Mirror By Gwen Harwood Analysis

Sylvia Plath’s “Mirror” and Gwen Harwood’s “In the Park” efficiently explore the idea of identity. Plath’s free verse poem explores the struggle with identity as a woman ages, whilst Harwood’s sonnet unpacks the internal impasse with identity as a woman fights through motherhood. At commencement of poems, both authors use various techniques to introduce the idea. Plath begins her poem with riddle-like verses, insinuating the metaphor of a mirror being “silver and exact” with “no preconceptions”, symbolising the external self of an individual. Whereas Harwood commences the sonnet setting the scene of the mother sitting in a park, the mother is only referred to as “she”, removing any personal aspects of her, symbolising the lack of identity held.

As the poems continue, Plath’s tone isn’t fully exposed whereas Harwood’s piece instantly demonstrates the disparity and regret of the storyline. Plath continues perplexing readers through the description of the mirrors, however the mirror itself is not mentioned, being “the eye of a little god”, the mirror compares itself to a god, powerful and truthful. Hung “on the opposite wall”, the mirror always sees the same figure, “pink with speckles” until “it flickers”, demonstrating the mirror now personifying itself and suggesting that the relationship between the wall and mirror is not as once though symbolising hidden truth. Harwood continues introducing the tone of regret, whilst sitting in the park surrounded by her “two children whin[ing] and bicker[ing]”, a loved one from the past passed her by, however, they are “- too late” for her, exchanging small talk with the individual the mother feels a sense of regret. Plath and Harwood effectively employ metaphors throughout the middle of their poems to explore the idea of regret and