The bell jar autobiographical novel amazon parnassus powells. Mirror is a free verse written by the american poet sylvia plath. Sylvia plath biography, selected poems, related content the collected poems amazon parnassus powells. It captures the frustration of people as they look at their reflection watching themselves age. In the last post, i wrote about mirror summary in hindi. The poem revolves around the truth of reflections in the life of an individual. 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. Line by line summary of mirror by sylvia plath mirror is written in blank verse and is divided into two stanzas. Mirrorsof entrapment and emancipation forugh farrokhzad and sylvia plath leilarahimibahmany a io mirrors of entrapment and. She was suffering from depression and her poetry is a proof.
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. Read the questions thoroughly and comment if you liked. Sylvia plath uses a unique blend of symbolism, imagery, and repetition to tell a. Pdf plaths mirror is an allseeing eye researchgate. 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. Brainstormfivethingsyouknowaboutmirrors,associatewith. The unabridged journals of sylvia plath amazon parnassus powells. You died before i had time marbleheavy, a bag full of god, ghastly statue with one gray toe. According to clugston 2010 these are important components of poetry. 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. An ambitious woman writer, sylvia plath was living in an era that defined a womans role in a male dominated society. Also, the explanation is followed by a summary of the lesson.
What is the meaning of the word unmisted as used in line 3. Whatever i see i swallow immediately just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. 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. 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. For thirty years, poor and white, barely daring to breathe or achoo. The mirror is silver and exact with no preconception. The mirror says that love and dislike dont cloud the way that it views people or objects.
Written in firstperson point of view, the speaker is the mirror. Discuss the way plath uses language in the poem to convey this complex tone. Brainstorm five things you know about mirrors, associate with mirrors, or use mirrors for. Instead, the poem lets us know from the start that were hearing from a mirror, with its title, mirror, and its first line, i am. Mirror by sylvia plath english explanation class 10 youtube. In line 12, the mirror calls the moon and candles liars.
This is a step by step line by line analysis of the poem mirror by sylvia plath. It reflects how a woman is disappointed and frustrated to see her gradually fading beauty and youth. The bell jar is a novel about the events of sylvia plath s twentieth year. This poem is not a riddle, speaking with the voice of some mysterious i until the end, where the reader is shocked to find out that its a mirror, and not a person speaking. Mirror by sylvia plath question and answers important. 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. Sylvia plaths poem mirror is a reflection on what it means to be a woman uncertain of the future, haunted by the past. The poem metaphors by sylvia plath has been examined and analysed in this article.
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. In what sense does the speaker swallow whatever it sees. Feminism is undeniably one of major themes in her poetry. Esthers inability to recognize herself in the elevator reflection at the amazon, the compact mirror in jay cee s office, and the mirror a nurse hands her at the city hospital illustrates esthers slipping grasp on her own identity, which is.
Sylvia plath s words for a nursery sylvia plath s words for a nursery depicts the embodiment of life through the symbolism of a human hand. Pdf sylvia plaths mirror stands as an icon of seeing all objects true to its existence. Though sylvia plath never realized her youthful wish to walk into the mirror like alice plath. In addition to plath s the magic mirror, embers has published two limited editions of short stories by plath. The bell jar by sylvia plath biographical note by lois ames drawings by sylvia plath eversion 3. For most people, love and dislike definitely affect how. 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. The mirror was written by sylvia plath in 1961 but wasnt published until 1971, eight years after her death by suicide. It uses the titular mirror as its central symbolic device.
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. This is the first way in which plath personifies the mirror. Its on microfilm at the smith college library and there should be a copy in smiths plath collection. Sylvia plath was an american poet, novelist, and shortstory writer. The poem mirror is an autobiographical account of a mirror, highlighting its qualities. The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry. Reflections of self and other in sylvia plaths mirror. The following essay will also be discussing the feminist writing style of sylvia plath, specifically as presented in her poem mirror. In this poem, sylvia plath revists the myth of narcissus.
Mirror by sylvia plath is one of the great american lyrical poems. Sylvia plath was an american poet best known for her novel the bell jar, and for her poetry collections the colossus and ariel. It appeared in plath s posthumously published collection crossing the water. 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, for people, is a hard thing to do. Her novel, the bell jar, is strongly autobiographical, and her later poems, such as daddy and lady. Something whether it is in the form of its any state. All the exercises and question and answers given at the back of the lesson. Mirror was written two years before plath committed suicide in 1963. The poem is written from the mirror s perspective and details what it. The freeverse poem tells the story of a woman who continuously looks at her reflection first in a mirror and then in a lake. 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. In lines 1718, the image of the aging woman is compared to a terrible fish.
The fact that the mirror is the voice and has the starring role is a little odd, but sylvia plath wanted to show just how powerful an object the mirror is in peoples. I am not cruel, only truthful the eye of a little god, fourcornered. I recommend you to read the laburnum top by ted hughes. I dont have any preconceived notions and i absorb everything that comes my way.
In the poem mirror by sylvia plath, there is a continuing theme of change. 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. The second stanza in particular reworks the narcissus myth and adapts it to a womans experience. Loneliness in the pink wall, by sylvia plath 1289 words. The poem is written from the perspectives of two entities. In this post, you can find some important questions from the chapter mirror. In greek mythology, narcissus is a young boy who fell in love with his reflection in a lake a natural mirror. Sylvia plath 193263 was an american poet and novelist whose bestknown works explore the themes of alienation, death, and selfdestruction. What is the theme of the poem mirror by sylvia plath. Referring to the hand many times throughout various worksmirrors, tulips, lady lazarus, etc, plath continually portrays this feature as a bodily tool around which life functions.
Plath s 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. The mirror imagery in plath s poetry, therefore, signifies the. Many of plath s poems deal with the complexities of defining womanhood and existing in a female space. A short analysis of sylvia plaths mirror interesting. Reflections of self and other in sylvia plaths mirror imagery.
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. Download my free group poetry analysis activity for sylvia plath s mirror as an accompanying activity. This zip files contains a pdf, editable doc, 4point grading rubric, and ppt with student examples. Welcome to the mirror by sylvia plath question and answers. 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. Mirror by sylvia plath question and answers short answer type questions. What is the best way to find sylvia plaths senior thesis. In the first stanza of sylvia plath s mirror, the mirror is given a voice as the firstperson narrator of the poem. Poem and discussion questions pdf the poetry foundation. Sylvia plath chooses a simple everyday object, a mirror in her mirror by sylvia plath. The overall meaning of the poem mirror pen and the pad.
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