true self, what she was as a person and what she has become, maturing by age. The woman’s separate identity and perception of self are, thus, in conflict with the stereotype of the dominant male society. The tension grows as the persona is bewildered by this identity crisis. If she chooses her inner self and her own liberated classification of identity, when observing in the mirror, she no longer sees the beautiful girl, but the ‘terrible fish’. The persona is ostracised as the mirror, â€Å"The eye of a little god,† adopts its power as the centre of consciousness. The woman is urgently trying to recognise her true self through this reflection, yet the mirrorShow MoreRelatedMirrors by Sylvia Plath967 Words   |  4 Pages13th March, 2014 In the poem â€Å"Mirrors†, by Sylvia Plath the speaker accentuates the importance of looks as an aging woman brawls with her inner and outward appearance. Employing an instance of self refection, the speaker shifts to a lake and describes the discrepancies between inevitable old age and zealous youth. By means of sight and personification, shifts and metaphors, the orator initiates the change in appearance which relies on an individual’s decision to embrace and reject it. Read MoreAnalysis Of The Mirror By Sylvia Plath1215 Words   |  5 PagesThe mirror is a two-stanza captivating and a highly personalized poem that was authored by Sylvia Plath in the 1960s as an exploration of the uncertain self. A mirror explains its existence and the owners’ existence that is growing with the mirror witnessing. Moreover, the mirror is artistically endowed with human traits and can tell the monotony it endures facing the wall most of the times; a wall which has become part of it, â€Å"I have looked at it so long, I think it is part of my heart† [Plath lineRead MoreAnalysis Of `` Mirror `` By Sylvia Plath1231 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å"Mirror† by Sylvia Plath is a short lyric poem written with no rhyme scheme as it is written in free verse. However, the poem has a nice flow to it, as the words fluctuate gracefully through each line. Plath heavily uses imagery and symbolism in this lyric poem as this can be observed in the first stanza. In addition to the types of literary devices Plath uses continually throughout her poem, she also has set her poem in two locations. In the first verse, the setting is in a bathroom,Read MoreMirror by Sylvia Plath Essay671 Words   |  3 Pagesthe poem Mirror, Sylvia Plath employs many different poetic devices to develop her message that people need the truth although it may be hurtful. Plath uses a mirror and then a lake as a metaphor for the truth. She also makes the mirror come alive with personification, simile and metonymy. These other devices are important to the poem and the scene it creates, but the mirror being a metaphor for truth is the most important. The poem is basically about a woman looking into a mirror. As she agesRead MoreAnalysis Of Mirror By Sylvia Plath1414 Words   |  6 Pageschildhood depression and her anger towards men, in â€Å"Mirror† when she reflects her adulthood depression and sorrow, and in her poem â€Å"Lady Lazarus† when she explains her attempts and success at suicide and why she made those choices. When Plath’s father died, she did not know how to feel. When he passed away, Plath exclaims â€Å"...we moved inland. Whereon those nine first years of my life sealed themselves off like a ship in a bottle† (Materer). When Plath lived down by the sea, she just thought aboutRead MoreAnalysis Of Mirror By Sylvia Plath823 Words   |  4 Pagespoem â€Å"Mirror† by Sylvia Plath describes an uneasy relationship between an aging woman and a mirror through a dark and emotional mood and a sad and melancholy tone increasing as the poem progresses. the theme of this poem is truth and lies, the woman is torn between whats real and whats not real. The poem is written in first person from the point of view of a mirror and personification is used continuously and effectively throughout the text. Through personification Plath gives the Mirror lifeRead MoreMirror by Sylvia Plath, Analysis875 Words   |  4 PagesThe use of Personification and Metaphor in ‘Mirror†™ In the Poem ‘Mirror’ by Sylvia Plath, there is a continuing theme of change. In the beginning the changes are simple, like the acts of day turning to night, but at the end we see the life changes of a woman in particular. Through the use of metaphor and personification in the poem, Plath creates images of water, reflections, and colors as having human characteristics to emphasize the strong theme of change throughout the poem. From the beginningRead MoreAnalysis Of `` Mirror `` By Sylvia Plath And `` The Yellow Wallpaper ``1193 Words   |  5 Pagesreading a different kind of literature works. Different literature stories have struck a responsive chord in readers’ hearts. Two of literature works â€Å" Mirror † by Sylvia Plath and short story â€Å" The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman both shows female’s oppressive living in patriarchal society and control by men. In the poemâ€Å" Mirror†, in the 20 century, the society influence women should care about how they look and they feel sad about getting old. Even in the poem did not existRead MorePoetry Explication of Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror†949 Words   |  4 PagesPoetry Explication of Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror† The first thing one can notice in Sylvia Plath’s poem â€Å"Mirror† (rpt. In Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 9th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2006] 680) is that the speaker in the poem is the mirror and the woman in the poem is Sylvia Plath. As you read through the poem, the lake is relevant because of the famous mythological story of narcissus. He was extremely beautiful and one day while drinking from a lakeRead MoreThe Life Of Sylvia Path1212 Words   |  5 Pages Born and raised in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, she tolerated an unpleasant and depressing childhood. Sylvia Path was born on October 27,1932 to Aurelia Schobert Plath and Otto Emile Plath. Her father was an author and professor, who taught at Boston University. There was a significant age difference between Plath’s parents; her mother was twenty-one years younger to her father. â€Å"The couple met when her mother was attaining Master’s Degree in teaching and opted one of his father’s course†. â€Å"The