English Looking Critically at "The Essay

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Similarly central to Woolf's aesthetic is the tension between the individual's public personae and his or her 'private' self. Through a range of biographical, autobiographical, and fictional strategies, Woolf explore the extent to which the private self can be conceptualised as a fixed, unitary, and bounded identity. ("Reflections on the Self," Page 44)

The looking-glass or mirror represents, in a way, the self, and it also is a device by which the self can be explored and articulated. The voice of the narrator is one that is blended. The narrator is both the narrator and the character that is being described. The narrator is also the voice of the author. The blending of these voices into one voice, not always necessarily coherent and smooth, is a technique that underscores the content and the themes of "The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection." Reflection upon one's life is not always positive, which might be the overall point of the story. Once the character/narrator/author reflects upon Tyson's life because of the looking-glass, the truth of her life is plain and inescapable. She is a lonely person with little or no meaningful human contact. The opening and closing line of the story is funny, but in a dark humor sort of way. People should not leave mirrors up in their rooms because they might see how empty and lonely their lives truly are, or how unstable and fluid their identities are, which can be a very unsettling moment for some people.

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"The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection" is a title that is revealing and is a bit of a pun. The lady literally in the looking-glass does have a reflection because that is what looking-glasses are or do: they provide reflections. Yet reflection in the title also means reflection such as internal reflection, about things such as the course of one's life, and who/what is most valuable in one's life. This story is very vibrant and interesting. It is introspective and sad. This ultimately is a sad story of an aging woman with no meaningful human ties in her life. She may have material abundance, but she does not have stability, as reflected in the descriptions of the things in her house (as well as the house itself) that represent her inner & outer selves......

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