“Mirror”
Sylvia Plath
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 --
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
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 heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.
Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.
Analysis:
Meghan Lancaster
Meaning:
Theme:
In the poem “Mirror,” by Sylvia Plath, the poet communicates the idea that one’s perception of youth and old age can influence how one views the passage of time. This applies to both of the characters described in the poem; the woman and the mirror. The woman in the poem fears the transformation from youth into old age, which makes her dread and fear the passage of time. The mirror, however, doesn’t even comprehend the importance of youth and old age, so it is unaffected by the passage of time. The readers know that time is passing because of lines such as “I have looked at it so long...” This line informs the audience that a significant amount of time has passed the poem, but nothing is mentioned about how the mirror is affected by it. Also, the poem includes phrases such as “over and over,” and “Most of the time,” which also indicate the significance of time in the poem. The lines “But it flickers. Faces and darkness separate us…” show the readers that this is how the mirror might tell time; from the patterns of the flickering images it sees. Although the mirror changes into a lake, it does not seem to age as time passes, as the woman in the poem does. She sees herself in her reflection, and the readers know that she is upset by what she sees. The audience received the hints that time has passed, but they don’t know that that is the cause of her distress until the last two lines. It is clear that the woman in the poem is distraught over the loss of her beauty, admitting to herself each day that she is growing older. The woman needs the mirror to provide an accurate image of herself over the years, even though it is the cause of her suffering. The mirror states that the sight of her aging causes her “tears and an agitation of hands,”clearly showing how the mirror watches as she grapples with the reality of aging. Therefore, because the woman fears aging, she dreads the passage of time. Also, because the mirror doesn’t age, it is unaffected by the passage of time.
Personal Reaction:
I enjoyed the poem immensely. I felt that many people, including myself, can relate to this poem. Many people struggle with their appearance, and so this poem could help them connect. I think it was very sobering and eye-opening, and that Plath might have had a special connection with this poem, as it could’ve provided some insight into her thoughts and perceptions of the world. I feel that maybe, for Plath, this poem not only meant that she feared aging. I think it may have explored the contrast between her appearance and her inner self. I think that Plath was expressing how mirrors only reflect one’s outer self, but not one’s inner self. Plath was polite and docile on the outside, but her thoughts were dark. I think that this poem was meant to show how her outer self didn’t honestly reflect her inner self.
Sylvia Plath
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 --
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
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 heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.
Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.
Analysis:
Meghan Lancaster
Meaning:
- “I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediately, Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.” This means that the the narrator is a personified mirror, indicated by the first-person use of the personal pronoun “I”. From this, we also learn that the mirror is describing itself. By saying that it is “exact,” it shows that the mirror believes it reflects exactly what it sees, therefore being personified as being honest. This continues when the mirror says it “has no preconceptions,” meaning that it does not form any judgements or opinions of the person it is reflecting beforehand. Also, the mirror states that it is “unmisted by love or dislike,” meaning that it is unbiased. This also relates to how it said that “whatever [it] sees [it] swallows immediately, Just as it is.” In this case, the term “swallow” means to reflect. Therefore, the mirror is saying how it reflects whatever it sees honestly and without changing it.
- “I am not cruel, only truthful -- The eye of a little god.” This means it considers itself a window of some higher power to see into the world. In addition, the mirror says that by being honest it is not being harsh towards the person.
- “... four-cornered. 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 heart.” This begins to show us the setting of where the mirror is in the house. It is not an elaborate mirror, being rectangular and not circular. Also, a “pink, speckled” wall suggests it could be in a bathroom or bedroom, with many people entering and leaving, looking at themselves in the mirror. Also, it mentions how the mirror “meditates on the opposite wall,” meaning that it spends most of its time thinking about and studying the wall across the room. The mirror says that it has looked at the wall for so long that it thinks the wall is “a part of [it’s] heart,” showing a deep connection with it.
- “But it flickers. Faces and darkness separate us over and over.” This means that the mirror’s view of the wall is interrupted by the “faces” of the people who come to look at themselves in the mirror and also by the “darkness” of the light in the room being turned off, or nightfall.
- “Now I am a lake.” This transition shows a change from the form of the speaker. A reflective lake can also be considered a mirror.
- “A woman bends over me, Searching my reaches for what she really is.” This line introduces to the audience a new character, the woman. These two lines bring to our attention that the woman is looking at her reflection in the lake, studying the image of herself that she sees. It implies that she is comparing the reflection she sees with how she views herself, trying to discern who she really is by doing so. Her reflection seems to be important to her in a way that hasn’t been revealed yet.
- “Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.” This suggests that the narrator feels that candlelight and moonlight are “liars” because they don’t give the woman an accurate representation of her true appearance, as only the mirror does. Although the woman goes to the flattering image of herself given by candlelight or moonlight, she continually returns to the mirror for truth.
- “I see her back, and reflect it faithfully. She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.” In these two lines, the mirror is being sarcastic; it is upset that the woman isn’t grateful for the mirror’s faithfulness. It feels as though it is being wrongfully refused of a reward for being so honest with the woman. Instead of being satisfied with her reflection, she cries and wrings her hands. It presents the idea that the woman is distressed, but the readers don’t know why yet.
- “I am important to her. She comes and goes. Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.” These lines suggest that the woman often looks at her reflection and that it is important to her. But she is not arrogant; she is displeased by what she sees, and she continues to look at her reflection every day to see if what she doesn’t like about it has changed.
- “In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.” In these last two lines, the puzzle pieces connect. It is revealed that the reason for the woman’s distress is that she fears aging. Every day, she comes to the lake to look at her reflection and sees the honest reflection of her appearance. Because of the reflection of her old age being honestly presented to her, she cries and wrings her hands. Nevertheless, she cannot stop herself from visiting the mirror-like lake over and over again, every morning. Over the years, the woman has “drowned a young girl” in her reflection, meaning that the youthful version of herself has died. Now, every time she looks back into the water, she sees an old woman growing older by the day; her true appearance. This old woman “rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish” in the lake.
Theme:
In the poem “Mirror,” by Sylvia Plath, the poet communicates the idea that one’s perception of youth and old age can influence how one views the passage of time. This applies to both of the characters described in the poem; the woman and the mirror. The woman in the poem fears the transformation from youth into old age, which makes her dread and fear the passage of time. The mirror, however, doesn’t even comprehend the importance of youth and old age, so it is unaffected by the passage of time. The readers know that time is passing because of lines such as “I have looked at it so long...” This line informs the audience that a significant amount of time has passed the poem, but nothing is mentioned about how the mirror is affected by it. Also, the poem includes phrases such as “over and over,” and “Most of the time,” which also indicate the significance of time in the poem. The lines “But it flickers. Faces and darkness separate us…” show the readers that this is how the mirror might tell time; from the patterns of the flickering images it sees. Although the mirror changes into a lake, it does not seem to age as time passes, as the woman in the poem does. She sees herself in her reflection, and the readers know that she is upset by what she sees. The audience received the hints that time has passed, but they don’t know that that is the cause of her distress until the last two lines. It is clear that the woman in the poem is distraught over the loss of her beauty, admitting to herself each day that she is growing older. The woman needs the mirror to provide an accurate image of herself over the years, even though it is the cause of her suffering. The mirror states that the sight of her aging causes her “tears and an agitation of hands,”clearly showing how the mirror watches as she grapples with the reality of aging. Therefore, because the woman fears aging, she dreads the passage of time. Also, because the mirror doesn’t age, it is unaffected by the passage of time.
Personal Reaction:
I enjoyed the poem immensely. I felt that many people, including myself, can relate to this poem. Many people struggle with their appearance, and so this poem could help them connect. I think it was very sobering and eye-opening, and that Plath might have had a special connection with this poem, as it could’ve provided some insight into her thoughts and perceptions of the world. I feel that maybe, for Plath, this poem not only meant that she feared aging. I think it may have explored the contrast between her appearance and her inner self. I think that Plath was expressing how mirrors only reflect one’s outer self, but not one’s inner self. Plath was polite and docile on the outside, but her thoughts were dark. I think that this poem was meant to show how her outer self didn’t honestly reflect her inner self.