The Lady in the Looking Glass

“The Lady in the Looking Glass” uses the conceit of a looking glass to explore what can be seen, known, and imagined about a person or character, as well as the nature of writing—and social interaction—in that it seeks to achieve this. It extends the conventional metaphor of a mirror as a means to see the self into an investigation of writing’s ability to create a “self,” whether narrator or subject. The story opens directly with a surprising warning—ostensibly tongue-in-cheek—against leaving looking glasses hanging in one’s home, comparing it directly to that of leaving open checkbooks or confessions of a crime. The warning highlights the conceit, as it relies on the idea that a looking glass somehow allows the narrator access into the private life of the subject, supporting the theme of Femininity: Propriety and Aging. The narrator begins with what can be “seen” in the looking glass, describing every visible detail of the scene within the drawing room and the garden beyond. Implicitly, the inclusion of vivid imagery and details captured in the image of the looking glass is juxtaposed with the surrounding things that are outside of it, such as Isabella as she ventures down the path and the sealed letters in her drawers and on the marble table. Such comparison raises the question of whether the scene in the looking glass is a certain reality within sight, and whatever is on the outside is beyond comprehension. It also explores whether the reflection in a looking glass, usually taking the shape of a perception, is not an accurate representation of reality, key to the theme of Perception Versus Reality.

The reflection in the looking glass is described using the language of painting—the angle of light, the stillness of some objects in comparison to the transient nature of others, a fixated moment amid many moments of movement. At this point, the story conjures a sense of peacefulness and timelessness: “there was a perpetual sighing and ceasing sound, the voice of the transient and the perishing, it seemed, coming and going like human breath, while in the looking glass things had ceased to breathe and lay still in the trance of immortality” (3). This lyrical, metaphysical exploration of time and transience is the first in the story, which passes through imaginings of Isabella’s (posited) past, present, and future, moving into a consideration of mortality and “regret” at the shortness of life, and finally onto a somber, rather shocking portrayal of Isabella as an old woman when she moves into the “reality” of the mirror’s reach.

The looking-glass conceit is integral to the theme of Perception Versus Reality. The stream-of-consciousness narration of Isabella Tyson, her drawing room, and the garden attempts to cover almost every aspect of her life. However, the line between reality and the imagination is deliberately blurred, and the narrator engages explicitly with these ideas, and their expression in literature. It is unclear whether the narrator’s observations are simply perceptions based on underlying assumptions one would have about an aged single woman living alone or are based on facts: The narrator openly and self-consciously adopts both approaches and finds both lacking.

Almost every detail of the novel contributes to an in-depth examination of Isabella Tyson as a woman. The extent to which she is imagined through her belongings is a representation of the theme of Perception Versus Reality. However, the truth of her inner life and identity is unclear. On one hand, the narrator paints an exquisite picture of a well-traveled, well-connected woman who has experienced all of the passions of life and is weathered yet content in her existence. On the other hand, when Isabella’s figure approaches the looking glass more closely, the description of her physical features presents a person at odd with the sense of her in the rest of the story . Even the letters delivered by the postman are perceived as stone tablets granting insight into Isabella’s internal life, as though they were “not merely a handful of casual letters but to be tablets graven with eternal truth—if one could read them, one would know everything there was to be known about Isabella, yes, and about life, too” (6). When she is out of the frame of the looking glass’s reflection, the narrator imagines that she is snipping flowers while reflecting on her own mortality. The use of stream of consciousness as a narrative style is what allows for such a fluid imagination of Isabella Tyson. While many descriptions are grounded by physical features, they are interpreted and perceived in opposing ways, creating two entirely different imaginations of her inner life and existence.

The point of view in “The Lady in the Looking glass” switches between the third-person and first-person plural. While the scene in the looking glass is described in what seems like the third person, there also is a sense that the narrator is a person present in Isabella’s drawing room and is viewing her home and garden from a particular vantage point. The fact that the narrator remains unnamed and invisible throughout the story only exemplifies the theme of perception versus reality, as it is unclear whether or not the narrator is an actual human being within the scene. While the narrator compares themselves to “one of those naturalists” observing the “shy creatures” of Isabella’s home (2), Isabella does not act as though there is any outsider in her home when she finally enters the drawing room at the end of the story. The ambiguity of the narrator’s nature is placed in juxtaposition with the very realistic description of the drawing-room furnishings. This interesting comparison leaves the reader to wonder what is of true value and can exist with humanlike qualities, where a human onlooker is treated as an object and the objects in Isabella’s home are given life. The narrator is unable to view the entirety of the drawing room other than what is visible in the looking glass, and seems to be fixed in one position, as there is no movement to see what is beyond its gold rim. It is possible for the narrator to also be Isabella herself, imagining who she could be based on what is perceived in the looking glass. This is evident in the focus on her physical features in comparison to her perceived presence once she moves closer into view at the end of the story.

At the climax, when Isabella Tyson’s image comes into view and the narrator’s perception of Isabella is challenged, neither the narrator nor the reader truly knows who Isabella is. Rather than achieving any clarity, the confusion surrounding her inner life is only increased, despite the lengthy speculation and imagination about her existence. This frustration is reflected when the narrator pauses in the middle of a lengthy discussion of her belongings and how they reflect her life and experiences: “Under the stress of thinking about Isabella, her room became more shadowy and symbolic” (4). The narrator is self-aware of their imaginations of Isabella’s life, and the notion of having stress and thoughts further complicates the notion of whether or not the narrator is a present human being.