Sylvia Plath's Mirror

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Sylvia Plath's Mirror

Sylvia Plath's "Mirror" offers a unique perspective on the attitudes

of aging. "Mirror" displays tremendous insight and objectivity into

the natural human behavior of growing older. Plath is able to

emphasize the loneliness, hope, despair, and insecurity that awaits us

through mankind's incessant addiction with reflection. "Mirror"

expresses the problems associated with aging through terse comparisons

between reality and desire.

Plathe's strength of "Mirror" lies in its ability to establish a solid

comparison among appearance and human emotions between the first and

second stanzas. At first "Mirror" introduces reflection as a precise

and accurate force through utilizing the first person perspective of a

mirror: "I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I

see I swallow immediately Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.

I am not cruel, only truthful.." (Plathe lines 1-4) This example can

then be viewed symbolically of appearance especially concerning "love

or dislike". In that people never hate nor adore their features but

merely accept that what they see is what defines them. This faith is

reinforced by the quality and type of reflection because it is

originating from a mirror which is suppose to be exact, honest, and

universal for all. Plathe understanding these principles describes the

reflection process by instilling this object with living

characteristics such as thought, sight, and a lifestyle: "Most of the

time I meditate on the opposite wall. It is pink with speckles. I have

looked at it so long I think it is part of my heartâ?¦Faces and darkness

separate us over and over." (Pl...

... middle of paper ...

... that not only destroys our reflection

but also ones sense of identity, purpose, and confidence.

The critical comparisons found in Sylvia Plath's "mirror" portray a

distinctive attitude towards aging. Through contrasting the two

separate stanzas the messages of desire, reality, individuality, fear,

and insecurity are all demonstrated. Once the essence of Plathe's

attitude is unlocked in "mirror" the emotion behind the writing is

seen as the motivation for a tone that displays intense longing or

weariness towards life. This becomes epitomized throughout Plathe's

presentation as it utilizes age as a catalyst for the deterioration of

the human spirit.

Works Cited:

Plath, Sylvia. ?Mirror.? The Language of Literature: American Literature. Eds. Arthur N.

Applebee et al. Evanston: McDougal Littel, 1997. 252.

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