Atwood: Tricks With Mirrors

Many times in history, women have felt the need to fulfill a specific role assigned to them by society and men, perhaps unintentionally but nevertheless through their treatment of women in general. In her poem, "Tricks With Mirrors", Margaret Atwood uses conceit in order to promote parallels between various objects and a woman as well as her role in the shadow of a man. The poem consists of five sections and begins with a hint of vulnerability and eventually climaxes to a determination which the speaker hopes to convey though the continued metaphors.

Initially the woman objectifies herself as "a used warehouse". The woman has been with men before and from her experience, has obtained the feeling of being "used". "I enter with you and become a mirror". Here the woman establishes herself as a mirror; she tells the reader that mirrors are perfect lovers and mentions sexual references such as "throw me on the bed" and "fall into me". However the woman states that there is more to a mirror than simply the reflection of the man which the man constantly tends to notice, ignoring the "dead blue oblong eye" which would demonstrate the obvious discontent and unhappiness of a woman. "thank about the frame...it is important". The speaker feels that the man only notices himself however ignores the details of a woman and, in doing so, that which makes the woman separate and defines her. Rather than noticing these components, a man only sees himself, his own reflection. The speaker mentions nails and asks that the man pay attention to the mark in the wood which would here represent the women's past experiences, which, "they are important too".

"Don't assume it is passive or easy...surface of the ice". Here the woman attempts to explain that the restraint which a woman endures is not simple but rather difficult in that the woman is essentially being silenced and, in a sense, forced to contain her opinions and emotions, "breath withheld, no anger or joy disturbing the surface of the ice". Rather than protecting herself and preserving her individuality, a woman suspends a man in herself and works to preserve the man's interest, assuring the man's safety inside of their relationship; the man has no worries. "It is not a trick...mirrors are crafty".  A direct association is made between mirrors and women suggesting that women are crafty in their actions and way when regarding men and the manners in which they present themselves to men. 

"I wanted to stop this". In the fourth section the speaker begins to assertively challenge the depression she experiences and voices a woman's wishes to alter their lifestyles and escape from their constant position behind the shadow of a man, "this life flattened against the wall. mute and devoid of colour". The woman wishes to release herself from the bonds of a man and the imposed subordination a woman encounters. "This life of vision only...impasse". The speaker feels as if she leads a silent lifestyle, thoughts of change but no actions. Living in a man's shadow, a woman leads a remote existence where she is unable to express her thoughts but rather remains mute and forever trapped in the imprisonment behind the shadow of the man, "a lucid impasse".

In the fourth stanza of the fourth section the woman confesses that it is not a mirror that she speaks of, but rather a door; a door that she is trapped behind. The narrator is not beginning a new metaphor but rather furthering the original metaphor in that the woman is associating her position with a mirror but rather a door which she finds herself trapped behind without a way out. The speaker expresses her desire to have the man release her from her entrapment "say the releasing word, whatever that may be, open the wall". However the man doesn't understand the woman at all and instead, continues to treat her as if she were his mirror". Eventually the speaker transitions metaphors at the end in order probe the reader to contemplate pools. Perhaps the pool is an allusion to Narcissus in Greek mythology: a young man who fell in love with his image in a pool of water and eventually wasted away and fell into the pool and drowned. This would be in reference to the beginning of the poem wherein the speaker states, "fall into me". The speaker provides a final attempt to allow the man to see his vanity and better understand the woman who remains simply a shadow, a reflection of a man's desires. 

Overall, "Tricks With Mirrors" represents a woman's voice in an attempt to appeal for change with hopes that the man will understand her innermost thoughts and resolve to make the necessary changes in order to better understand women in general. Throughout the poem, through the extended metaphor, Atwood successfully compares various objects such as mirrors, doors and pools to that of the role of a woman in the shadow of a man.