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LIT.136 Mirror (2B) Mirror, a la Shmoop.

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It must be difficult to be a mirror. You have to see the same thing day after day after

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day...

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...usually the same person...

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...with no ability to look away. In Sylvia Plath's poem, “Mirror”...

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...a mirror describes the things it reflects, including the woman who uses it regularly.

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Why might the mirror be important to this woman?

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Could it be because she’s vain and likes to look at herself?

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Perhaps the woman is so preoccupied with her appearance that she can't help looking at

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her reflection in the mirror again...

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...and again...

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...and again.

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That would certainly make the mirror feel important...

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...or maybe just put-upon. Or could the mirror be important to the woman

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because it helps her see… what she wants to see?

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The mirror shows the woman her reflection...

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...but that doesn't mean she can't focus only on certain aspects of what she sees in the

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mirror. Or could the mirror be important because it

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shows her the truth?

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If the woman has a piece of broccoli stuck in her teeth, the mirror isn’t polite about

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it...

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...and, as the woman grows older, the mirror shows she's aging.

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Maybe what the woman really wants is to know what she truly looks like…

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…even when there are things about her appearance that she can't change.

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So, why is the mirror so important?

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Is it because the woman is vain about her appearance?

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Is it because it allows her to see what she wants to see?

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Or because it shows her the truth about how she looks?

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Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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