The Mirror by Sylvia Plath

This essay will explore the themes throughout Plath 's poem The Mirror in relation to several critics . The use of the following articles will be used to further discover the meaning of Plath 's poem and will help in the analytical process of Plath 's somewhat esoteric role as placing herself in o her poems as well as with her complex themes : Freedman 's The Monster in Plath 's `Mirror , Hunter 's , Hughes 's `Pike : Plath 's `Mirror ' and Uroff 's Sylvia Plath and Confessional Poetry : A Reconsideration

Although Sylvia Plath 's

poem The Mirror alludes to metaphor , the reader cannot help but assign many of the traits Plath uses to describe the mirror as traits which Plath may very well own as the speaker of the poem . Thus , the lines between metaphor and reality are bent in poem to be inclusive of Plath 's own identity . This idea of identity is elaborated upon by Uroff

The same near-identity of assertive autonomy with an at least seemingly contradictory self-annihilation characterizes the language of "Mirror and colors the poem 's implicit treatment of the woman as writer . The poem is finally about language and imitation , about poetry and its relation to what it describes . As such , it is a poem that assumes a central place in the literature of female authorship , the literature that takes as its subject the woman as writer and her obligation to create for woman and herself a resistant and resilient language of her own

In Plath 's own words , I have no preconceptions (Line One ) the identity of the poem and poet is being formed . The poem is about a woman writing a poem and using her own use of self a guiding light , as Plath illustrates , Whatever I see , I swallow immediately . Just as it is , umisted by love or dislike (Lines 2-3 . In this section of the poem , the reader is able to begin to design for themselves the way in which a female poet (Plath ) is able to write about truth

Plath 's statement in lines 2-3 aids in discovering that Plath is trying to deliberate on a feminist issue of the female poet . Plath is stating in these lines that the female poet is able to write about truth without love or hate getting in the way , but that a truthful account of these emotions is the main objective of the poem , I am not cruel , only truthful - (Line 4 . In this statement it is revealed that Plath is stating that although female are often times considered to be too dynamic in their writing of emotions , that is , they may be considered cruel in their revelations , Plath is merely stating that these female are being honest , not interpretative

The image of the mirror in the poem is used as a catalyst for this idea of the woman writer , mainly , Plath . Thus , although a mirror is typically used to reflect the outside world , Plath is using the device of the...