Truth, Illusion, and Examination in Sylvia Plaths The...

Truth, Illusion, and Examination in Sylvia Plaths The Mirror Who would be so pretentious as to suggest that they were silver and exact, and that they have no preconceptions? Poet Sylvia Plath dares to meditate on the opposite wall in her poem The Mirror to reveal to her reader some of her own insecurities, the theme of this, and several other of her poems. The poet does some introspective exploration in both stanzas; the two carefully intended to mirror each other. It is her use of private or contextual symbolism, her use of symbols to create an atmosphere of truth versus illusion, and her design of the mirror to symbolize her inner-self that make this poem such a vehicle for self-examination. Plaths message is†¦show more content†¦The fault therefore lies in the subject who searches for other devices such as the candles or the moon to provide a favorable reflection, however unrealistic. These devices symbolize the many tools a woman might use to ultimately disguise her true appearance, like cosmetics or dim lighting. Lipstick and can dlelight can only prolong the effects of aging and the reality of death. They serve as crutches to a hindered spirit that struggles day after day with the truth. The woman in the mirrors reflection denies the eye of a little god praise and rewards [it] with tears and an agitation of hands. The mirror is not cruel, only truthful, but the truth is precisely what ails the woman. Her only escape into illusion is to drown in the mirror a young girl whom she feels comfortable seeing every day. As a punishment for her denial, the woman is met with a terrible fish: her impalpable fate. The contextual symbol of the fish represents the woman who has turned her own mirror into a vast lake instead of allowing it to remain silver and exact to see her back and reflect faithfully. As a result of her terrible insecurities, the woman has essentially become her own worst enemy. She comes and goes. These words dually represent a woman who visits a mirror from time to time, and a woman who strays from her own self on occasion. The mirror is notShow MoreRelated`` Nothing Gold Can Stay `` By Sylvia Plath883 Words   |  4 Pagesfuture. However, Sylvia Plath’s poem is pointing out more and more the unusual way she sees the world and her own life with her writing â€Å"Mirror†. With both of these poems, the reader go through the meaning of life according to both authors. Through disparate personification, imagery, and symbolism, Frost and Plath utilize those literacy diverse to emphasize their poems themes human vanity and the fear of aging. Plath uses an intriguing personification to start off her poem as the mirror speaks as a human