Sylvia Plath wrote "Mirror" in , shortly after having given birth to her first child. Written from the point of view of a personified mirror, the poem explores Plath's own fears regarding aging and death. The mirror insists that it objectively reflects the truth—a truth that greets the woman who looks in the mirror each day as a "terrible" reminder of her own mortality Persuasive essays on gun control. All that glitters is not gold essay css, essay ã¼ber influencer essaye de bien dormir en anglais essay on environment with headings, essay on the impact of covid 19 in education short essay waste management in your own opinion essay, essay scholarships ontario: role in environment conservation essay. Short essay font Essays for Sylvia Plath: Poems. Sylvia Plath: Poems essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Sylvia Plath's poetry. Horror in the poetry of Sylvia Plath; A Herr-story: “Lady Lazarus” and Her Rise from the Ash; Sylvia Plath's "Daddy": A Cry for Help
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The woman first notes that her hospital room is like "winter," white and resembling snow, and that the newly-arrived tulips are too "excitable" for such whiteness. Everything is peaceful as she lies on her bed quietly, watching the light play on the walls, on the bed, and on her hands. She considers herself inconsequential, mirror sylvia plath essay removed from loud, explosive things. She has surrendered her identity and her clothes to the nurses, her "history to the anesthetist," and her body "to the surgeon.
The hospital staff has propped her body up between the pillow and the sheets, which she equates to mirror sylvia plath essay like an eyeball between two lids that cannot close. From this vantage, she cannot avoid "tak[ing] everything in," even though she wishes it were otherwise.
The nurses come in and out of her mirror sylvia plath essay, but they do not bother her, mirror sylvia plath essay. There are so many of them, all dressed in white and constantly busy doing "things with their hands," that she cannot determine how many of them there are. Because of her illness and her sense of selflessness, she does not need the "baggage" that her life had before surgery: she does not need her black suitcase, or her husband and child that she sees in a family photo.
She is like a "cargo boat" that holds onto her name and address only, and has lost all other "associations" in life.
All of the material items from her old life melted away as she sunk below the water, and she likens herself to a pure nun. In fact, she never wanted the tulips; she only wanted to lie in her bed and be empty, free, and peaceful. This simple peacefulness is utterly enormous, yet it only requires a "name tag, a few trinkets. The redness of the tulips pains her, and she believes she can hear them breathing lightly through their wrapping paper.
The color also speaks subtly to the color of her wound, mirror sylvia plath essay. The tulips oppress and upset her, and she compares them to "a dozen red lead sinkers round [her] neck," dragging her down. She used to be alone in the room, mirror sylvia plath essay, but now the tulips share her space, watching her and eating up the oxygen.
She feels caught between the tulips and the window behind her, believing she has lost her face while surrounded by the flowers and the sun. The air in the room used to be calm, but it is now agitated and loud because of the tulips. The air now draws her attention to the flowers, where her attention had previously been less directed, "playing and resting without committing itself. She feels the walls are getting warmer, mirror sylvia plath essay.
The only solution is to place the tulips in captivity, since they are dangerous like a jungle animal. Her heart opens and closes on its own, mirror sylvia plath essay her alive because it loves her. The water she tastes is "warm and salt," like the ocean, and comes from a place of health that she considers to be far away. It was originally published in Ariel. Ted Hughes has stated that the poem was written about a bouquet of tulips Plath received as she recovered from an appendectomy in the hospital.
The poem is comprised of nine seven-line stanzas, and has no rhyme scheme. Its subject is relatively straightforward: a woman, recovering from a procedure in a hospital, receives a bouquet of tulips that affront her with their glaring color and vividness. She mirror sylvia plath essay the manner in which they bother her, insisting she prefers to be left alone in the quiet whiteness of her room.
Plath contrasts the whiteness and sterility of the hospital room with the liveliness of the tulips. In other words, she treasures the whiteness and sterility because they allow her an existence devoid of any self, in which she is defined by no more than the feeling she has at any particular moment. She has no context. The tulips work against her desire to "lie with [her] hands turned up and be utterly empty.
Her choice of adjectives - "excitable," "red," vivid" - all imbue them with a sense of liveliness. In fact, they are dangerous and alluring like an African cat. Even their color reminds her of her wound, which implicitly suggests it reminds her of her past. What attracts her to the sterility of the hospital room is that it allows her to ignore the complications and pains of living. The feelings suggested by her description of the room are hibernation, dormancy, and detachment.
Perhaps the harshest image in the poem is that of her husband and child in a picture frame. For the average reader, mirror sylvia plath essay, this is the image we expect mirror sylvia plath essay encourage an invalid towards life, but she considers it as simply another factor of annoying encouragement.
The tulips thrust themselves in front of her with all of the brazenness of life. They not only watch her, but also insist that she watch them. By bringing warmth and noise to the room, they demand she acknowledge the vivacity of life. One critic described the effect of the tulips on the speaker as the feeling one experiences when his or her leg begins to prickle with feeling after having fallen asleep. The choice she must make is to either embrace death or painfully return to life.
Most critics seem to agree that she chooses the latter. The spell of the hospital room is broken. Pamela Annas bases her argument around the organization of stanzas, mirror sylvia plath essay. In other words, the verb tenses and tone suggest the speaker is slowly accepting her decision through the poem, rather than actively making the choice. It is safe to assume that without them, she would have remained ensconced in her bed, enjoying her lifelessness.
The irony of the tulips is that they save her by torturing her, by forcing her to confront a truth that she otherwise would ignore in favor of the easier lifelessness.
What this interpretation implies, then, is that the choice of life is necessarily a difficult and painful one, mirror sylvia plath essay, whereas death is not itself a choice but rather simply a refusal to continue living.
The Question and Answer section for Sylvia Plath: Poems is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the mirror sylvia plath essay. Citation please? I have found a number of sites that mention Bundtzen's comments about Plath's, Colossus mirror sylvia plath essay, but in none of these mentions do I see a reference.
Lady Lazarus. The standard interpretation of the poem suggests that it is about multiple suicide attempts. The details can certainly be understood in this framework.
When the speaker says she "has done it again," she means she has attempted suicide for the The Colossus and Ariel? One common theme is the void left by her father's death. In "Full Fathom Five," she speaks of his death and burial, mourning that she is forever exiled.
Sylvia Plath: Poems study guide contains a biography of poet Sylvia Plath, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of select poems.
Sylvia Plath: Poems essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Sylvia Plath's poetry. Remember me. Forgot your password? Buy Study Guide, mirror sylvia plath essay. Death is an ever-present reality in Plath's poetry, and manifests in several different ways. Study Guide for Sylvia Plath: Poems Sylvia Plath: Poems study guide contains a biography of poet Sylvia Plath, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of select poems, mirror sylvia plath essay.
About Sylvia Plath: Poems Sylvia Plath: Poems Summary Sylvia Plath: Poems Video Character List Glossary Read the Study Guide for Sylvia Plath: Poems…. Essays for Sylvia Plath: Poems Sylvia Plath: Poems essays are academic essays for citation.
Lesson Plan for Sylvia Plath: Poems About the Author Study Objectives Common Core Standards Introduction to Sylvia Plath: Poems Relationship to Other Books Bringing in Technology Notes to the Teacher Related Links Sylvia Plath: Poems Bibliography View the lesson plan for Sylvia Plath: Poems….
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Sylvia Plath's Mirror
, time: 17:22Sylvia Plath: Poems “Daddy” Summary and Analysis | GradeSaver
If you wanted to compare (and contrast) those two poems, your thesis statement might look something like this: Though Ginsberg uses the sunflower to symbolize a pathway to self-knowledge and Blake emphasizes the sunflower’s movement from innocence to experience, both use the sunflower as a means to explain an epiphany Nov 22, · Sylvia plath mirror essay expected essays for css , i want to become a successful businessman essay essay on family life education personal core values essay contoh soal essay buku fiksi dan nonfiksi kelas 7 inspector calls grade 9 essay edexcel, tell us about your academic and personal achievements college essay example, essay on skill development toulmin essay ideas good essay Essays for Sylvia Plath: Poems. Sylvia Plath: Poems essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Sylvia Plath's poetry. Horror in the poetry of Sylvia Plath; A Herr-story: “Lady Lazarus” and Her Rise from the Ash; Sylvia Plath's "Daddy": A Cry for Help
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