A POWER POINT PRESENTATION THE POEM

MIRROR BY SYLVIA PLATH

ARINDAM SENGUPTA T.G.T(ENGLISH) K.V.NAD.KARANJA, MUMBAI PRESENTED BY ARINDAM SENGUPTA T.G.T(ENGLISH) K.V.NAD.KARANJA, MUMBAI

Objectives : By the end of this presentation you will be able to: Know briefly about the poet; Sylvia Plath. Understand the theme of the poem. Correlate the poem with the life of the poet. Understand the poetic devices used in the poem. Appreciate the beauty of the poem.

SYLVIA PLATH on her youth SYLVIA PLATH (1932-1963) was born on October 27, 1932 and died on February 1963. She was an American novelist, poet and short story writer. She was of German origin, and lived in the USA. When she was nine her father died and it profoundly affected her later life, marriage and poetry. She married a renowned poet Ted Hughes in 1956 and had two children. She wrote poetry laden with personal imagery and intense focus. In 1962 after her separation from Hughes she wrote MIRROR. She took her life in 1963. She won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for ‘Collected Poems’ assembled and edited by Hughes. SYLVIA PLATH on her youth

BACKGROUND OF THE POEM The poem “Mirror,” by Sylvia Plath is an honest piece of literature. The Poem is about truth, reflection, aging and death. Sylvia Plath suffered from severe depression and low self esteem. After her divorce from Ted Hughes her depression became worse. Three days after she wrote 'Mirror' she committed suicide, drowning herself in a lake. Many people argue that when she describes the lake, she is actually contemplating the suicide she later carries out.

MIRROR I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see, I swallow immediately Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike I am not cruel, only truthful – The eye of a little god, four-cornered. Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall. It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers. Faces and darkness separate us over and over.   Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me. Searching my reaches for what she really is. Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon. I see her back, and reflect it faithfully She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands. I am important to her. She comes and goes. Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness. In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

Not Prejudiced/ no pre-conceived notion MIRROR Absorb I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see, I swallow immediately. Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. The Mirror is personified, first person. Mirror, an inanimate object, the poet gives it life, with emotions & feelings Perfect Unmixed Not Prejudiced/ no pre-conceived notion

GOD like characteristics, free from worldly illusion, cannot be cheated by love or hate. Honest, Reliable, Powerful & Valuable. Not harsh towards anyone. Metaphor I am not cruel, only truthful – The eye of a little god, four-cornered. Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall. It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers. Faces and darkness separate us over and over. Appearance Reflect Colour of wall, compared with a face- pink with freckles. Long reflection& Inexplicable bond makes it dear to the mirror. Changes frequently. Spots The Wall Repetition

MIRROR (THEME) The whole poem is personification. The "speaker" is a mirror; the poem is written from the perspective of the mirror as if it was capable of thinking and expressing itself --that's personification. The poem “Mirror,” by Sylvia Plath is an honest piece of literature. The theme of this poem is truth, and how this lady is scared to accept the truth . This poem is very engaging. Although poetry is beautiful in many ways it can be dark and saddening at times. This poem is dark, full of unhappiness, and only views the world from a pessimistic perspective. speaker but it takes on different forms.

ASSIGNMENT Read the extracts given and answer the questions that follow as briefly as possible. 1. I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediately Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. a) Who is ‘I’ in the above lines? b) Why ‘I’ considers himself as “exact”? c) “I have no preconceptions”. Explain. d) “I am silver and exact”. What is the figure of speech used here? 2. I am not cruel, only truthful- The eye of a little god, four-cornered. Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall. It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long I think it is a part of my heart. a) What are the Godly characteristics a mirror has? b) Why the mirror considered the wall “a part of my heart”?

A woman is seen observing her image meticulously. having the same power to reflect honest images. Personification Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me. Searching my reaches for what she really is. Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon. I see her back, and reflect it faithfully. She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands. Disappointed and Unsatisfied she resorts to moon & candle to hide her flaws. Irony Insignificant aspect of the person in question. sheer protest reluctant to acknowledge the truth. too honest and too blunt for the woman The dim light that they exude deceive her into believing she’s young, by hiding her wrinkles.

. woman is addicted to the mirror . Mirror is valuable. It has God like Importance. I am important to her. She comes and goes. Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness. In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish. She does regard the mirror. she is the first to replace the darkness She misses the youth and beauty of the young girl she once was and now as she looks at her reflection, to rediscover the young girl that had drowned in the mirror. Nevertheless, what arises is an old woman The poetess utilizes the simile of a ‘terrible fish’ that is at once revolting and unpleasant to all the major sensory perceptions.

MIRROR (THEME) The whole poem is personification. The "speaker" is a mirror; the poem is written from the perspective of the mirror as if it was capable of thinking and expressing itself --that's personification. The poem “Mirror,” by Sylvia Plath is an honest piece of literature. The theme of this poem is truth, and how this lady is scared to accept the truth . This poem is very engaging. Although poetry is beautiful in many ways it can be dark and saddening at times. This poem is dark, full of unhappiness, and only views the world from a pessimistic perspective. speaker but it takes on different forms.

LANGUAGE PERSONIFICATION L-1‘I am silver and exact’. L-10 ‘Now I am a lake’. The poet gives human qualities to inanimate things like the mirror and the lake. METAPHOR L-2 ‘Whatever I see I swallow immediately’ The mirror swallows (absorbs) the lady’s reflection. SIMILE L-17-18 ‘ .... and in me an old woman Rises towards her day after day like a terrible fish’ The reflection she sees of herself in the mirror shows signs of old age and she compares it to a terrible fish. REPETITION L-9- ‘Faces and darkness separate us over and over.’ L-18 ‘Rises towards her day after day like a terrible fish’. The repetition of these words emphasis the prolong time & the despair she feels on seeing her lost youth.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Interact in English – Literature Reader - Class X. www.google.com www.yahoo.com ******************