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Looking Glass

Household Objects
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A mirror, especially one in an older domestic setting. It often symbolizes self-knowledge, vanity, memory, or unstable identity.

Detailed Definition
A looking glass is an older term for a mirror, often one framed and hung in a bedroom, hall, or dressing room. Poets use it to explore the uneasy act of seeing oneself, since reflection can confirm, distort, divide, or estrange identity. A dim looking glass may preserve the atmosphere of an old house and its vanished inhabitants. It can also connect appearance with time, showing a face altered by age, grief, desire, or the expectations of those who look.
Example
Example in poetry:
Sylvia Plath’s poem “Mirror” makes the looking glass a speaking observer, showing how an object can reveal self-scrutiny; “In the looking glass, her face drifted like a leaf on dark water” uses reflection to suggest uncertainty about identity; A cracked looking glass can symbolize a fractured self or an unreliable memory; A poet may place a child before a looking glass to explore the moment when self-recognition begins
Additional Notes
A looking glass is an older name for a mirror, so its diction can establish a historical or intimate domestic atmosphere. It may reflect a face imperfectly, invite self-scrutiny, or preserve an image of someone absent. Consider the difference between reflection, appearance, and identity.
Also Known As
Mirror
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