Mirror by Sylvia Plath - Essay Example

Poetry Explication: “Mirror” by Sylvia Plath The poem entitled “Mirror” written by Sylvia Plath appears initially as providing a physical description of the mirror in a straightforward way through stating its characteristics and purpose which is to provide an exact image of the person peering through it; but as the poem progresses, the mirror increasingly symbolized the personified reflection of women who views herself a maturing individual through time. The mirror apparently is the speaker in this literary work. At the start, Plath plainly presented an explicit narrative description of the mirror by using adjectives that depict objectivity such as silver, exact, no preconceptions (Plath line 1). The description was further detailed to provide its flat, cold traits focusing on indicating its characteristics as “Whatever I see I swallow immediately” (Plath line 2); and “I am not cruel, only truthful” (Plath line 4). These directly pinpoint the physical description and traits of the mirror. The narrator in the poem interpreted as the personified mirror and the next set of lines starts to reveal that the mirror has been used over and over again. From the time that a little girl, apparently described as “pink, with speckles” (Plath line 7) up to the statement that indicates “Faces and darkness separate us over and over” (Plath line 8). The reflective ability of the mirror could likewise be served through seeing itself as a lake, a deep container of mysterious secrets that only women seeing themselves through a mirror could understand the subjective meaning it projects: depending on perceptions, feelings, emotions and how people, especially men, relate to them. This was interpreted from the Plath’s statements that “Searching my reaches for what she really is. Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon” (Plath lines 11 & 12). Those liars were symbolized as candles or the moon that give temporary and fleeting light. And the only object that reflects reality is again, the mirror as it states that “I see her back, and reflect it faithfully” (Plath line 13). Fleeting light describes how the mirror sees candles and moons providing temporary shine or illumination to women. The final lines have emphasized the mirror’s symbolism as a truthful reflection of a woman’s image, not anymore being described as a physical object, but an important part of the women’s life. It is as if the mirror integrates and reflects the persona of women, a young girl up to the time that an old woman emerged: “In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman, Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish” (Plath lines 17 & 18). There is this latent negativity being expressed by the persona who see herself in the mirror as she ages – comparing herself to a terrible fish, a symbol of deterioration, decay, loss of physical beauty. Likewise, this could be interpreted as seeing the mirror as an old object that only served the purpose of reflecting the images of those that come into view and is thereby constrained in its existence. Since the mirror is just reflecting the image of women, it is helpless to do anything to change the images being reflected on it. As such, the claim that initially the poem appears as providing a physical description of the mirror in a straightforward way to provide an exact image of the person peering it was in fact superficial. As proven, as the poem progresses, the mirror increasingly symbolized the personified reflection of women, as seen by the author, who views herself as an evolving transformation, focusing on the loss of physical beauty as she changes through time. Analysis Mirror by Sylvia Plath is a poem about the terrible difficulty of the truth, especially the inexorable process of age and time. First Stanza Plath uses the technique of personification for the mirror. The mirror is the narrator. It says "I am silver and exact", "Whatever I see I swallow immediately / Just as it is". One of the interesting things here is that the mirror is admiring itself, praising itself, and reflecting itself. The mirror is its own mirror. Second Stanza The second stanza sees a change in the mirror. "I am a lake". The differences between a lake and a mirror are important here. The lake is not "silver and exact" like a mirror but it has more depth. A woman bends over the lake and looks in. "Searching my reaches for what she really is." The mirror now becomes a symbol for the private, hidden self. The lake calls the candles and moon liars as they do not give enough light to give a true reflection. There is an ambiguity about who the woman in the poem is; is it the poet, whose narrative is being made for her by her mirror - perhaps by her poem, which is also a mirror? In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
rises towards her day after day, like a terrible fish.' This presents us with the image of the woman getting older and yet still searching for who she is. She is being lied to and she has been a victim of these lies. This final image suggests many insecurities. This terrible fish could represent both the inexorable approach of old age, and the death of what she feels is her socially accepted self. This fake exterior, of a woman who yearns to please and be loved, might, she fears, be destroyed by the emergence of her true self, by the realization of her true inner potential that she sees in the depths of the lake, and which she shuns. Therein lies the bitter sadness of this poem, the paradox in which she is stuck whereby she fears the emergence of her true self as a terrible process which may destroy her humanity. She is afraid that the mirror and the lake will someday soon both reflect the same image, yet also angry with herself that they haven't always done so. Read More