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Hawthorne's seriocomic sketch "Monsieur du Miroir" has not been examined extensively by modern criticism, but it gains considerable interest when analyzed as one of Hawthorne's few clear examples of the Gothic and Romantic motif of the double, or doppelgänger. By the same token, the sketch also becomes more compelling when considered in relation to the history of the mirror as cultural artifact, which was becoming a pervasive feature of middle-class American homes at the time Hawthorne was writing. "Monsieur du Miroir" accordingly offers the reader a number of psychological, philosophical, theological, and biographical insights, as figured by the quasi-autobiographical narrator whose reflected image eludes his comprehension or recognition but seems to mischievously and elusively haunt him in an updating of the myth of Narcissus. The man in the mirror of Hawthorne's sketch illustrates the tradition of psychological splitting and projection in the literary history of the double, as well as the figure's origins in the Christian dichotomy of self and soul first set forth by St. Paul. The sketch is also an ironic self-portrait of the author whose famously reclusive and ethereal personality is mirrored by the narrator's troubling reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literary criticism of the book "Le rameau d'or" by Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy is presented, focusing on the use of magical portraits and mirrors. Topics discussed include the agency of material objects in fairy tales, the interaction between enchanted images and narrative progression, and the role of representation in destabilizing reality within the story.

Neste estudo, a respeito da sensibilidade individualista de Fernando Pessoa, partimos da associação entre a caneta e o espelho como seus símbolos mais expressivos em diferentes partes da obra, para, em seguida, procurar compreender mais a fundo os aspectos que compõem essa sensibilidade, entre os quais se destaca a ironia, considerando as suas múltiplas coincidências com o que o pensador francês Georges Palante (1862-1925) define por “sensibilité individualiste”.

Given the fact that Gogol's works invite diverse interpretations, not restricted to a single theory or discipline, 'The Nose' is much more intriguing in the sense that the text and its entire story are built on the mirrored structure, to which almost none of Gogol scholars have paid careful attentions. This is the underlying question this paper aims to explore, going beyond the general interpretations done by Freudian sexual discourse and Vinogradov's Nosology, including Yermakov's remarkable studies on the story. With this in mind, the primary purpose of this article then is to substantiate: in what manners the plot is structured and how does the mirror motif play a guiding role both architectonically and thematically. Then the paper argues that the mirrored structure might be compared to the traditional Russian triptych - складень трёхстворчатый, the special form of which is unarguably associated with the structure of the text. Equally, it should be noted that this unique mirrored structure is construed by the thematic unity on which Gogol put as an artistic code for his creation, 'The Nose.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay focuses on how the 1985 book "Confessions of a Concierge: Madame Lucie’s History of the Twentieth Century France," by historian Bonnie Smith, combines both personal and professional approaches to storytelling. Other works by Smith discussed include her introduction to "The Gender of History: Men, Women and Historical Practice" and "Ladies of the Leisure Class." Topics include feminism, mirrors, and microhistory.

The article discusses the role of the histrionic mirror in the Georgian-era theatrical performance. It says that the Georgian-era debate over the histrionic mirror and examinations into the veracity of dramatic symbolism comprised an intellectual adventure that changed culture beyond the consideration of mirror as a passive instrument that faithfully represents reality.

This article explores the meaning of space in Roberto Bolaño's 2666 by drawing on Foucault's notion of heterotopia. The use of mirrors as a literary device, together with the protagonist Amalfitano's experiments in geometry reinforce the interpretation of the fictional Mexican town of Santa Teresa as a heterotopic space, into which Bolaño attempts to inscribe the violence against women that occurred in the actual Ciudad Juárez. At the same time Bolaño recreates the literary space of Borges's 'total book' by making his novel an all-encompassing mirror of literature itself, reclaiming the importance of literature for representing the ambiguities of human existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines changes in the philosophical and literary representations of mirrors—and mirroring—in a foundational period of Chinese history beginning with the pre-classical period and ending in the medieval Tang Dynasty. Inspired by the peculiarity of this object, which acts upon subjects at least as much as it is acted upon by them, this study of the literary mirror, of reflection and reflexivity, provides a glimpse into the larger issue of the construction of subjectivity in premodern China. Through the examination of each stage of the literary mirror's gradual transformation from metaphor, to lyrical stimulus, and ultimately to its subsumption as an evocative predicate, it is possible to observe concomitant shifts in the construction of the literary subject as it displays increasing—but never absolute —degrees of specificity, distinctness, and autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the author's concept of being on the "margins" in relation to being distant from culture. It notes the author's personal experience of Europe and the necessity of acquiring European culture to sustain his French Studies career and converse with his family. It infers that inhabiting the margins of culture is an advantage for persons working in literary studies. The author mentions his interest in collecting some 12,000 mirror scenes from 2,000 books that he has read.

The article presents literary criticism of the book "Vanity Fair" by William Makepeace Thackeray. Particular focus is given to the role of mirrors in the novel. According to the author, Thackeray uses mirrors to illustrate the unavailability of his characters' minds and to explore themes of consciousness, contemplation, memory, and forgetting.

A literary criticism of the book "Liber de Sapiente" by philosopher Charles de Bovelles is presented. It examines Bovelles' ideas on the concept of Sapientia, or wisdom, and analyzes his metaphor of the mystical mirror. The author explores Bovelles' thoughts on human nature and self-awareness. He also reflects on the influence of philosophers Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and Ramon Lull and addresses the relationship between humans and nature in the work of playwright William Shakespeare.

Why are so many of the most critically acclaimed graphic novels autobiographical? Why do so many of these works contain scenes of mirroring or the trope of "mise en abyme," in which the picture has within it an identical miniature picture? This essay probes the formal mechanics of autobiographical graphic novels to show how mirror scenes and their selfconscious play with pictorial identity forge autobiographical subjects.This essay, therefore, analyzes not simply the form of autobiographical graphic novels but their formal unconscious as well. Drawing on comics scholarship, autobiography studies, and psychoanalysis, it investigates Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis" (2003) and James Kochalka's "American Elf: The Collected Sketchbook Diaries" (2004) to show that in frequency and function these mirror moments mark "failed encounters with the real." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay presents the use of mirrors as a theme for the sonnet-writing of poets Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop and Frank Bidart. It provides an analysis on the use of syllable lines, accented syllable, rhymes and themes used in the poems of the poets. Bidart's poems have been observed to contain both the modulation of voice and the differing voices by other punctuation, and the use of verbs in the sonnet.

An essay is presented on the relation of mirror to music in the book "The Decameron," by Giovanni Boccaccio. It investigates the significance of mirror and music in the book. It explores the basis behind the idea that music is a good metaphor for good judgment. It discusses the influence of Boccaccio's poetry on the formation of the Trecento musical aesthetic.

The article focuses on how crystal was used to express pleasure in Andrew Marvell's "A Dialogue, Between the Resolved Soul, and Created Pleasure" (RSCP). It notes that for Marvell and as for other poets on whom he drew, crystal is intended to mean "mirror" or "reflecting medium." It mentions the literary appearance of crystal with mirrors and the emphasis on the reflective properties of crystals in the thirteenth-century "Roman de la Rose" of Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung. The crystal described in the "Roman" are not glass, but rather stones.

From Plato's times to our contemporary age, theorists have spoken of art as being a mirror of life and sometimes argued against the notion. In his nonfiction essays on art and literature, Gogol' was also fond of the metaphor. Due to the frequency with which mirrors appear in his work, Gogol''s oeuvre offers a unique opportunity for study of how the idiom of art-as-mirror transforms in the move from theoretical reflections to his fictional stories. Appealing to Meyer Abrams's claim that the mirror has become a "constitutive" metaphor, this article assumes that: a) the potential problems the metaphor introduces are fair game in general theorizing, and b) the questions introduced into the texts by Gogol''s fictional mirrors may also point toward problematic issues in his thought on art and development as an artist. The article surveys Gogol''s use of mirrors in his fiction and relates them to their theoretical counterparts. Clear patterns emerge that parallel the geographical and meta-literary subject matter of his work. Ultimately, the article reveals how Gogol''s evolving treatment of the mirror metaphor may offer insight into the sources of the author's "creative decline." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers poetry criticism of the poem "Mosella" by Decimus Magnus Ausonius. It examines Ausonius' use of the river's water to create metaphors for truth and illusion and argues that the poem itself represents its theme, the Moselle River. The article discusses the ancient topos of the mirror and contends that the reflections of the river in the poem act as imprints of death.

Several scholars such as Luce Irigaray and Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar have done excellent, detailed work explicating the ways in which mirrors in literature can serve as entities hostile to women in general and to the female protagonist in particular, but this article argues here that in contemporary revisions of fairy tales, the mirror reflects women's fantasies, experiences, and desires under conditions often hostile to their expression. In short, mirrors are specifically stories of female fantasy, desire, and transformation. I examine the relationship between mirrors, fantastic literature, and reality, using a few key fairy-tale revisions by Angela Carter, Tanith Lee, and Terry Pratchett to argue that mirrors are a form of fantastic tale closely identified with female power and creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue including one by Veronica Schanoes on the role of mirror on women's creativity in literature, one by Suparno Banerjee on women's rationality, and one by June Pulliam on zombie society in the movie "Land of the Dead," by George Romero.

This article discusses the sonnet sequence "Delia," by the English author Samuel Daniel and how, as the author believes, Daniel's use of mirrors indicates an early struggle with identity that is in conflict with internal and external forces. The difficulty of seducing a beloved when coupled with the process of defining one's selfhood through a mirror is what makes the poems unique.

Presents a lecture delivered in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Johns Hopkins University on September 23, 2004, about mirror scenes in literature. Typology of mirror scenes; Fundamental rules followed in collecting mirror scenes; Principal types of mirror scenes, which distinguishes themselves by the manner in which they play upon the crucial topos of recognition; Mirror scenes as enactments of the classical imperative; Existence of the Perfect Book; View that reading can be conceived a kind of mirror-gazing.

This article analyzes the use of the mirror in the deposition scene of the play "Richard II" and the common functions of mirrors in drama and literature by showing the ways by which the mirror scene defines the imaginative, moral and political context for Richard's mirror magic. Significance of the irony represented by the mirror on the play's conception of history and politics is also a main forcus to support the ways they speak of throughout the article.

Examines the nature of the mirror images and its function with respect to the persons or things reflected in them, based on the French novel 'Denier dur rêve,' by Marguerite Yourcenar. Analysis of the mask and its relation to the mirror images in the novel; Evaluation of the characters in the novel; Assessment of the symbolic mirrors in the novel.

Discusses the reference to mirrors in the work of poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Examination of section B of the poem `Romaunt of the Rose'; Reference to the painting `The Money Changer and his Wife'; In-depth look at figurative mirrors in Christian and classical literature.

An essay is presented which focuses on the poetry of James Merrill. The author examines Merril's occult trilogy of long poems, stating that they represent the poet's radically transcendental view of identity and undermine conceptualizations of the self in terms of biography, psychology, and influence. Particular attention is also given to metaphors of puzzle, translation, and especially mirrors. Specific works mentioned include "The Lovers," "In the Hall of Mirrors," and "Lost in Translation."

Examines how Mexican author Carlos Fuentes uses mirror symbolism in his 1975 novel "Terra Nostra" as a way of revealing hidden dimensions of character identity both to characters themselves and to the reader. Synopsis of the novel; Symbolic reaffirmation of the dispersion and the plurality that the major character fears; Retention of the primeval symbolism of the reflected image in media used in the technological era.

Discusses the occurrence of mirrors and mirroring in literary texts written by bilingual, bicultural authors. Example of a mirroring scene in Sigmund Freud's essay `The Uncanny'; Construction of an identity in these author's literary works; Description on the imagined images of Eva Hoffman in the book `Lost in Translation.'

Discusses the function of the mirror image as theme and technique in "le Balcon," a play by Jean Genet. Reversal of reality in the play; Examples of the use of mirrors and mirror images in the play; Importance of the mirror image to the characters of the play.

A literary criticism of the play "The Winter's Tale" by William Shakespeare is presented. According to the author, Shakespeare may have referenced the book "The Mirror for Magistrates" by William Baldwin and George Ferrers in creating the dialogue for his character Camillo. Topics discussed include the metaphorical use of mirrors, the roles of royal advisors, and the connections between the "The Mirror for Magistrates" and a lost play about King Richard II of England.

The article discusses the use of looking glass in narrating stories around queens in various novels on modern cultural history. Writer Sabine Melchior-Bonnet tracks a duality in the traditions of symbolism associated with it in her classic cultural history of the mirror. It states how there is some sociological background to the coupling of the queen and the mirror in fairy story.