mirror (plath) Flashcards
imagery serves to what
•highlight her mental anguish; her fear of aging, of the passage of time and her search for identity
what are these complex feelings emphasized by
•Plaths use of deeply unnerving images, of the mirror hanging alone in the hallway “on the opposite wall” only separated by “faces and darkness”.
poet personified mirror in order to
•stress the obsession with image, and inevitable loss of youth
what’s this somewhat sinister personification combined with
•her use of figurative language and extended metaphor of the mirror as a lake to convey the intensity of Plaths emotions, her mental anguish and fear
the mirror has “no preconceptions” and shows only “what she really is”
•personification serves to accentuate the intensity of Plaths fear
•refers to mirror as a “Little god” who is “not cruel, only truthful”
presents a lake as a metaphor for the mirror, describing a..
•deeply unsettling and surreal scene of a young girl, symbolic of youth, drowning as an old woman, the symbol of age and passage of time, rises “day after day” from the depths “like a terrible fish”
what does the fish imagery serve to
•exaggerate the repulsion and fear felt by the poet towards the passage of time, loss of youth
extensive use of simile, metaphor and personification serves to
•illustrates the poets powerful feeling of anguish and fear
•poet through the mirror describes her reaction to seeing her reflection
in response to her reflection
•she texts with “tears, and an agitation of hands.”
•this literal description of the poet created a vivid and disturbing image that serves only to highlight the poets mental anguish
offers a vivid and stark portrayal of
•emotional struggle, of f fears and uncertainties we’ll all experience at some point
plath offers a valuable insight into
•the complicated feelings of inequality and growing old
