"Mirror" Outline

Thesis: Silvia Plath personifies the mirror in “Mirror,” through rigid syntax and precise imagery giving it a voice that simultaneously comments on the unyielding reality of aging and the inevitable wistfulness we feel for our past selves.   

The parallel structure of the two stanzas set up a contrast between the mirror of the young girl and that of the old woman, demonstrating that although the mirror itself remains unchanged, one’s perception of the world develops with age.

• The mirror initially describes itself as very rigid: “I am silver and exact” (line 1). The matter-of-fact voice carries no emotion for either the woman or her life; the sentence is simple, stating the obvious. This rational, emotionless tone is carried throughout the first stanza; the mirror represents the superficiality of youth.  

• As the woman ages, the mirror changes its self-perception: “Now I am a lake” (line 10). Again, the stanza begins with a very abrupt and straightforward sounding claim. However, this image of a “lake” begins to change the tone. A lake is full of life, always changing. In the second stanza, the mirror has begun to take on a life of its own, carrying emotion for the woman it reflects.

The repetition of specific words in the two stanzas forces the reader to notice how the meaning and context of these words have changed, thereby further reflecting on the differing views that come with age.

• The mirror comments that its view of the pink speckled wall is obscured as “Faces and darkness separate [them] over and over” (line 9). The faces in the mirror are grouped with the darkness; they do not matter, they merely obscure the mirror’s view of its surroundings. This represents a very superficial outlook on life, one in which specific people are simply a distraction.

• Later, the mirror comments that “Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness” (line 16). Not only does the woman become dependent on the mirror, but the mirror becomes dependent on the woman. The face of the woman has taken primary importance; the person is now more important to the mirror than the room it sits in. The woman’s perception of life, as shown through the mirror’s reflection, has become more personal.

At the end of the poem, Plath further develops the comparison between the mirror and the lake, adding a more sinister element to the regret one feels as they age. 

• The mirror tells the reader of the old woman: “In me she has drowned a young girl” (line 17). The woman did not lose or forget herself as a young girl; she “drowned” her. There is no coming back from death, and there is no way to reverse aging. There is a sense of finality and tragedy associated with drowning, and this is also how the woman interprets the loss of her youth. 

• In the mirror, the woman looking at her reflection finds that “an old woman / Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish” (lines 17-18). Fish are cold and slightly disturbing. The reality of the woman’s reflection approaches her and confronts her face-to-face, forcing her to accept that she has grown older. Yet she is still drawn to the mirror “day after day,” proving that although she does not like what she sees, she cannot help but look.