Mirror

Question 1

About:

Answer 1

Struggle for stable identity*
- complexities of being a woman: cannot accept reality of mirror
- appearance & search for self
- mirror has voice: power
Highlights: female issues with image

Inner turmoil: aging process

Question 2

Structure

Answer 2

• 2 stanzas that reflect each other (mirror image)
• no obvious rhyme / steady beat
• reflects Poet’s emotional turmoil
• no closure, certainty, order
• free verse with periods

Question 3

Metaphor : extended

Answer 3

1st: “eye of little god, 4 cornered” : mirror =eye of god —reflects true you

2nd: “Now I am a lake :mirror become fluid

Question 4

Personification (persona)

Answer 4

• Given mirror 1st person voice: mirror holds power
• little voice: brings subconscious into conscious
  UNIVERSAL : facing truth

Appearance : ever-changing
Mirror = constant

Direct, objective, open
- has personality : aware of control over subject

Question 5

Aspects of a mirror:

Answer 5

Detached
Straightforward
Literal

Question 6

“I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions”

Answer 6

(Glass & shiny)

• opening lines intro to : passive silver rectangle

Surface only tells truth: no other purpose

Question 7

“Swallow”

Answer 7

Mirror has a MOUTH
Digests images instantly (a creature)

Question 8

“Unmisted by love or dislike”

Answer 8

Mirror is non-discrimnatory : no blurry lines

Not out to “punish the subject”

Question 9

“Eye of a little god”

Answer 9

Metaphor

Quality of truthfulness
All seeing DEITY holds power over subjects

Question 10

“Meditate on the opposite wall”

Answer 10

Strengthen : Position in room & mind (silent)

Question 11

“It is pink with speckles, I have looked at it so long
I think it is part of my heart. But it flickers”

Answer 11

Wall is pink:
Integral part of heart
- gained feminine persona
- uncertain faces between mirror & wall of pink

Question 12

1st stanza:

Answer 12

Exact truthfulness and reflects precisely

Question 13

2nd stanza — TRANSITION

Answer 13

Free flowing
Depth & dimension

Question 14

Paradox = CONTRADICTION

Answer 14

Looking for something deeper than surface : only gets reflection
IRONY
(figurative mirror)

Question 15

“Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me”

Answer 15

God-like shapeshifting power
- woman bends to see reflection in lake

Question 16

“What she really is”

Answer 16

Distortion

• seeing reflection: uncertain of self
  How can you truly know who you are just by reflection?
  Interested in beauty or emotional self?

Question 17

“Those liars”

CANDLES / MOON

Answer 17

Candles: romantic lens (artificial light’

Moon : ever changing (mad & haunting)

Only mirror is completely objective

Question 18

“I see her back and reflect it faithfully
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands”

Answer 18

Affirmation in appearance?

Woman weeps which pleases mirror : done job of faithful reflection
Past: holds powerful, negative memories

Asserts compliment to and outer beauty with value

Question 19

“She comes and goes”

Answer 19

Mirror aim: CONTROL

WOMAN RETURNS : FRAGILE, SORROWFUL

Question 20

“each morning”

Answer 20

RESILIENCE

Question 21

“In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman

Answer 21

Images of water: drowning, fluidity

Emotional turmoil: no validation

Younger self drowned by own hand (holding mirror)

Every day replaces younger self with older woman.

• cannot escape aging process

Question 22

“Like a terrible fish”

Answer 22

SIMILE : unconventional

Confronting inner demon:
innocent, romantic crazy girl floats lifeless in water and out of there : rises a hagfish

Question 23

1. Comment on the metaphor used in line 5.

Answer 23

The metaphor in line five compares the mirror to a small god. In doing so it implies that the mirror’s powers are somewhat godlike. It evokes the notion of omniscience in that the mirror sees all and always reflects ‘truth’. In addition, one could argue that the person looking searches for meaning and affirmation within the mirror, the same way people look for meaning and affirmation in religion. Gods are supposed to be big and powerful but the author describes god as little indicating that the mirror is small and powerless. The mirror is also restricted to four corners which shows it isn’t all powerful because it is restricted. Still has some power, in the fact that she uses the term, ‘god’. Implies that the woman adores it.

Question 24

Refer to line 11: “Searching my reaches for what really is”…
Do you think that the woman will succeed in her quest in the second line of the second stanza? Give a reason for your answer.

Answer 24

I would say that it is unlikely that she would find truth (what is) within the reflections of the mirror as the poem seems to indicate that whatever she sees will always be mediated or distorted by her own socially constructed ideals of beauty and the expectations/opinions of those around her. Also, the process of ageing is inevitable thus making it impossible for the mirror to represent the everlasting beauty that might be the desired ‘truth’ in question. The woman will not succeed in her quest because the mirror cannot show her anything deeper than her reflection. She is also looking into a mirror to see who she is which shows how the woman thinks that outer beauty is a big part of her identity which isn’t true.

Question 25

Refer to line 11: “Searching my reaches for what really is”…
Do you think that the woman will succeed in her quest in the second line of the second stanza? Give a reason for your answer.

Answer 25

I would say that it is unlikely that she would find truth (what is) within the reflections of the mirror as the poem seems to indicate that whatever she sees will always be mediated or distorted by her own socially constructed ideals of beauty and the expectations/opinions of those around her. Also, the process of ageing is inevitable thus making it impossible for the mirror to represent the everlasting beauty that might be the desired ‘truth’ in question. The woman will not succeed in her quest because the mirror cannot show her anything deeper than her reflection. She is also looking into a mirror to see who she is which shows how the woman thinks that outer beauty is a big part of her identity which isn’t true.

Question 26

The personified mirror in Plath’s poem calls candles and the moon “liars”. What connotative information on the two might help explain their disparaging (critical) tone of the mirror? Is the mirror any more honest than the candles and the moon?

Answer 26

As sources of light (one could also read the connotation of truth/reality into the use of the idea of light), the moon and candles are inconsistent and only illuminate partly. Therefore the mirror sees them as misleading and false. The mirror considers herself to be far more objective, honourable, and faithful in its representation of reality. However, she doesn’t seem
4

to acknowledge the role that the looker’s psychology might have on her ability to do this. The light cast by candles and moons is muted and filtered - hence the reality is not shown. The mirror therefore calls them ‘liars’ because the light casts shadows and doesn’t reveal the full truth.

Question 27

Consider the metaphors and their associated verbs “meditate” and “reflect” that the human-like mirror uses to describe itself. Do you think this is the same kind of meditation and reflection that the women does when the “bends over” the mirror and rewards it “with tears and an agitation of hands”?

Answer 27

The words “meditate” and “reflect” reveal a stark contrast between the mirror’s passive observations and the woman’s deeply emotional experience. The mirror’s “meditation” is calm and detached; it simply observes and reflects whatever is in front of it without judgment. Its reflection is straightforward and literal, showing the world exactly as it is.
The woman’s interaction with the mirror, however, is far from detached. When she “bends over” and “rewards it with tears and an agitation of hands,” her reflection becomes a moment of intense self-examination, filled with frustration and sorrow as she grapples with aging and identity. Unlike the mirror, her “reflection” is emotional, subjective, and complicated by her feelings. This contrast highlights the mirror as a neutral, unwavering presence while the woman struggles with the changes she sees in herself, emphasising the mirror’s role as an unyielding and emotionless truth-teller.

Question 28

Comment on the paradoxes inherent in the second stanza.

Answer 28

The woman searches in the mirror for “what she really is” but all she can get from a mirror is her reflection and what she looks like which shows us how much her appearance matters to her.

Question 29

Explain the last two lines of the poem.

Answer 29

The old woman has lost her youth. She returns to the lake daily to try to find the beautiful self that she once was. She tries to resist the reality of aging but ageing and death are inevitable and she is not accepting of the reality of her current appearance. Note that a lake is not static and her reflection will be distorted.
In Sylvia Plath’s Mirror, the words “meditate” and “reflect” reveal a stark contrast between the mirror’s passive observations and the woman’s deeply emotional experience. The mirror’s “meditation” is calm and detached; it simply observes and reflects whatever is in front of it without judgment. Its reflection is straightforward and literal, showing the world exactly as it is.
The woman’s interaction with the mirror, however, is far from detached. When she “bends over” and “rewards it with tears and an agitation of hands,” her reflection becomes a moment of intense self-examination, filled with frustration and sorrow as she grapples with aging and identity. Unlike the mirror, her “reflection” is emotional, subjective, and complicated by her feelings. This contrast highlights the mirror as a neutral, unwavering presence while the woman struggles with the changes she sees in herself, emphasising the mirror’s role as an unyielding and emotionless truth-teller.

Question 30

7.This poem has been described as “an expression of the male domination of women”. Do you agree? Provide reasons for your answer.

Answer 30

Yes, men are a part of the reason because we have also been taught that good looks are the way to a mans’ heart and that is why it is so devastating for women to grow old and ugly. Women are judged by their appearances.