As much as I would like to write this without giving away the ending to Wolf's short story, I cannot. I will spoil the ending only in part. Things are not what they seem within the mirror. The narrator has a rather overactive imagination as he or she describes the woman seen within the looking-glass.
Although I read this story for a class, I feel the need to write about it. It struck me, not because Wolf's style is particularly unique or because she can turn a phrase like no other writer, but because she latched onto the idea that if we are looking at a person or a thing indirectly, there is a good chance that person or thing is not what we believe them to be; we see only distortion.
We spend most of our lives gazing at the reflections of things rather than at the thing itself. Quite often the media serves as our looking-glass through which we view the world. At times we allow our politicians and corporations to fill this role.
"The Lady in the Looking-Glass" is my first taste of Virginia Wolf, but the degree to which her short story has caused me to think, makes me certain it will not be my last taste of Virginia Wolf.
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