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Essay / "Mirror" by Sylvia Plath: Question of Time and Fading Beauty
Sylvia Plath's "Mirror" explores the impact of time on individuals, particularly in the realities of aging and loss of beauty; here, Plath is speaking from an implicit autobiographical point of view As readers, we know that much of Plath's poetic work focuses on her lost youth and her gradual lack of beauty as she ages. Plath uses the personification of the inanimate mirror to emphasize that it is not the mirror that is the problem, but hers. The mirror is simply "not cruel, only truthful", thus serving simply as an honest perception of her beauty. .The use of the verb "cruel" shows how time can play tricks on people and make them feel undermined by their own reflections. Similarly, Plath's poem "Facelift" also explores the idea that she. hates your inner, younger self. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay that Plath uses. the theme of time in "Mirror" to investigate how everyone wastes time, in one form or another. She explores the idea of regret across time, reflecting on how she spent her youth worrying about her aesthetic beauty and how she looked to others for validation. She looks at herself in the mirror to search in her “extensities for what she really is”; the use of this metaphor clearly shows how confused Plath is about who she has become and how she has somehow managed to waste so much time. The use of the adverb “really” shows that Plath is unsure of the person she has ever been, physically or emotionally; she feels cheated by the way she lived her life. Similarly, in “The Manor Garden,” Plath regrets becoming pregnant; This revelation highlights that Plath has rarely been proud or liberated about the way she has lived her life, and is instead constantly ashamed of herself and regretful about the way she has lived her life. Additionally, Plath explores how people can feel and become helpless, another major theme in her compositions. This theme of helplessness is exhibited throughout "Mirror" to show how outside forces can really make people feel like they have lost all control over their lives. The mirror is described as "the eye of a little god", as the personification is used to show the vast power it holds over people. Plath uses the name "god" to show not only how powerful the mirror is, but also how frightening it can be; she personifies the mirror to show how she feels she is losing the power to control time, almost as if she is losing a battle against a living, thinking opponent. Similarly, in "A Sonnet To Time", the watch is personified in order to show how inanimate objects exert a strong force on people. Plath appears to be consumed by worry and anxiety over her loss of beauty; however, the theme of time is also used to represent the loss of herself and the person she once knew. In “Mirror,” the woman observes not only her appearance, but also something much deeper; the woman observes her mind and her soul. After being exposed to her true self, she rewards the lake "with tears and waving of the hands." She thus shows to what extent she is aware of the distinction between her external life and her interior life. The use of the name "agitation" only emphasizes how exhausted she is by meditating on her essentially false outer self, as opposed to her,.