Her father, a professor of biology the study of plant and animal life at boston university and a wellrespected authority on bees, died when she was eight. In this poem, sylvia plath revists the myth of narcissus. Mirror was written two years before plath committed suicide in 1963. In the opening lines of this second stanza, we understand that sylvia plath wants to oppose outer appearance and inner self. Pdf plaths mirror is an allseeing eye researchgate.
Her first volume of poetry, the colossus, was released in 1960 but shes best known for the publication of ariel in 1965. My selves dissolving an exploration of the narcissistic personality in the work of two american poets, weldon kees and sylvia plath. By seeking to read the riddle of his soul in its myriad. She comphrends the world she is in without dissociating her personality, the mirror became just her characteristiscs keeper, later i can observe her selfappreciation when the mirror is replace by a lake her personality had acquire a larger view of her achievements. May 30, 2015 its on microfilm at the smith college library and there should be a copy in smiths plath collection. Poems study guide contains a biography of poet sylvia plath, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of select poems. Sylvia plath s mirror is a poem which deals intimately with the idea of women searching for distinctions between the real self and the false. Essay on analysis of sylvia plaths mirror 1289 words cram. Mirror is a short, twostanza poem written by sylvia plath in 1961. A jungian alchemical reading nephie christodoulides, university of cyprus in this paper i propose a new reading of sylvia plath s honor thesis the magic mirror, a reading which, like the idol in a magic mirror demonstrating a disturbance. Sylvia plath questions and answers discover the community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on sylvia plath.
Sylvia plath wrote the poem in 1961, just two years before her actual. As readers, we know that much of plath s oeuvre of poetry focuses on her lost youth and her gradual lack of beauty as she ages. What is the poem mushrooms by sylvia plath about answers. Berckplage 4849 william freedman demonstrates in his article entitled the monster in plath s mirror that for sylvia plath, mirror holds great significance. She changes the narrator from the rectangular mirror, meditating on the opposite wall, to a lake. Sylvia plaths poem mirror is a reflection on what it means to be a woman uncertain of. The monster in plaths mirror, essay date october 1993 in the following essay, freedman discusses plaths use of the mirror as a symbol of female passivity, subjugation, and plaths own conflicted selfidentity caused by social pressure to reconcile the competing obligations of artistic and domestic life. The mirror imagery in plath s poetry, therefore, signifies the. I dont have any preconceived notions and i absorb everything that comes my way.
In a letter to her brother warrenthat appears in the first of two volumes of the letters of sylvia plathsylvia plath writes of her mother. Reflections of self and other in sylvia plaths mirror. Sylvia plath begins her poem fever 103 with a oneword question. May 23, 2011 the magic mirror by sylvia plath sylvia plath graduated smith college with honors in june 1955.
The bell jar by sylvia plath biographical note by lois ames drawings by sylvia plath eversion 3. She had spent her senior year working on a special honors thesis which she titled. Pdf sylvia plaths mirror stands as an icon of seeing all objects true to its existence. The mirror by sylvia plath full explanation mytutor. A jungian alchemical reading nephie christodoulides, university of cyprus in this paper i propose a new reading of sylvia plaths honor thesis the magic mirror, a reading which, like the idol in a magic mirror demonstrating a disturbance. Yeatss and sylvia plaths concept of the beautiful is associated closely with. In the early morning hours of monday, february 11, 1963, sylvia plath brought food and drink into the bedroom of her two sleeping young children. In the second section of the poem the mirror changes with the statement, now i am a. In essence, the appearance of the double is an aspect of mans eternal desire to solve the enigma of his own identity.
An analysis of intimacy in sylvia plaths poetry 17 fourth stanza with its own reflection in the mirror of loyal and unique loneliness. This mirror has, over time, been privy to the tears of a woman over who she sees in it, desperate grasps at moonlit lies, and the endless speculations of a pink with speckles wall. The relationship between the mirror and the woman is uneasy and almost abusive in sylvia plaths poem mirror by sylvia plath. The poem metaphors by sylvia plath has been examined and analysed in this article. Within this poem, there is a clash between truth and perception. What is the best way to find sylvia plaths senior thesis. The death of sylvia plaths father at age eight was a decisive experience shaping. If youre not near northhampton massachusetts, or unable to get permission to see it, there were copies printed in book form in the 1980s, but t.
Mirror is an exploration of uncertain self and was probably influenced by the poem of james merrill written under the same title. In greek mythology, narcissus is a young boy who fell in love with his reflection in a lake a natural mirror. Sylvia plaths mirrors reflecting various guises of self. Introduction the problem of the double personality has been of central concern to man from primitive times to the present.
By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from shmoop and verify that you are over the age of. She opened a window in their room and attached a note with her doctors name and phone number to a baby carriage in the hallway. Plath uses the term hermaphrodite, in her chap ter the psychic hermaphrodite, ostensibly referring to the duality in golyadkins nature, the discrepancy between golyadkin senior and golyadkin junior, as plath calls the two polarities. Born in 1932 to middle class parents in jamaica plain, massachusetts, sylvia plath published her first poem at the age of eight. While sylvia might sound a little bit like silver, were pretty sure from this firstperson declaration that plath isnt the speaker in this poem. The mirror imagery in plaths poetry, therefore, signifies the. October 27, 1932 february 11, 1963 was an american poet, novelist, and shortstory writer. In sylvia plath s mirror, the mirror serves as the speaker who describes the different things it sees. You died before i had time marbleheavy, a bag full of god, ghastly statue with one gray toe big as a frisco seal. While living in winthrop, eightyearold plath published her first poem in the boston heralds childrens section. In line 12, the mirror calls the moon and candles liars.
This includes a discussion of the poems general meaning, a linebyline analysis, and finishing on a note about the structure and historical context of the poem. By sylvia plath you do not do, you do not do any more, black shoe in which i have lived like a foot for thirty years, poor and white, barely daring to breathe or achoo. Mirror is a poem written by sylvia plath in 1961, just two years before her suicide. Sylvia plath was an american poet, novelist, and short story writer.
Analysis of the mirror by sylvia plath 1215 words 5 pages. The mirror is a twostanza captivating and a highly personalized poem that was authored by sylvia plath in the 1960s as an exploration of the uncertain self. Mirror by sylvia plath essay topics, sample papers. Why sylvia plaths mirror is such an unsettling piece of work. A study of the double in two of dostoevskys novels, the following paper will explore the theme of the divided self in plath s poetry. Instead, kroll attempts to explore in depth plaths academic research for her undergraduate thesis, the magic mirror. It uses the titular mirror as its central symbolic device. The real sylvia plath her newly published, unexpurgated journals support a littleknown theory that pms drove her to suicide. Bells hooves of the highstipping black goats woke us. A sensitive person who tended to be a bit of a perfectionist she was what many would consider a model daughter and student popular, a straight a student, always winning the best prizes. The second stanza in particular reworks the narcissus myth and adapts it to a womans experience. Nov 15, 2015 the relationship between the mirror and the woman is uneasy and almost abusive in sylvia plath s poem mirror by sylvia plath. Plath an american poet, novelist and short story writer. Plath was primarily known for her poetry but has earned her greatest reputation for her semiautobiographical novel the bell jar, published pseudonymously weeks before her death.
In lines 1718, the image of the aging woman is compared to a terrible fish. Get an answer for the poem mirror is strongly related to the theme of feminism. Plath jammed some rags and towels under the door, then turned the gas on in the oven and laid her head inside. In this essay i shall be comparing and contrasting two poems by the author sylvia plath.
I am silver and exact, i see her back, and reflect it faithfully, these descriptions follow the definition of a mirror. I cant read more than two or three of sylvia plaths poems in a row before i have to put the. The poem mirror by sylvia plath, is a comment on a womans desire to look. The duality that sylvia plath wrote about in her thesis provides the basis for the personality of esther, the protagonist of plath s the bell jar.
The recurrent mirror imagery, ultimately, implies plaths preoccupation with the notion of a divided self or the projection of two selves, the true self and an imposed version of self reflected through the mirror, moon, the male gaze, and finally the view of the patriarchal society. The poem mirror by sylvia plath is told from the point of view of a mirror hanging up on a wall. Similarly juxtaposing two sets of symbols with two different rhythms. Sylvia plaths poem, mirror, symbolizes the troubled self of the woman. All summer we moved in a villa brimful of echoscool as the pearled interior of a conch. Sylvia plath bibliography sylvia plath was born on october 27, 1932 in boston, massachusetts. This shows no matter how deeply she searches, she can only see the surface truth. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, the colossus and other poems and ariel, as well as the bell jar, a semiautobiographical novel published shortly before her death. A woman bends over me, searching my reaches for what she really is. Comparing and contrasting two poems mirror and blackberrying. The mirror interacts with this mature face in a more complex way, and the image of the womans back, her agitation, her dependency on the mirror, all express anxiety and disappointment. Her two children, frieda, age three, and nicholas, barely one, slept in the next room. Fever 103 was first published in sylvia plath s posthumous collection ariel 1965, although she wrote the poem in 1962.
Explication of mirror by sylvia plath sample essays. Analysis of sylvia plath s mirror sylvia plath is known as the poet of confession. In the poem, mirror, by sylvia plath, which can be read in full here, the mirror gives its own description and says that i am silver coloured and i am very accurate while reflecting the images of the objects that fall on my surface. Line by line summary of mirror by sylvia plath mirror is written in blank verse and is divided into two stanzas. Edge sylvia plath introduction to literary criticism. She cant take big problems or excitements without staying awake all night, and so our main responsibility is to give her the illusion only now it hardly seems like an illusion that we are happy and successful and independent. Hacettepe university, faculty of letters, department of english language and literature. Mirror is an exploration of this uncertain self and was probably influenced by an. Sylvia plaths poem, mirror, symbolizes the troubled self of the woman, especially the woman artist who has to reject the given masks imposed on her by the patriarchal society and see herself as an artist and an individual. Bells hooves of the highstipping black goats woke us page. Category mirror analyzing the works of sylvia plath. Sylvia plath biography life, children, story, death.
Its on microfilm at the smith college library and there should be a copy in smiths plath collection. I am not cruel, only truthful in the poem, mirror, by sylvia plath, which can be read in full here, the mirror gives its own description and says that i am silver coloured and i am very accurate while reflecting the images of the objects that fall on my surface. Sylvia plath s poem, mirror, symbolizes the troubled self of the woman, especially the woman artist who has to reject the given masks imposed on her by the patriarchal society and see herself as an artist and an individual. This applies to both of the characters described in the poem. I am not cruel, only truthful the eye of a little god, fourcornered. Pdf mind over myth the divided self in the poetry of sylvia plath. She uses poetry as a way to confess her feelings, to express and release her pain in life. Perception and relevance of mirror imagery rajani sharma one mirrory eye a facet of knowledge.
Mirror by sylvia plath is a poem narrated from the perspective of a mirror. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Covert narcissist signs you are dealing with a master manipulatorlisa a romano podcast duration. It gives us a point of view of the mirror that is exactly reflecting plath. Sylvia plath chooses a simple everyday object, a mirror in her mirror by sylvia plath. Taking its point of departure in the academic research sylvia plath conducted for her undergraduate thesis, the magic mirror. The mirror by sylvia plath full explanation youtube. Mirror by sylvia plath was composed in 1961, just before plaths twentyninth birthday, two years before her suicide. The poem is written from the perspectives of two entities. This poem is about two kinds of firethe fires of hell, which merely agonize, and the. The following bibliography of sylvia plath is a list of articles, poems, and books written by the american confessional poet sylvia plath 19321963. Reflections of self and other in sylvia plaths mirror imagery. The folloing statements by two of her more perceptive critics contain my theme and. In the second stanza, sylvia plath introduces a new element to the poem.
On february 11, 1963, sylvia plath succeeded in killing herself with cooking gas at the age of thirty. A study of the double in two of dostoevskys novels. Berckplage 4849 william freedman demonstrates in his article entitled the monster in plaths mirror that for sylvia plath, mirror holds great significance. What is the theme of the poem mirror by sylvia plath. The mirror is described as a lake, because the woman who stands before it, seeing her image tries to look deep into every part of her image. Mirror by sylvia plath figurative language metaphor line 10 says now i am a lake. Known primarily for her poetry, plath also wrote a semiautobiographical novel, the bell jar, under the pseudonym victoria lucas. Plaths mirror that for sylvia plath, mirror holds great significance because the search. It appeared in plaths posthumously published collection crossing the water.
Analysis of sylvia plaths mirror sylvia plath is known as the poet of confession. Mirror by sylvia plath is a twostanza poem in which a mirrors perspective on its existence and interactions with humans is offered in the first person. Sylvia plath graduated smith college with honors in june 1955. A split in the mirror i sit composed in grecian tunic. Mirror poem by sylvia plath line by line explanation pdf. Jul 07, 2017 the mirror by sylvia plath full explanation mytutor. The books protagonist, esther greenwood, is a bright, ambitious student at smith college who begins to experience a mental breakdown while. The feminist movement was becoming more prominent just as plath herself was beginning to experience motherhood and to enter middle age.
Sylvia plath is an acknowledged poetess whose literary work was distinguished by the existential deliberations. Whatever i see i swallow immediately just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. In plaster where she tries to confront her division into two selves. In this marriage, sylvia plath s rudeness and destructive rages, her troubled relationship. In exchange for reflecting her faithfully, the woman rewards the mirror. The theme of feminism comes into play in the second stanza, which focuses on the unnamed woman who gazes at herself in the mirror daily. Sylvia plath s mirror explores the impact of time on individuals, specifically within the realities of aging and losing beauty. In mirror, sylvia plath gives us the point of view of the mirror actually a mirror in the 1960s, a time when the meaning of plaths reflection, and womens reflections in general, were rapidly changing. If you know the answer to this question, please register to join our limited beta program and start the. Spiderlike, i spin mirrors, loyal to my image plath, 259 the image is synonymous to death, she can only remember but deadly single word of what is left. The two poems are blackberrying and mirror sylvia plath born in boston, massachusetts 1932 was the wife of another famous yet complicated poet ted hughes. Those who only knew the brisk, polished, formidable sylvia knew the least of her2 it seems sylvia was a woman of razorsharp sensitivities, of prodigious gift and even more debilitating selfdoubts, depression and selfdefeating rages. The lake has a deep, dark, and complex inner world beneath its reflective surface, and is a far more complex and alive entity than a simple mirror. The lyric poem, mirror, written in 1961 and published in 1971, in a collection entitled, crossing the water stands out for dexterously employing poetic vehicles like powerful language, unusual syntax and sharp imagery in reflecting the mounting uncertainties that the poet confronted in her real life.
The bell jar is a novel about the events of sylvia plath s twentieth year. How we can apply the theme of feminism into plaths poem. This idea is first presented through the form of the stanzas where the mirror is silver and exact plath 1 then when the mirror is now a lake 10. The combination of hellish and heavenly imagery reflects her state of mental anguish she suffered all her life from clinical depression and in a broadcast on the bbc she stated. Early life sylvia plath was born in boston, massachusetts, on october 27, 1932, to otto and aurelia plath. It appeared in plath s posthumously published collection crossing the water. Brainstormfivethingsyouknowaboutmirrors,associatewith. May 17, 2019 her two poems mirror and tulips deserve the closet attention because they reflect some autobiographical features and provide a brief account of her life philosophy and outlooks. Yeatss and sylvia plaths concept of the beautiful is associated closely with visions of the emergence of terrible femininity. Mirror is a free verse written by the american poet sylvia plath.