The Poem, “Mirror” By Sylvia Plath Shows The Horrors Of Aging That Exist And Dem

Below is a free term papers summary of the paper "The Poem, “Mirror” By Sylvia Plath Shows The Horrors Of Aging That Exist And Dem." If you sign up, you can be reading the rest of this term papers in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view this term paper.

Term Paper Title	The Poem, “Mirror” By Sylvia Plath Shows The Horrors Of Aging That Exist And Dem
# of Words	892
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.57

The poem, “Mirror” by Sylvia Plath shows the horrors of aging that exist and demonstrates the shallow value of physical appearance. In an age where physical appearance is so important, the idea of growing old terrifies people.  Emphasis on physical appearance is everywhere, including in the movies, on television, and in magazines. Many people are convinced that being young and attractive gives you the power to get ahead in this world. This is true in many ways. We see the daily success of supermodels and actors who rely completely on their looks to gain money and popularity. Years ago growing old was looked upon as gaining respect, maturity, knowledge, and wisdom. Today, growing old is looked upon as having wrinkles, aching bones, sickness and memory loss. The woman in this poem shares these fears and therefore is afraid to look into the mirror and face the reality that she is no longer a young girl. When she does finally look into the mirror it candidly reveals this reality to her.
The poem is told in the first person by a mirror as it watches a young girl turn into an old woman. Plath personifies the mirror with the qualities of being emotionless, truthful and critical, not cruel. It does not flatter; it faithfully shows whatever looks into it. Utilizing imagery, Plath stresses the physical aches and emotional pains one suffers in aging. The narrator is a mirror that reflects what it sees, thereby being a reflection of its environment. Utilizing metaphor and imagery, Plath describes a metaphysical “reflection”, the mirror is a lake with the image of a young girl, one who is aging right in front of him. The mirror describes the aging of the woman by saying, “in me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman / Rises toward her day after day…” (lines 17-18). It observes a young girl mature and metamorphose into an elderly woman.  The mirror is witness to the woman’s “tears…” (14) and to her “agitation of hands” (14).  It realizes that this woman is suffering and that her body is growing worn.  The woman is hurting physically, as well as emotionally.
Plath again uses metaphor to compare the woman to “a terrible fish”  (18). The fish lives in the lake like the woman lives in the superficial world. The fish represents the reality of her true nature even though she has turned to “the liars, the candles or the moon” to escape it. By referring to the woman as a “terrible fish” (18), the mirror is giving a negative image of growing old. The adjective “ter...

This is not the end of the termpaper! Register below to see the complete version of this term paper.

Membership Plans	Credit Card	Check

1 month membership

3 month membership (You Save 50%)

6 month membership (You Save 67%)

Copyright © 2002-2007 Mid Term Papers. All rights reserved. This term papers website is used for research purposes only.
If you have forgotten your username or password, please click here.
If you like to cancel your account, please click here.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22