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The 's Coy Mistress By Andrew Marvell And The Flea

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The representation of sexual pleasure and intercourse throughout “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell and “The Flea” by John Donne functions as a way to present, confirm and refute the traditional stereotypical view of carpe diem love poetry. The speakers within both poems aim to “seize the day” by wooing and taking advantage of women and their virginity and sexuality. They not only want to take advantage of the time they have but also make sure they do not regret not doing anything in the future. In specific, “To His Coy Mistress” presents the view that men are able to manipulate and seduce women through the use of inappropriate and often graphic imagery. The speaker identifies the couple’s lack of time as a way to advance his wooing and potentially speed up the foreplay. In doing so, the speaker is presented as being persistent and sleazy due to his relentlessness of pursuing. Representation of carpe diem love is also shown in “The Flea.” This poem contains a different tone than that of “To His Coy Mistress” due to the speaker being shown as less threatening in his sexual pursuit of the woman. The speaker shows the representation with the male’s sexual agenda being aided by the description of a flea as well as the usage of “flirty” and often humorous language. Both poems are discussing and referring to the act of sexual intercourse and in doing so relate these exploits to the commonly used theme of carpe diem to justify the speaker’s actions.
“To His Coy Mistress” by

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