Sylvia Plath's poem "Mirror" is told from the perspective of a mirror. The mirror states that it sees everything exactly as it is without prejudice. It has grown attached to watching the pink wall with speckles, thinking of it as part of itself. However, faces and darkness interrupt its view. The mirror is important to the woman who uses it - each morning her face replaces the darkness in the mirror, and over the days the mirror sees her transform from a young girl to an old woman.
2. About The Poet
. Sylvia Plath was born on October -27’1932
was n American
poet ,novelist and short story writer.
Born in Boston,
Massachusetts, she studied at Smith
College and Newnham
College ,Cambridge, before receiving
acclaim as a professional
poet and writer. She married fellow
poet Ted Hughes in 1956
and they lived together first in the United
States and then
England, having two children together. Plath
suffered from
3. Theme
The poem deals with our
sense of anxiety when we
start showing signs of
ageing. Everyone wishes to
stay youthful and beautiful
all one’s life. However, this
being against the law of
nature, can never be
possible. Hence we need to
develop an inner strength
4.
5. Stanza 1
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
7. Stanza 2
The eye of a little god , four
cornered.
Most of the times 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.
8. Explanation :
The mirror says that it is
above any kind of personnel
feeling . It is like a god who
sees the truth and views
everything from all corners
of world . It is something
mystic and divine above the
ordinary and the worldly so
like god mirror looks
everything with equal eye .
9. • It has grown passionate about it
and how it has began to think of
the wall as a part of its heart
here it means that it has
became an intelligent part of its
being , consciousness and
existence . The wall flickers i.e.
its view shakes and dims with
the changes in shades of light
.the view of mirror is
interrupted by the people’s faces
and darkness when they stand
12. Stanza 4 :
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 towards her day after day
13.
14.
15. Significance of the title
The mirror deals with the
varied qualitiies – Exactness,
truthfulness and its
relationship with human
beings ( here old women )
for years together the whole
poem revolves around the
mirror. Hence the title of
the poem in appropriate.
16. Message
The poem conveys the message
that rather than living in the world
of illusions, we need to change our
attitude and learn to face and
accept reality without indulging in
self-pity.