The Flea John Donne

Marriage is an important part of life of many modern societies. The institution of marriage was formed many centuries ago. While some of its aspects vary based on specific country or community, but the core is often the same – by contracting a marriage, both sides undertake specific commitments. Specifically, they promise to care about children that already exist or will appear in the family; or to be faithful to the partner. There is a serious problem with the second issue. Adultery is an event that was often mentioned by popular literature sources including the Bible. The poetry is not an exception. James Dickey and Anne Sexton focused on the topic in their poems “Adultery” and “For My Lover, Returning to His Wife” respectively. Authors described the theme from different points of view. Dickey highlights the considerable age of the practice and treats it as an inevitable evil. The adultery existed, exist and will continue to exist in the community. Sexton looks at the problem from the female point of view; her poem is written from the

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.

     Poets have often used symbols to convey deeper messages that they were either too afraid or felt that normal language lacked the power to express. Often when a symbol is used, the reader digs deeper into the issue more than if the message was simply shot out in the open. These symbols and metaphors can be used to portray beautiful things, or could be used to create a more compelling argument in a more subtle way.

Marriage at this time was a way of securing a happy livelihood and relative

Without a providing husband in the household, it was very hard on the women. These hardships began to get too much for some of the women and men to handle, and that caused their marriage to crumble (Gender Roles and Sexual Relations).

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

Following a unique poetic language of the Renaissance, John Donne's ‘The Flea' is a poem illustrating the metaphor of a flea to represent the sexual act and relations between a man and woman. Portrayed through language, imagery, and structure John Donne's poem is one of conceit and seduction, as the speaker (assumed to be a man) follows a consistent pattern of persuasion to have premarital sex with a woman.

Women, back then, received harsh punishments. If a married lady is caught with another man, they’d be bind together and thrown into the water, according to “Law 129” (Document C). This punishment is far too harsh. A reason the married lady may have been with another man is because her husband was a terrible person and he treated her badly. Even if this wasn’t the case, binding the woman and man together and then throwing

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

To be married, the female had to achieve a certain level of perfect; the man had to choose their wife and the population of women outweighed the male population in those times. Men would be participating in the armed forces or traveling outside of their hometown to explore. Women did not have that opportunity. Marriage was an idea, an idea of husbands taking care of their wife and children. Women were sought out to be helpless for themselves and dependent on a man throughout their entire lives, by a father or a husband.

Marriage was usually arranged between families and seen as a way to conjoin two families of the same class, mainly for financial benefits. Because of this, there was often little connection between a husband and wife on a deeper, romantic level. This

Poetry is not only a brilliant form of expression, but also a powerful tool for persuasion. The renowned metaphysical poet John Donne uses the genre for this very purpose in “The Flea,” a work in which he encourages a young woman to have premarital sex with him. Donne backs his argument by referring to a flea that has sucked his own blood as well as his lover’s. In the first stanza Donne assures the woman that sleeping together would be a minor act. When he says “How little that which thou deniest me is” he promises the woman that the act would be as miniscule as the flea is in size (1.2). Also, by using the word “deniest” he tries to make the women feel a sense of guilt, as if

            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 Flea” by John Donne, the speaker tries to convince his auditor to seize the day by comparing their love to a flea. The parents of these two people obviously have a grudge against their love so the two lovers may not be able to marry each other because of this. The speaker says that after the flea sucked some of his blood and then some of his lovers, they are basically married because their blood has intermingled inside the “living walls” of the flea. His lover wants to kill the flea but the speaker tries to tell her not too. The speaker says there is three sins in killing three because it would be like killing the speaker, his lover, and the flea.

For ancient Japanese culture, they did not care about virginity because they thought that for those who remained virginity in a long time would be owned by demons. Their marriage were often relating to politic. After married, the couples lived with their wives’ family in order to prevent their husband’s family to have power on women ("Heian Period", n.d). Men could have more than one wives, whilst women had to be loyal to her husband (“Chapter Three: The Heian Period Aristocrats”,