More handpicked essays just for you.
Sylvia plath mirror and metaphors compariaon
The mirror by sylvia plath essay
Sylvia plath mirror and metaphors compariaon
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Mirrors show us who we really are, whether we want to believe it or not. Makeup may help cover the exterior flaws, but when we look in that mirror we all know what we really look like. Mirrors let us see how we are changing and the way we perceive ourselves. Women, more often than men, have self-esteem issues because of what they see in the mirror. They find every little thing they believe is wrong on their face. A huge cause of their insecurities is because of the pedestal's women are put on by men. Accepting who you are and what you look like is the only way you are going to truly be happy. In the poem "Mirror," the author, Sylvia Plath brings into perspective the true importance of mirrors. She brings the past, present and future all into effect in the two short stanzas in this poem. Plath uses symbolism, personification, and metaphors to convey her theme that mirrors reflect who we are and how others see us.
Plath uses symbolism on numerous occasions in this poem. Symbolism is a representation of something through symbols or hidden meanings of objects or qualities. She begins the poem using symbolism when she says, "I am silver and exact" (1) which is a symbol for a mirror. She carries this symbol throughout the poem because the poem is based mostly around a mirror. Another example of how Sylvia Plath uses symbolism is when she brings into play, the words, "swallow (2), unmisted (3), tear (14), and lake (10)" to describe water. Water reflects images just as a mirror can do. Water on the other hand does distort an image. This goes back to how women try purposely to find anything and everything they feel are blemishes. Men have damaged the self-confidence of women by expecting the perfect woman, but we can only give them ...
... middle of paper ...
...y the poem describes the woman in the poem. They may also think that because of how men have such high expectations for women and they feel that they can never do anything to reach that expectation of man. Others may think that the mirror is actually the woman herself because she may have insecurities about themselves. This is said because of the fact that some women wear a massive amount of makeup. They might do this because they are uncomfortable with the way their skin looks. They may wear baggy clothes because they think they are overweight and need to hide their "love handles." Finally, they possibly never put themselves out there because they fear rejection the most. Nevertheless, Sylvia Plath does a remarkable job with how she shows the past present and future perspectives of a woman. Plath does this by using several metaphors, symbolism, and personification.
Mirrors are first introduced in part one of the novel where Clarisse is describes as a mirror by Montag. Also presented by Granger towards the end of the novel, the mirror is a symbol of the lacking self-reflection but also it cure. Mirrors reflect a perfect image of a person back at them – an image that is neither tarnished nor beautified. Mirror here are a symbol of seeing within one’s soul in pursuit of rebirth, and are a tool to be used in the search what has gone terribly wrong in such an empty society. In a society that lives without living, thinking or feeling like Montag’s looking into a mirror ma spark a thought, and a thought may spark that internal rebellion. Furthermore, metaphorical mirrors are of equal significance when understanding this symbol. Clarisse is Montag’s inner mirror; she reflects the personality and life of Montag back at him, allowing him to learn and question what he sees. Montag is also Faber’s mirror – he reflects Faber’s recent emptiness and his cowardice at not attempting release society from its suffering. Mirrors are a great symbol of self-actualization that leads to rebirth in the novel Fahrenheit
In the second stanza, Piercy describes the girl as healthy, intelligent, and strong (7-8). Yet these positive equalities alone, could not keep people from criticizing her, so the girl feels inferior. “She went to and fro apologizing,” which demonstrates her collapse of confidence with the people she is surrounded with, who kept putting her down (10). She gives in to the hurtful things people say about her: “Everyone [kept] seeing a fat nose on thick legs” (11). The girl thus lets people push her in the direction of society’s standard of beauty, instead of affirming her own unique beauty.
Symbolism is used to foreshadow an event in the story. In the passage the author uses symbolism to foreshadow negative events for example "upon the bleak walls - upon the vacant eye-like windows - upon a few rank sedges - and upon a few white
“At one time looking at her was like looking at a mirror” (pg.2) This simile shows how insecure Alice is with herself and finds comfort looking at her sister remembering that they used to look identical. She finds Jenny’s body more familiar than her own. The mirror symbolizes the way she interacts with everyone throughout the course of the story for the way she views herself. She can 't come to a conclusion of who she is on her own so she looks to others to tell her, until she finds Mr. Jarred. He reassures her self doubts and she evolves with satisfaction and
"Ariel" is the title poem from Sylvia Plath's controversial collection of poetry written during the last few months of her life in 1963. The traditional gender roles of 1960s America promoted a double-standard and wrongly imposed upon women the idea of a "Happy Housewife Heroine" who cherished "the receptivity and passivity implicit in (her) nature" and was "devoted to (her) own beauty and (her) ability to bear and nurture children" (Friedan, 59). Plath comments on the devastating effects of social convention on individuality, but she realizes that both sexes are affected by society's oppression of its members. She contemplates this theme throughout Ariel, especially in the "The Applicant," a critique of the emptiness of the stereotypical roles of men and women at the time.
Giles, Richard F. “Sylvia Plath.” Magill’s Critical Survey of Poetry. Ed. Frank N. Magill, b. 1875. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1992.
Overall, the imagery that Plath creates is framed by her diction and is used to convey her emotions toward all relationships and probably even her own marriage to Ted Hughes, who had rude, disorderly habits. Even the structure of the poem is strict in appearance as each stanza ends with a period and consists of exactly six lines. In addition, the persona of the poem is very detached and realistic, so much that it is hard to distinguish between her and Plath, herself. However, Plath insinuates that the woman actually wants love deep down, but finds the complexity and unpredictability of love to be frightening. As a result, she settles for solitude as a defense against her underlying fear.
Every time I look into a mirror I check my hair, maybe inspect my teeth to see if I do not have food wedged up my tooth I would not want people to observe as I smile. That is pretty much the reason I use a mirror. Oh wait, I also utilize one as I shave. That is it. I did not believe there could be a more profound way of looking at ones reflection. Henry Miller’s The Tropic Of Capricorn changed my view of who I was actually looking at. Imagine reading something so powerful it made you question the meaning on why you and specifically you were given life on this earth and why you were given the specific life you are living and what will eventually turn out to be your legacy? If I have your head spinning I apologize but that was the same reaction
Sylvia Plath uses a diverse array of stylistic devices in "Lady Lazarus," among them allusion,
Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts. Sylvia Plath was one of the greatest poets of her time, but she was very troubled, and struggled with mental health issues her entire life. Plath’s poetry style is known for being confessional, which is: “ Private experiences with and feelings about death, trauma, depression and relationships” were addressed in this type of poetry, often in an autobiographical manner (Poets.org). As a young child, Plath began her writing in journals. Sylvia Plath had a lot going for her, she was popular, smart, and got a scholarship to Smith College, but what was underneath the surface was a dark, and depressed young girl. During her junior year of college she attempted suicide for the first time. Plath was able to recover from her deep depression, and in 1956 she married Ted Hughes (Poethunter.com). At first, their love was strong, and the two writers wrote many poems, and stories together. In 1961 Hughes, and Plath rented their flat at chalcot square to a woman named Assia Wevill. Plath discovered a year later that her husband, Ted Hughes has been having an affair with Assia Wevill. The couple separated in september, and Plath yet again, tried committing suicide (New York Times). Plath decided to move back to London, and figured that the best way to get back at her ex-husband was to write about him. In the winter of 1962-1963 Sylvia’s life hit rock bottom. She was a single mother raising two children, ill with the flu, and low on money. She was at home all day, writing poem after poem. These poems were more darker, and deeper than ever before. January in 1963 the winter was brutal, and it caused her depression to get even worse. Plath put her children to sleep, stuffed a towel ...
Judging a woman by her appearance became a social norm in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since women were not allowed to hold high or reputable positions, they often relied on their husbands to pay and bring in most of the bills and money. Such conditions often left a young woman scrambling to find a husband, or better said it was in her best interest to find a husband. Modern literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the time, true women were thought to exhibit the following traits: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity (Welter). Not only did women criticize each other, but the media did as well. Women were also responsible for upholding their physical beauty. A woman could’ve had all the traits that made her a true woman, but if she lacked physical beauty, she was shamed by society. The majority of modern American texts began to shift from the standards of women being weak and submissive but they still regarded physical beauty as a trait that all women had to maintain and obsess about.
Sylvia Plath, an open minded, free spirited author and poet of a variety of many pieces. All of Plath’s poems are inspired by her personal life and how she viewed it.
It is said that when we look in the mirror, we see our reflection; but what is it that we really see? Some people look through the glass and see a totally different person. All across the world identity is an issue that many women have. Woman today must be skinny, tall, thick, fair skinned and have long hair in order to be considered beautiful. Maya Angelou feels otherwise, as she gives women another way to look at themselves through her poem "Phenomenal Woman".
The poetry of Sylvia Plath can be interpreted psychoanalytically. Sigmund Freud believed that the majority of all art was a controlled expression of the unconscious. However, this does not mean that the creation of art is effortless; on the contrary it requires a high degree of sophistication. Works of art like dreams have both a manifest content (what is on the surface) and latent content (the true meaning). Both dreams and art use symbolism and metaphor and thus need to be interpreted to understand the latent content. It is important to maintain that analyzing Plaths poetry is not the same as analyzing Plath; her works stand by themselves and create their own fictional world. In the poems Lady Lazarus, Daddy and Electra on Azalea Path the psychoanalytic motifs of sadomasochism, regression and oral fixation, reperesnet the desire to return to the incestuous love object.