User:Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov

An Analysis of The poem “Mirror” by Sylvia Plath

“The mirror Plath speaks of is the hard, honest, cold face of reality. It’s a reality I do not understand. I do not like it, but I find myself feeling forced to embrace it, rather than doing so of my own free will. The mirror amplifies the presence of this unpleasant reality, refusing to reflect back at me anything that I consider to be the essence of me, but instead reflects back what I’m ‘supposed’ to be.”

Differing ends of society views an inanimate object such as a ‘mirror’ to be an icon, by very little, a subliminal God and by most, simply an object that reflects an image. Factually, a mirror is an object that duplicates the qualities of an image to which it reflects. A mirror essentially, is used for grooming purposes with the intention to highlight perfections and any lock thereof in beauty. In the poem ‘Mirror’, Plath speaks through the figurative eyes of a mirror as the narrator to emphasize the indifference of its qualities towards the life of an aging woman, her struggles with acceptance of the unavoidable process and the experiences that comes with aging. It is therefore my firm belief that the mirror holds much more significance than we give it credit and as such my personal views will be established.

The mirror Plath refers to confuses us. It is unconscionable and does care about the light to which one does not perceive him/herself nor does it consider society’s views. In the eyes of society we can easily hide our flaws but in the eyes of the mirror the unmanipulatable truth of individual physical appearances, thoughts and self perception is revealed. In other words, exactly what is there is what you get. The mirror also holds the quality of acting as one’s conscience, feeling of shame when you do something immoral. In the sight of others, guilt is almost oblivious but when confronted in the mirror, all guilt attached acts rides the waves of our human conscience thus revealing the hidden undeniable truth.

Moreover, these are qualities of the mirror that we do not like but are forced to embrace despite of our ambitions, prestige, pride or even natural and or cosmetic bodily endowments. Knowingly, we accept what is placed before us as gospel for “The eyes of a little god, four-cornered”, does not lie nor seek to torment but only serves its created purpose. Plath uses the “Mirror” to act as an amplifier to the “Cold Face of reality”, to some it is the “wake up call”. Not to say the mirror is a barefaced hypocrite but it simply gives you what is present, no less and no more. More like an antithesis for honesty within cruelty.

To substantiate, take for instance the lady mentioned in the poem “Mirror”; she faithfully and consistently visits the mirror hoping each day for some form of change in her “supposedly” diminishing beauty due to the aging process. Here, she does not stand in the view of the mirror for the revelation of her flaws; instead she hopes that they aren’t seen. Although she knowingly visits the mirror conscious of her impending disappointment, she visits anyway hoping for some form of change. Ironically, each time she visits, she leaves drowning in tears. Assumedly, she might have been of the thought that her persistence will eventually have the mirror grow fed up and finally gives her what she desires- a change. Unfortunately for her, a mirror is the cold, harsh face of reality and owns no emotions.

Furthermore, “The mirror Plath speaks of is the hard, honest, cold face of reality. It’s a reality I do not understand. I do not like it, but I find myself feeling forced to embrace it, rather than doing so of my own free will. The mirror amplifies the presence of this unpleasant reality, refusing to reflect back at me anything that I consider to be the essence of me, but instead reflects back what I’m ‘supposed’ to be.” Had this not been true, the mirror would be considered a liar, a deceiver and not be trusted for use. Despite that not being true of the qualities of the literal or figurative mirror, it speaks volumes. Volumes to which only a societal mirror can display- (what does society think?) Society’s perception of what should be, should not be and should not have been is called ‘stereotypes’. These stereotypes however, have prescribes goddess qualities of how persons should appear thus clouding individual judgment. When one stands before a mirror, having absorbed the teachings of society, does not see the transcending qualities within him/herself then the mirror is said to be cruel. Acceptance of self is therefore pivotal and not to be taken lightly. Not what you think you should be is displayed but who you really are. Tragically, we fail to understand the sole purpose of the mirror and its importance to the point where we grow enraged and discontent with our images to the extent of slamming fists into its surface to shatter ourselves within its core. At the end, if a splinter is taken up and one looks at it to search for a change in the reflection, sadly there will be none.

Conclusively, it is critical that we understand that the mirror is simply an object and will not be biased, prejudice, stereotypical nor have any emotions or thoughts. In the very first line of the first stanza the mirror discloses that “I have no preconceptions” which clearly denotes the stated facts. It does not see beyond that to which it reflects, it speaks not to potential within the object “woman” but it does highlight and amplify the obvious “reality”. Failure to accept or positively reject the mirrors honesty will lead to possible conflict with oneself and or their environment. Therefore, it is up to those that find themselves requesting from the mirror that should extrapolate of the reflection, their true self.

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