Hence, although the narrators form has changed, its function hasnt. With its portrayal of a talented yet frustrated young american woman in the 1950s, sylvia plath s the bell jar 1963 depicts the experiences of a nineteenyearold girl before her mental breakdown. Sylvia plaths writing depicts the anguish of an unresolved and ambivalent attachment with her father. In the beginning the changes are simple, like the acts of day turning to night, but at the end we see the life changes of a woman in particular. The second stanza in particular reworks the narcissus myth and adapts it to a womans experience. Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike 3 this line shows that the mirror tries not to be biased when judging appearances, which. May 30, 2015 its on microfilm at the smith college library and there should be a copy in smiths plath collection. The unsettling nature of metaphors the colossus, william heinemann limited, 1960arises from the dichotomy of plaths tone and the images she chooses to convey her mentality.
Through the use of metaphor and personification in the poem, plath creates images of water, reflections, and colors as having human characteristics to emphasize the strong. Mirror by sylvia plath question and answers important. What is the best way to find sylvia plaths senior thesis. It appeared in plaths posthumously published collection crossing the water. Written in firstperson point of view, the speaker is the mirror.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry. 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. This zip files contains a pdf, editable doc, 4point grading rubric, and ppt with student examples. Sylvia plath uses a unique blend of symbolism, imagery, and repetition to tell a story from the. The poem revolves around the truth of reflections in the life of an individual. Though the woman occasionally deludes herself with the flattering liars. Cbse class 10 english poem mirror detailed line by line explanation of the poem along with meanings of difficult words and literary devices used in the poem. Initially, she playfully compares her pregnant state to an elephant, a house, a ripening melon, and a yeasty loaf of bread. Her novel, the bell jar, is strongly autobiographical, and her later poems, such as daddy and lady lazarus, show great power and pathos borne on flashes of incisive wit. Jun 29, 20 line by line summary of mirror by sylvia plath mirror is written in blank verse and is divided into two stanzas. The poem is written from the perspectives of two entities. Mar 02, 2020 the story of plath her troubled life and tragic death was the basis for the 2003 biopic sylvia starring gwyneth paltrow in the title role. May 23, 2011 in addition to plath s the magic mirror, embers has published two limited editions of short stories by plath.
Pdf plaths mirror is an allseeing eye researchgate. The mirror imagery in plaths poetry, therefore, signifies the. In the poem mirror by sylvia plath, there is a continuing theme of change. Though sylvia plath never realized her youthful wish to walk into the mirror like alice plath. 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. In this post, you can find some important questions from the chapter mirror. Jun 29, 20 in the second stanza, sylvia plath introduces a new element to the poem. Plaths mirror that for sylvia plath, mirror holds great significance because the search in the mirror is ultimately a search for the self, often for the self as artist, especially female artist who dissolves all selflinked taboos and given masks of regressivecocoon shaped femininity in the. In greek mythology, narcissus is a young boy who fell in love with his reflection in a lake a natural mirror. Discuss the way plath uses language in the poem to convey this complex tone. She changes the narrator from the rectangular mirror, meditating on the opposite wall, to a lake. The poem metaphors by sylvia plath has been examined and analysed in this article. A short analysis of sylvia plaths mirror interesting.
I am not cruel, only truthful the eye of a little god, fourcornered. What is the theme of the poem mirror by sylvia plath. Return to article details sylvia plaths mirror translated into hindi download download pdf. These stories were printed in the expanded, first paperback edition of fabers johnny panic and the bible of dreams 1979, but were excluded from the american publication and thus have.
What is the meaning of the word unmisted as used in line 3. Analysis of the mirror by sylvia plath 1215 words 5 pages. 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 plaths poem mirror is a reflection on what it means to be a woman uncertain of the future, haunted by the past. Many of plath s poems deal with the complexities of defining womanhood and existing in a female space. The duality that sylvia plath wrote about in her thesis provides the basis for the personality of esther, the protagonist of plaths the bell jar. You died before i had time marbleheavy, a bag full of god, ghastly statue with one gray toe. Download my free group poetry analysis activity for sylvia plaths mirror as an accompanying activity. It captures the frustration of people as they look at their reflection watching themselves age. In line 12, the mirror calls the moon and candles liars. Sylvia plath chooses a simple everyday object, a mirror in her mirror by sylvia plath.
Mirrorsof entrapment and emancipation forugh farrokhzad and sylvia plath leilarahimibahmany a io mirrors of entrapment and. 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. Two years after her death, ariel, a collection of some her last poems was published, that was followed by crossing the water and winter trees in 1971 and in 1981 the collected poems was published, edited by none other than ted hughes. While sylvia might sound a little bit like silver, were pretty sure from this firstperson declaration that plath isnt the speaker in this poem. 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. This is a step by step line by line analysis of the poem mirror by sylvia plath. Whatever i see i swallow immediately just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. For thirty years, poor and white, barely daring to breathe or achoo. Born in 1932 to middle class parents in jamaica plain, massachusetts, sylvia plath published her first poem at the age of eight. The mirror is silver and exact with no preconception. The woman struggles with the loss of her beauty, admitting each day that she is growing older. On february 11, 1963, sylvia plath succeeded in killing herself with cooking gas at the age of thirty. It uses the titular mirror as its central symbolic device.
Reflections of self and other in sylvia plaths mirror imagery. 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. Plaths mirror that for sylvia plath, mirror holds great significance because the search. Apr 19, 2019 welcome to the mirror by sylvia plath question and answers. It appeared in plath s posthumously published collection crossing the water. In what sense does the speaker swallow whatever it sees. A split in the mirror i sit composed in grecian tunic.
Poems study guide contains a biography of poet sylvia plath, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a. I dont have any preconceived notions and i absorb everything that comes my way. Compared to most of the others in plath s oeuvre, this poem is not particularly difficult to analyze. We know mirrors dont talk but that just makes us more curious about what this mirror is going to say. Something whether it is in the form of its any state. The female protagonist in plaths mirror identifies herself with the inanimate mirror. Her poetry, dreams and journal writings reveal the.
Though the speaker is a mirror, the subjects are time and appearance. Mirror is a free verse written by the american poet sylvia plath. Mirror was written two years before plath committed suicide in 1963. The narrator, that is the mirror, begins by saying that it is silver and exact. All the exercises and question and answers given at the back of the lesson. In this poem, sylvia plath revists the myth of narcissus. In the last post, i wrote about mirror summary in hindi. Also, the explanation is followed by a summary of the lesson. Mirror by sylvia plath is one of the great american lyrical poems.
1072 229 450 1326 685 471 1377 442 1215 1068 345 894 927 370 1087 650 516 309 966 1006 245 784 223 1581 1117 291 299 3 88 679 81 837 217 998 1271 1033 1469 24 804 487 1057