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Self Reflection & Self Discovery in Sylvia Plath's "Mirror"
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Transcript
Self Reflection & Self Discovery in Sylvia Plath's "Mirror"
Who is Sylvia Plath?
- Born in 1932
- Published her first poem when she was 8, right after the death of her father
- Suffered from severe depression for most of her life
- Decided to write about her life experiences which is why her poems are depressing
- Committed suicide in 1963 by putting her head in the oven
- First to win the Pulitzer Prize after her death
"What horrifies me most is the idea of being useless; well- educated, brilliantly promising, and fading out into an indifferent middle age."
-Sylvia Plath
Mirror, Mirror
- Written in 1961 but not published until 1971
- An overlooked gem compared to her famous poem "Daddy" written in 1962.
"One of the most celebrated and controversial of postwar poets writing in English...Many of them (her poems) written during the final weeks of her life, read as if they've been chiseled, with a fine surgical instrument, out of arctic ice."
-Joyce Carol Oates (Our Girl)
Analysis
"Mirror" by Sylvia Plath
Lines 6-9:
Lines 1-5:
- The mirror hangs on a wall and reflects a pink bedroom
- The mirror considers the wall as part of its heart
- The only thing that interrupts the mirror's reflection is the little girl looking at herself every day
- The mirror itself is exact and forms no judgments
- The mirror is not trying to be cruel or harsh, it is simply stating what it sees
- Compares itself to the eye of God
Analysis
Lines 10-15:
- Sharp transition from mirror to lake
- Woman trying to see what her reflection is telling her
- Turns to the candle and moonlight
Form
Form
Analysis
Second Stanza
First Stanza
- Just as in the first stanza we have the phrase "day after day" showing how frequently the woman stops at the lake
Lines 16-18:
- Transition from mirror to lake
- Uses commanding language such as "Now"
- Wants it to be very clear that there is a transition
- Again, periods causing a stop in the poem symbolizing the woman stopping to look at her reflection in the lake
- Periods indicate how precise the lines are
- Periods cause stop in the lines which could indicate the number of time the girl/woman stops at the mirror
- Each and every morning the woman, once a young girl, checks the mirror and sees her aging face & unpleasant life
- Compares her life and her age to a "terrible fish"
- Uses very simple language to imitate how exact the mirror is
- Does not try to use flowery language just like the mirror does not sugar coat anything
- Uses this phrase to show how often the little girl checks the mirror
- Indicates it is her daily routine
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