"Things have a life. Take my looking-glass, it doesn't need me."

Winnie says this at the beginning of Act Two. It highlights her dependency on her rituals. She needs them to fill her day, to busy herself as the long hours stretch ahead. But as performing a ritual depletes the performer, as with Winnie's song, the ritualistic object can survive on its own. It transforms the performer into a static existence but, not having a sense of time itself, the object does not mind the repetitive cycles of time. In fact, the objects control these cycles—the bell rings to wake Winnie and tell her when to sleep. Winnie's example of a looking-glass is particularly salient, as she often feels—and most likely wishes—someone is looking at her, hence her image of Shower and his fiancée.