Mirror stage - Definition and Overview

In Jacques Lacan's psychoanalytic theory, the mirror stage is the point in an infant's life when they may recognize their "self" in a mirror.

Children before the age of three generally do not recognize their own mirror image as being that of themselves. Thus, Lacan theorized, seeing one's "self" in a mirror is a critical point of development in constructing one's own self image.

The self is, until the mirror stage (le stade du miroir), seen only in fragments. Thus, the mirror stage allows the self to be seen as a unified whole.

The potential relation between facets of the mirror stage and our relation to character archetypes has been explored in depth by theorists of entertainment media - namely literature, film (Laura Mulvey) and computer games (Mathias Fuchs).

Example Usage of Mirror