Broken Glass: Sylvia Gellburg's Mirror Stage

Abstract

Abstract This article explores Sylvia Gellburg's awakening at the end of Arthur Miller's Broken Glass through the lens of “méconnaissance” (misrecognition), a term coined by Lacan and applied by feminine theorist Kathleen Woodward to a second “mirror stage” of aging. Lacan's mirror stage describes how a human infant creates a fixed sense of an ideal self, an integrated “whole” albeit illusionary, toward which the individual strives his or her entire life. Woodward writes that many postmenopausal women experience a “misrecognition” of their aging selves in the mirror or in photographs. While this is often a traumatic experience, she argues that it opens the possibility for a second mirror stage, where the individual can reimagine the self. The death of the illusion of the ideal allows for greater self-awareness and a more authentic life. I argue that Sylvia's gradual awakening in the play can be viewed through the lens of a second mirror stage and also is linked to Phillip's self-realization.