Mirror by Sylvia Plath

    Cards (104)

    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Mirror
      Reflects the objective physical appearance of things around it, devoid of preconceptions
    • Mirror's function
      1. Relates basic function
      2. Meditates on pink speckled wall
      3. Reflects passing faces
    • Mirror as lake
      Reflects woman's appearance truthfully, triggering unhappiness and displeasure
    • Woman looks into lake mirror

      Sees her fading youth and old age appearing more in her features
    • Mood and tone
      • Reflective and pensive
      • Matter-of-fact (dignified) based on mirror's pride in impartial reflective properties
    • Mirror
      • Infallibly accurate
      • Has no biases that cloud how it represents objects
      • Impartial, no likes or dislikes
      • Assuredness of its exactitude
      • No hesitation or biased selection in what it reflects
    • The poem begins with the mirror's simple declaration of the nature of its existence
    • An alliteration is used in the second line 'Whatever I see I swallow immediately,' communicating no hesitation or biased selection in what it does or does not reflect
    • “I am not cruel, only truthful‚ The eye of a little god, four-cornered.” The mirror declares itself merely an agent of complete truth. By mentioning cruelty, it suggests that the displeasure felt by someone at their own appearance in the mirror is not the fault of the mirror itself- it intends to be only truthful regardless of the emotions felt by the subject. The mention of being the ‘eye of a little god’ ties into the idea of an unyielding truthfulness, as the concept of god is associated with an impartial judgement of subjects.
    • Meditate
      Focus one's mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation
    • The wall
      Part of the narrator's heart
    • The wall flickers
    • Faces and darkness
      Separate the wall and the narrator over and over
    • Mirror
      Reflects the pink-speckled appearance of the wall opposite to it when not being used by people
    • The mirror
      Considers the wall almost a part of itself because it has looked at it for so long
    • The indefinite staring contest between the mirror and the wall is broken up by the darkness of regular night cycles and the faces of people who peer into the mirror in search of their own appearances
    • “I am not cruel, only truthful‚ The eye of a little god, four-cornered.” The mirror declares itself merely an agent of complete truth. By mentioning cruelty, it suggests that the displeasure felt by someone at their own appearance in the mirror is not the fault of the mirror itself- it intends to be only truthful regardless of the emotions felt by the subject. The mention of being the ‘eye of a little god’ ties into the idea of an unyielding truthfulness, as the concept of god is associated with an impartial judgement of subjects.
    • “Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me, Searching my reaches for what she really is.” The mirror now describes another one of its forms- the reflective surface of a lake. It speaks about a woman who bends over the lake, trying to see what she really is. This diction is interesting, because the mirror states that she searches for ‘what she really is,’ as though the mirror will define her identity somehow. This is quite strange, especially considering that one’s appearance doesn’t define their identity
    • Meditate
      Focus one's mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation
    • The wall
      Part of the narrator's heart
    • The wall flickers
    • Faces and darkness
      Separate the wall and the narrator over and over
    • Mirror
      Reflects the pink-speckled appearance of the wall opposite to it when not being used by people
    • The mirror
      Considers the wall almost a part of itself because it has looked at it for so long
    • The indefinite staring contest between the mirror and the wall is broken up by the darkness of regular night cycles and the faces of people who peer into the mirror in search of their own appearances
    • The mirror refers to the moon and candles as 'liars'

      They are light sources, but their innate beauty does not reflect the appearance of the onlooker
    • The mirror surface of the lake reflects the woman's back
      She is displeased by her own appearance
    • The woman 'rewards' the mirror
      With tears of sadness and agitates its calm surface by disturbing it with her hands
    • This is an oxymoron, as the 'reward' for such faithful reflection is something so negative and of obvious displeasure
    • Important
      The lake is important to the woman
    • Woman's daily ritual
      1. Comes and goes
      2. Looks at her own face in the lake
      3. Replaces the darkness
    • Woman's compulsive obsession with looking at herself

      Ties into a need to watch her fading youth