The flea john donne meaning. An Analysis of Poem “The Flea” by John Donne 2022-11-16
The flea john donne meaning
Rating:
8,2/10
1564
reviews
"The Flea" by John Donne is a seductive poem that uses the metaphor of a flea sucking the blood of both the speaker and his mistress to argue that their physical intimacy is not really a sin because it has been sanctified by the flea's "marrying" of them. The speaker begins by pointing out that the flea has bitten both of them and that their blood now mingles inside the flea's body. He then goes on to say that the flea has performed a kind of marriage ceremony by bringing them together in this way, making their intimacy a sacred union.
However, the mistress is not convinced and tries to brush the flea away, saying that it is a "sinful lecherous bug" and that they should avoid it and all it represents. The speaker, however, persists in his argument, saying that the flea's bite is actually a "sign" of their love and that they should not "murder" the flea, as this would be like killing a part of themselves. He even goes so far as to say that the flea's death would be a greater sin than their own physical union.
The speaker's argument is clearly meant to be persuasive and seductive, and he uses a number of clever rhetorical devices to try to win his mistress over. For example, he uses paradoxes (such as saying that killing the flea would be a greater sin than their own union) to challenge her assumptions and make her think more deeply about the issue. He also uses repetition (such as repeatedly referring to the flea as a "little wanton" and a "pretty thief") to emphasize the point he is trying to make.
Ultimately, the poem is a playful and seductive attempt by the speaker to justify his desire for physical intimacy with his mistress. He uses the metaphor of the flea and its bite to argue that their union has been sanctified and is therefore not really a sin. Whether or not the mistress is convinced by his argument is left open to interpretation, but the poem itself is a clever and entertaining exploration of the theme of desire and the moral dilemmas it can create.
The Flea Poem Summary and Analysis
It's suicide because hers is, too. He argues that the flea whom has bit him and the woman, he is seducing, should participate in making love because their blood is already combine inside the flea. Metaphysical poetry also sought to shock and challenge the reader; to question the unquestionable. Yet Donne masterfully sets out his argument, the logical, calculating male speaker against the resistant female, with that tiny flea as catalyst and metaphor. Consider, for example, the following line: 'Let not to that self-murder added be, and sacrilege, three sins in killing three. He is regarded as a key figure of the Elizabethan and Jacobean literary world and perhaps second only to Shakespeare in terms of the influence a writer of that time had on subsequent English literature.
Next
Symbolism In John Donne's The Flea
In other words, the speaker is clearly on a pestilent endeavor of seduction toward his beloved. What Are The Literary Devices used in The Flea? As in a Greek tragedy, the intensity of expression in the poem invokes a proleptic tenseness, as yet unexplained. We're guessing this something is either physical, emotional, or both. His logic was that since their blood had already been put together in the flea sex had already taken place. The flea could take what it wanted without stopping to woo, but the lover uses no force beyond the force of argument. The results were strange, comparing unlikely things, such as lovers to a compass or the soul to a drop of dew.
Next
The Flea By John Donne: Poem Analysis
Line 12 This flea is you and I Line 13 And the marriage bed, the marriage temple; Line 14 Even if parents grudge, and you, here we are, Line 15 Sheltered in the living body of the flea. The …show more content… There are numerous parts in this poem that allude back to having Explication Of John Donne's 'The Flea' John Donne's "The Flea" rpt. Porter The Flea By John Donne Marriage is a social construct that technically has no meaning other than what the person engaging in marriage puts to it. Such base sentimentality would cheapen their relationship. This language possibly symbolizes pregnancy, which we'll examine in more detail. Though use make you apt to kill me, Let not to that self-murder added be, And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. One of the biggest symbols being the flea itself.
Next
John Donne: Poems “The Flea” Summary and Analysis
Is this animalistic, barbaric behavior acceptable? The image that Donne is illustrating in the first stanza of the poem is a man and woman lying in bed, being bitten by a flea, thus mingling' their blood as one. This tiny parasite has recently sucked blood from them both, as is their instinct, so the man takes this opportunity to put forward an argument for sexual union to the woman, based on the now swollen flea. Donne keeps saying that their love making will not be looked down upon, which it will. Thou know'st that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame , nor loss of maidenhead ; Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two ; And this, alas! Unfortunately, in the 18th and 19th century, his readership fell significantly; therefore, he was scarcely recognized the same way he was in the 16th and 17th century. To be able to understand poems, it is important to look at the physical parts, the intellectual parts, and how they shape the poem.
Next
John Donne
The poet has said his piece, and ends by subtly joining himself with the woman verbally. By the end of the poem, the flea that had brought the two lovers together by blood has been killed, but the argument that it has inspired has been brought to its culmination. Written during the 17th century, John Donne utilizes an unconventional genre in his poem, demeaning and objectifying the female sex. His early poems, circulated in manuscript in the 1590s when he was still a young man in his twenties fresh out of university, are love poems which are disarmingly frank and direct both in what they show us But after his conversion from Catholicism to the Church of England, and his entry into the priesthood Donne would eventually rise to become Dean of St. He preferred to vary the metre. The poem is characterised by intelligence and wit. The narrator describes the social context of them having sex, as compared to a flea, which does not help his plea for sex.
Next
The flea
The general verse until then had focused greatly on the unrivalled importance of love in the context of the life of the poet or his creation's voice. One common feature of the epic is that there is commonly a huge amount of focus on an object of desire. It focuses on an insect that was a common nuisance in the Elizabethan period — the flea — and turns it into a sexual metaphor. If this commingling of bodily fluids can leave no lasting effect, then why does she hesitate to join with him in sexual intimacy? Overall, in the poem the flea represents a metaphor for the unity between two beings, the child they create, and the lack of innocence and guilt that the two are left with. This poem can be broken into three stanzas, of nine lines each, utilizes the image of the flea to convey three main ideas: the first as a vessel where their essence mingles, second as the institution of marriage A Structural and Vocabulary Analysis of John Donne's The Flea A Structural and Vocabulary Analysis of John Donne's "The Flea" In his poem "The Flea", John Donne shows his mastery in creating a work in which the form and the vocabulary have deliberately overlapping significance. John Donne 1595 "The Flea" 1633 Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deniest me is; It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be; Thou know'st that this cannot be said 5 A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead, Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pampered swells with one blood made of two, And this, alas, is more than we would do. Does it have to do anything with sex? John Donne goes on to have a final argument for having sex.
Next
An Analysis of Poem “The Flea” by John Donne
It is not often a story relates two things like these in such a way. The author takes the flea bite and turns it into a persuasive campaign. Thus, Donne continues to use the image of a flea to unconventionally simplify lovemaking. That they should part peacefully just like an old man dying. Ultimately, the woman will lose as much honor from killing the flea as she would from giving the speaker her virginity. It was rather impressive to observe the idea of being bitten by a flea lead to an array of attempts at having sex.
Next
Sexual Meaning in The Flea by John Donne (Essay Example)
Published posthumously in 1633 Form and structure: 3 stanzas of 9 lines in rhyming couplets and ending with a triplet AABBCCDDD. Donne takes an insect with very little significance in this world, and turns it into something of great importance. A common motif in poems of the Renaissance, Donne uses a flea as a metaphorical comparison to …show more content… The metaphor is further enforced in lines 8 and 9 when Donne illustrates the image of the swollen flea "pampered swells with one blood made of two" line 8 introducing the image of a baby, and the idea of pregnancy. The Flea by John Donne John Donne was an English writer born in 1572. Seeing as many of his works touched upon the spiritual, it was no surprise that later in his life he eventually gained great prestige as a preacher. Thus, there is a reversal of the argument, as the speaker is no longer trying to convince the woman otherwise, and the tone continues to be driven by conceit.
Next
Sexual Meaning in John Donne's Poem, The Flea
Mark but this flea, and mark in this How little that which thou deniest me is; It suck'd me first , and now sucks thee And in this flea our two bloods mingled be. Why not enjoy a physical i. As the woman goes to kill the flea, the poet protests: Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, nay more than married are. He attempts to make the bites seem significant to them in the moment and to their beliefs in the societal context of the that time period. The speaker applies a certain duality to the flea and therefore to sex.
Next