Critical Analysis Of The Flea By John Donne

On the surface, John Donne’s poem “The Flea” dramatizes the conflict between two people on the issue of premarital sex, however, under the surface, the poem uses religious imagery to seduce the woman into having sex. The speaker in this poem is a man, who is strategically trying to convince a woman to have premarital sex with him through the conceit based on a flea, however, the coy lady has thus far yielded to his lustful desires. The speaker’s argument has the form of logic, which contradicts to its outrageous content.

As the girl threatens to kill the flea, the speaker begs her to stop. He states that all three of their lives are in this flea, and that through the blood of the flea he and her are already married. If the girl were to kill the flea, he feels that it would be the equivalent of murdering all three of them. The speaker is desperately trying to manipulate the girls actions too his advantage. Donne uses more metaphors too twist his words into a more convincing argument.

be seen by the way he uses words like “Had we” and “we would”. This is

The speaker in "The Flea" is a restless, would-be lover who is trying to convince his beloved to give her virginity to him. Therefore, to convince his lover, the speaker

He uses the flea as an excuse for marriage and that they are now permitted to have sex. Out of desperation Donne shifts to a more religiously point of view by saying, “And sacrilege, three sinnes in killing three.” (Line 18) This means that if the woman kills the flea, she is killing the flea, him, herself, and God. However, the women squashes the flea along with his argument and Donne is left with one final go at convincing the woman. The final stanza of the poem expresses his sheer desperation to have sex with the woman as he deviates to using a lenient approach. He blames her not for killing the flea, but says that her act did not damage her honour in any way, and that she should still “yeeld’st to mee” (Line 26), or should still sleep with him. The content of The Flea demonstrates the exact sexist attitude that John Donne possessed when he wrote his early love poems. Likewise, the same desire for physical pleasure can be seen in the poem The Sunne Rising. This poem encompasses Donne’s ignorance of his surroundings and his obsession for sexual pleasure. Throughout the poem he attacks and challenges the sun with contempt, and does so by personifying it. He is obviously disturbed and troubled by the “unruly Sunne” (Line 1) and tells

Written during the 17th century, John Donne utilizes an unconventional genre in his poem, demeaning and objectifying the female sex. A common motif in poems of the Renaissance, Donne uses a flea as a metaphorical comparison to sexual intercourse and the eternal bind between man and woman. Illustrated throughout the poem, Donne

A text is essentially a product of its context, as its prevailing values are inherently derived by the author from society. However, the emergence of post-modern theories allows for audience interpretation, thus it must be recognised that meaning in texts can be shaped and reshaped. Significantly, this may occur as connections between texts are explored. These notions are reflected in the compostion of Edson’s W;t and Donne’s poetry as their relationship is established through intertextual references, corresponding values and ideas and the use of language features. Edson particularly portrays key values surrounding the notions of the importance of loved based relationships, and death and resurrection: central themes of Donne’s Holy Sonnets

that this act of the flea having both of their blood in its body is

Itchy, tiny, and crawly are words that people use to describe a louse, but Robert Burns’s poem “To a Louse” tells a different story. Although this poem has a rough exterior, the story should not be overlooked just because of the different writing style. The poem begins by telling the story of a little louse peeking out of a sophisticated woman’s bonnet. The third person feels that this low life louse does not belong with a classy lady, but he should be among the beggars. Then, the poem ends pointing out that the woman is being acknowledged by the bug on her bonnet and not by her looks. The poem ends with a message in the last stanza saying “To see oursels as ithers see us!” (Burns). Understanding the summary of the poem, the story can be further explored by looking at the background and literary devices. In evaluating this poem, one can gain an insight on the historical context, irony, and how this literary device affects the audience’s thoughts.

In the final stanza the woman kills the flea. Unsurprisingly, the very dramatic Donne labels the death as “cruel and sudden” (3.1). He goes on to say that she has “purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence” (3.2). What he means by this is that the flea has done nothing more than suck her blood, yet she has ended its life. Since the mingling of blood is representative of sex, it implies that the act of sex is

The flea enjoys the blood and so does the man enjoy foreplay. The pamper'd swells could be that of sexual organs before sex and yet, because that is not happening, the flea is having a better time at the moment than he is, by sucking their blood. I think that by using this comparison, John Donne is being very intellectual and at this point I feel he may win his argument. The second stanza, John Donne becomes weaker as the girl starts to defend herself and he tries to convey his love for her.

The Flea and To His Coy Mistress are two poems written by poets living during the Renaissance Period. To His Coy Mistress was written by Andrew Marvell and The Flea was written by John Donne. Both of these poets were well-educated 'metaphysical poets', and these poems illustrate metaphysical concerns, highly abstract and theoretical ideas, that the poets would have been interested in. Both poems are based around the same idea of trying to reason with a 'mistress' as to why they should give up their virginity to the poet.

To this day John Donne is still considered to be one of the greatest love poets from England. He was born to a Elizabeth Heywood and John Donne, some time between January 24th and June 19th in 1572. His mother Elizabeth Heywood was the youngest of her siblings and the grand-niece to the Catholic Martyr Thomas More. His father John Donne was a prosperous London merchant, but his actual father died when Donne was only four and was believed to be a descendant from an ancient family in Wales. The family was Roman Catholic and this was a very anti-catholic period in England and this would greatly affect Donne in many ways throughout his life.

            Finally, "The Flea" contains two major unique characteristics. One of Donne's most successful effects is sudden contrast.ii[ii] The insect seems to be no connection with romance, but by sucking blood of two characters of the poem, the flea builds a bridge between the two persons that surprises many readers.

In the second stanza, Donne goes on to make the point that the flea is