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| Fig 1 Desborough Mirror (50BC - 50AD) British Museum |
Mirrors have long held a fascination for humanity. Requiring skill and knowledge to make, they have been the prized possessions of wealthy and important people, and could be buried with them, as the beautiful Desborough mirror appears to have been. (See fig.1). Early mirrors were of polished stone or metal and usually belonged to healers, shaman or witchdoctors in primitive cultures. The idea of contacting spirits through mirrors or of having your soul captured behind the shiny surface has come down through antiquity. Superstitions surround them, soulless vampires are invisible in them, the dead communicate through them. In Ancient times, mirrors were dangerous. As a punishment, Narcissus was enchanted by his own reflection and wasted away, Archimedes scorched an invading Roman fleet with mirrors, and Methuselah was turned to stone by her own reflection. (Ancient-mythology.com) Disney’s mirror in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves talks through the mask of Tragedy, providing a classical visual twist. (see fig. 2).
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| Fig 2 Artist Unknown (Unknown) Mirror from Snow White. |
Bertin notes that mirrors were ‘employed by sorcerers, necromancers, astrologers and charlatans and by means of which spirits were invoked and the future predicted.’ (1881, p416) The enchanted mirror in the tale of Snow White does exactly this. It predicts the Queen aging and the young Snow white stepping into her position of beauty and domestic power. Levi-Strauss explored narrative through the use of Binary Oppositions (Branston and Stafford, 1996) and would argue that this tale shows us the conflict between youth and age, good and evil.
We view mirrors as narcissistic and encouraging vanity. Allegorical paintings of vanity show aging women in front of their mirrors, a laughable but disturbing figure in her low-cut dresses surrounded by cosmetics. (See fig. 3). In times when a woman had limited power within her household, the loss of her youth, and her eclipse by a young fertile bride lead to frequent power-battles and conflicts. Within this arena of older and younger women, second spouses are particularly likely to be cast as villainous. As Warner points out, ‘History is bespattered with the blood of possible heirs, done away with by consorts ambitious for their own progeny’. (1996, p213) In the tale of Snow White, Levi Strauss’s theory of opposition can again be applied to the female characters in the idea of what makes a good and bad mother. The Queen, influenced by the mirror turns into an unnatural murderous mother as opposed to Snow Whites deceased, natural mother who we assume would have protected and nurtured her offspring. The Queen’s dependence on her enchanted mirror reveals her as occult and evil. In his book, Witches and Neighbours, Brigs writes ‘the classic image of the witch is that of the bad mother. She was supposed to kill children, even sometimes eat them, rather than protect and nourish them.’
We view mirrors as narcissistic and encouraging vanity. Allegorical paintings of vanity show aging women in front of their mirrors, a laughable but disturbing figure in her low-cut dresses surrounded by cosmetics. (See fig. 3). In times when a woman had limited power within her household, the loss of her youth, and her eclipse by a young fertile bride lead to frequent power-battles and conflicts. Within this arena of older and younger women, second spouses are particularly likely to be cast as villainous. As Warner points out, ‘History is bespattered with the blood of possible heirs, done away with by consorts ambitious for their own progeny’. (1996, p213) In the tale of Snow White, Levi Strauss’s theory of opposition can again be applied to the female characters in the idea of what makes a good and bad mother. The Queen, influenced by the mirror turns into an unnatural murderous mother as opposed to Snow Whites deceased, natural mother who we assume would have protected and nurtured her offspring. The Queen’s dependence on her enchanted mirror reveals her as occult and evil. In his book, Witches and Neighbours, Brigs writes ‘the classic image of the witch is that of the bad mother. She was supposed to kill children, even sometimes eat them, rather than protect and nourish them.’
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| Fig 3 Vanitas, engraved by Jerimias Falck after Bernardo Strozzi |
Mirrors, enchanted or otherwise do not lie. They show the truth, or reflect life as it is at that moment in time. The mirror in this tale is no exception. We may take the Queen’s repeated consultations of her mirror as a sign of vanity and desperation, but neither she nor us the listener doubts the mirrors truthfulness. But the truth, like ancient mirrors, can be dangerous. When the mirror tells the Queen that Snow White will eclipse her in beauty and worth, The Queen acts upon the information and makes plans to eliminate her rival. The mirror is itself motiveless, but acts as both informant and catalyst. It has no loyalty to either the Queen or Snow white, inciting one, and betraying the other.
Word Count 587
Word Count 587
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