ipl-logo

The Theme Of Themes In Sylvia Plath's Mirror

714 Words3 Pages

Sylvia Plath had a troubled life. She failed to commit suicide once. She ended up marrying and having two kids, but the marriage ended in divorce. She later tried to commit suicide again, and this time she succeeded. As shown in the poem Mirror, when we aren’t content with our reflection, or focus too much on finding ourselves through the mirror, we will end up losing ourselves and never find happiness, just like Plath. We need to find ourselves without looking in the mirror, because if we search for ourselves in the mirror, we will actually end up losing ourselves.
The first element the reader should consider in the poem, is the title. The title of the poem is a major factor the reader should consider when reading this poem. The title of this poem helps the reader understand the speaker of the poem, and helps portray the theme of the poem. The title tells us the mirror is the speaker of the poem. The first time reading the poem, I didn’t take into …show more content…

The theme of finding ourselves is related to the smaller themes of love and innocence. The themes of this poem, are ones that relate to Plath’s life greatly. She wasn’t pleased with herself and ended up killing herself. The themes of this poem are trying to tell us to be content with ourselves. They’re also telling us to find ourselves by looking within ourselves, and not in the mirror. The smaller themes that help express the greater theme of finding ourselves, are to love ourselves for who we are and to trust our reflection. All of the themes of love and innocence work together to elaborate on the main idea of how we view ourselves in a mirror, and how it affects us. We often try to find ourselves by looking in a mirror, however, we may end up losing ourselves in the process. The theme of the poem wraps up by saying that by trying to find ourselves by looking in a mirror, we will end up losing our childlike

Show More
Related

  • Father Son Relationships In Night

    718 Words  | 3 Pages

    The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me.” (115) here, it’s almost like you can feel all the lost he has felt because even though he is looking the mirror at himself, he can barley recognize it’s him that he sees. This

    Read More

  • Character Analysis: Lucinda Matlock

    545 Words  | 3 Pages

    In summary, both “Lucinda Matlock” and “George Gray” are poems written to explain the philosophy “You must live life to

    Read More

  • Nothing Gold Can Stay Analysis Essay

    591 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although there are many themes throughout this poem, one that I liked was the idea that everything will die at one point or another so we should treasure what we have while we can. The rhyme scheme of this poem is AABB. I think that he chose to do this rhyme pattern because it makes the poem roll right of the tongue. Even though there are many uses of senses in this poem, sight is the most important in this

    Read More

  • Beowulf Comparison Essay

    827 Words  | 4 Pages

    There was a central theme that was referenced throughout the movie and the poem. However, The theme for the movie was that history would repeat itself while the theme for the poem was good versus evil as well as how kings and thanes should act. In the poem, The main theme that was present was how kings and thanes should act, and in line 691, it was said that, “None of his comrades/Came to him, helped him, his brave and noble/Followers; they ran for their lives, fled/Deep in a wood. And only one of them remained, stood there, miserable, remembering,/As a good man must, what kinship should mean.”

    Read More

  • Grief In Poe's The Raven

    292 Words  | 2 Pages

    The theme of grief exists as a significant theme in Edgar Allan Poe’s narrative poem, The Raven. The source of grief comes from the narrator’s emotions toward the death of his loved one. The dark and creepy atmosphere enhances the theme of grief and helps the audience to feel the narrator’s grief. The poem starts “upon a midnight dreary” (456), and the narrator already feels “weak and weary” (456). This sets up a gloomy atmosphere and gives the audience an idea that the poem will be mournful. As the poem progress, the narrator claims, “all my soul within me burning” (457), and it proves that the narrator suffers the grief from something that he is deeply attached to.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Poem In 'Incident' By Natasha Tretheway

    873 Words  | 4 Pages

    Through the poem’s tone, metaphors used, and symbols expressed the poem portrays that fear can make life seem charred or obsolete, but in reality life propels through all seasons and obstacles it faces. The poem begins with a tone of conversation, but as it progresses the tone changes to a form of fear and secretiveness. The beginning and ending line “we tell

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

    273 Words  | 2 Pages

    Intro. Bradbury uses mirrors to symbolize seeing one’s self clearly. Clarisse is a mirror for Montag. “How like a mirror, too, her face. Impossible; for how many people did you know who refracted your own light to you?

    Read More

  • Barbie Doll And Richard Cory Analysis

    723 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through these themes of the poems, they show what the minds and lives of those whose lives revolve around

    Read More

  • Theme Of Isolation In Laurie Anderson's Speak

    736 Words  | 3 Pages

    To try to forget and move on from being raped, she needed to avoid looking at herself and seeing the person she has become. Ever since Melinda was raped, she has been frustrated with herself and has not been able to face her reflection. This shows that she could not face her feelings. Melinda’s coping strategy was to avoid others and avoid herself. The mirror is a symbol for her emotional struggles and that she cannot deal with them.

    Read More

  • Emily Dickinson Poetry Analysis Essay

    625 Words  | 3 Pages

    The poem that stood out the most while reading this assortment of Emily Dickinson poems, was her poem numbered 656/520. This poem used imagery in numerous ways throughout in order to show the audience the important themes and the overall meaning of this work of literature. The poem’s main theme was about a walk on the beach that the poet encountered in the early morning. Although the poem is about a beach it can also give the audience contextual clues into other aspects of life.

    Read More

  • Poem Analysis Of 'Kindness' By Naomi Shihab Nye

    698 Words  | 3 Pages

    While reading this poem you can see "...where the Indian in a white poncho lies dead by the side of the road" and you can see how sad that scene is. This image is a striking image because it grabs the readers attention as to how bad someone's life could be and what Linley someone could be filled with. Another striking image that grabs the readers attention and makes them thing is when the reader pictures "how you ride and ride/ thinking the bus will never stop,/ the passengers eating maize and chicken/ will stare out the window forever. " This image strikes the reader because it makes them look into the passengers lonely hopeless faces. The imagery in this poem makes the reader think about their life and what sadness and sorrow is really like and how kindness can change someone's life all around.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters To A Young Poet

    1045 Words  | 5 Pages

    Which is that beauty comes from within. His purpose is teaching the poet that in order to create true and inspiring art he must look deep inside of himself. He starts to develop this idea with an extended metaphor as he explains that even if you have come to your lowest point in life “you still have your childhood, that jewel beyond all price, that treasure house of memories” (3) to inspire you and give you life again. This statement shows that even when you have been beat up and are lost you still have your priceless jewels of your past. Memories are something so beautiful and priceless that can not be taken away from you, because it comes from within you.

    Read More

  • Traumatic Events In Sylvia Plath's Life

    2095 Words  | 9 Pages

    In the poems she wrote in her younger years, the part of Sylvia that is left behind from her father’s death has been “amputated from reality; it is incomplete, false, because an essential part of her has been buried with him” (Kroll 1). Plath does not feel complete again until she meets someone to replace the hole in her heart that her father left, which was Ted Hughes. Once she met Hughes, they inspired each other’s poetry and success. When Plath became pregnant with a child, her creativity was stimulated and she was put in touch with her deepest resources (Kroll 1).

    Read More

  • Imagery And Allusion In Sylvia Plath's 'Daddy'

    709 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even when she realized the reality of her father, she still tries to go back to him. In lines 58-61 “At twenty I tried to die…………… /And they stuck me together with glue” Plath uses imagery to show that even as bad as Hitler, she will always look up to her

    Read More

  • Women In Lord Tennyson's The Lady Of Shalott

    966 Words  | 4 Pages

    It has nineteen stanzas, but the poet does not focus on her imagine. He describes the scenery, Sir Lancelot, the ‘shadows’ that the Lady sees I her mirror, but all we learn about the lady is that she had a secluded life, that no one had seen her face, only the reapers heard her singing. She is described as being a ghost. She could not have contact with the external world and all the parts she sees of the world are through her mirror. Here, the poet shows the isolation and how the society principles effuse over her.

    Read More

More about The Theme Of Themes In Sylvia Plath's Mirror

Open Document