Mirror by Sylvia Plath

Mirror – Sylvia Plath

Concept Map:

Words’ meanings:

Words	Meanings
Preconception	Prejudice, bias attitude, notion, fixed idea
Unmisted	(here) unchanged, not affected
Speckles	Small contrasting parts of something, dark spots
Flickers	Flash unsteadily
Agitation	A mental state of extreme emotional disturbance in protest, restless, not calm,
Drowned	(here) turned into
Terrible	Dreadful, awful, very bad, causing fear or terror

Question-Answers:

1.       1. What is the poetic device used when the mirror says ‘I swallow’?

Answer: It is personification when the mirror says ‘I swallow’ because the mirror, which is an inanimate object, has been given human qualities.

2.       2. How does the mirror usually pass the time?

Answer: The mirror usually passes its time looking at the opposite wall, meditating on the opposite wall and its speckles.

3.       3. What disturbs the mirror’s contemplation of the opposite wall?

Answer: Faces and darkness disturb mirror’s contemplation of the opposite wall.

4.       4. Why does the mirror appear to be a lake in the second stanza? What aspect of the mirror do you think is being referred to here?

Answer: The mirror, appearing to be a lake, symbolizes depths of reality. The aspect of reflecting back an image objectively, is referred to over here.

5.       What is the woman searching for in the depths of the lake?

Answer: The woman is searching for her lost youth in the depths of the lake.

6.      5.  How does the narrator convey the fact that the woman looking at her reflection in the lake is deeply distressed?

Answer: The narrator conveys the fact that the woman is deeply distressed by mentioning ‘tears in her eyes’ and ‘agitation of hands’, and ‘woman’s turning away from the liars candle and moon’.

7.       6. What makes the woman start crying?

Answer: The reality that the woman at present is not as beautiful and young as she used to be once upon a time in her youth makes the woman stat crying in depression.

8.       7. What do you think the ‘terrible fish’ in the last stanza symbolizes? What is the poetic device used here?

Answer: The woman who feels depressed and cries looking at her lost beauty symbolizes the phrases ‘terrible fish’. The poetic device used here is simile because there is direct comparison of intensity of worst feelings of both the woman and the fish.

9.       8. List out the adjectives that have been used to describe the mirror. Add a few more adjectives to the list.

Answer: The adjectives that have been used to describe the mirror are silver, exact, truthful, eye of a little God, four cornered, etc. The mirror can be described by adjectives like clear, impartial, reflective, simple, plain, etc.

10.    In the second stanza, why has the narrator replaced the mirror with a lake? What is she trying to focus on?

Answer: The poetess is basically trying to focus on the fact that things which reflect an image do not change or distort the image they display from the reality. They display them as it is. This makes these things loyal and honest. Thus can be explained the usage of mirror and lake. It is the very nature of human beings to welcome compliments than comments, complaints or criticisms. The woman is searching for her true identity. However, the harsh truth revealed by the mirror agitates her. When she sees herself ageing in the mirror, she turns away to find her answers in the candles and the moon. She has tears in her eyes and her agitated hands express her distress.

11.    Find the various instances of personification used in the poem?

Answer: In the poem, there are many instances where personification has been used by the poet. These instances are as follows:

-         The mirror calling itself silver and exact

-         The mirror swallowing whatever it sees

-         The mirror meditating

-         The mirror calling the spot on the wall the part of its heart

-         The mirror seeing the woman back

Grammar:

Figures of speech

Personification:

·         When an inanimate object is give human qualities, the figure of speech is personification.

·         For example: The lion speaks with the monkey.

·         In this poem, personification has been used in the following instances:

-         The mirror calling itself silver and exact

-         The mirror swallowing whatever it sees

-         The mirror meditating

-         The mirror calling the spot on the wall the part of its heart

-         The mirror seeing the woman back

Simile:

·         When there is a direct comparison between the different aspects/qualities of two or more different things or people, it is simile.

·         For example: The warrior fought like a lion.

·         Here, the warrior’s ferocity in the fight is compared with that of lions.

·         In this poem ‘Mirror’, simile is used in the following line:  ‘ …. Lie a terrible fish’

Metaphors:

·         When there is an implied simile or the implied comparison of different qualities of two or more different things or people, such comparison is called as metaphor.

·         For example: The warrior was a lion in the fight.

·         In the poem ‘Mirror’, metaphor is used in the following phrases:

-         Eye of a little God, four cornered (here, the mirror is comparing itself with God’s qualities)

-         Now I am lake (the mirror compares itself with the lake to show the depth)

Alliteration:

·         When the same initial consonant sound is repeated in a line or a phrases, it is called as alliteration.

·         For example: sparkling spider. Here, both the words ‘sparkling’ and ‘spider’ have same initial consonant sound ‘s’.

·         Alliteration in this poem:

-         I see I swallow

-         Turns to those

-         Day after day