Mirror by Sylvia Plath- Essay

 

 Mirror

Introduction

Sylvia Plath was an American writer known for her confessional poetry. Her “Mirror” is a free verse. It was originally written in 1961 and published in The New Yorker in 1963. This poem uses personification and metaphor to explore the themes of aging, mortality, femininity, and the gender expectations of society.

 

Mirror as a Symbol of Truth

In this poem, a mirror describes its nature. First, it describes itself as “silver and exact.” It has no “preconceived ideas.” Instead, it merely swallows what it sees and reflects that image back without any alteration. The mirror is not cruel, “only truthful.” It considers itself a “four-cornered eye of a god”, which sees everything as they are. The mirror spends most of its days staring at the pink wall across the room. The mirror feels as though it is a part of the wall. However, the mirror and the wall are often interrupted by people who enter to look at themselves and the darkness that comes with night.

 

Aging and Self Exploration

The mirror imagines itself as a lake. A woman tries to understand herself by gazing at her reflection. Sometimes, the woman prefers to look at herself in candlelight or moonlight. But the mirror claims that these are “liars” because they mask her true appearance. Only the mirror gives her a faithful representation. But the woman rewards the mirror with “tears and an agitation of hands.” However, she returns to the mirror every morning as it is “important to her.” In the mirror, she sees the younger version of herself that has been lost. Over the years, the woman has “drowned a young girl” in the mirror. Now, she sees in her reflection an old woman growing older like “a terrible fish.”

 

Conclusion
          The Mirror explores the universal themes of self-acceptance and the human struggle with impermanence. The mirror’s detached perspective urge the readers to reflect on their own relationship with truth and the passage of time.