Sexuality in John Donnes The Flea Essay - 1221 Words

A Reading of John Donnes The Flea It is common to ascribe to Donne the status of archetypal logical poet- a man whose works are tightly crafted, confident, and certain in their application of metaphor and analogy. True enough, Donne’s poem seems to suggest a certain self-security: we see a tight, predictable rhyme scheme, and an ordered structure. There is also arguably a wealth of rhetorical resources - Donne does not shy away from using the lexis of the military (â€Å"triumph’st†), the medical (â€Å"two bloods†¦mingled†) or even the religious (â€Å"cloysterd†, â€Å"sacrilege†). Such a feature that might be read as hinting at Donne’s essential confidence in his ability to create a unified philosophy, to adapt a wide range of discourses, to†¦show more content†¦Such an argument is obviously a contradiction- he argues at the same time the flea’s capacity and incapacity to represent the woman and husband. Similarly, he insists on the essential privacy of sexuality, repeating and emphasising â€Å"marriage† in line 13, by which he figures the domestic space and its objects as defined in primarily erotic terms. But lines 5 and 6 demand the addressee to consider sexual relations in primarily public terms- â€Å"sin†, â€Å"shame† or â€Å"maidenhead† (that latter word hints as much as social position- ‘-head’ has the same root as the modern suffix ‘-hood’), where a flea is a small, insignificant object that cannot be equated with a sexual union. The paradox that concludes the poem both uses impersonal, public terms- ‘honor’ more obviously, though ‘yield’ also (it suggests a set of broader power relations, and would be associated somewhat, I would argue, with images of sexual relations in terms of larger-scale social hierarchies). The very slightest charge we could level at Donne is that he seems tempted to sacrifice logic for rhetorical finesse- â€Å"three sins for killing three† is of course, not true- to kill three and commit sacrilege would make four sins. This is not simple pedantry, but rather I think it alerts us to a prioritisation of tried-and-tested stylistics over the logical progression that Donne’s tricky arguments, grounded in points of intellectual studies of his age, asks us to focus on. The FleaShow MoreRelatedTHE MAIN FEATURES OF THE METAPHYSICAL POETRY ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN DONNE1637 Words   |  7 Pages THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE METAPHYSICAL POETRY ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN DONNE The term metaphysical poetry is used to describe a certain type of 17th century poetry. Metaphysical poetry is concerned with the whole experience of man. It means that the poetry is about showing knowledge and thoughts from different areas of experience, especially about love, romantic and sensual; about mans relationship with God and about pleasure, learning and art. Read More The Analysis Of The Profane And Sacred In John Donnes Poems The Flea And Holy Sonnet 141801 Words   |  8 PagesJohn Donne who is considered to be one of the wittiest poets of the seventeenth century writes the metaphysical poem The Flea and the religious poem Holy Sonnet 14. In both poems, Donne explores the two opposing themes of physical and sacred love; in his love poem The Flea, he depicts the speaker as an immoral human being who is solely concerned with pleasing himself, where as in his sacred poem Holy Sonnet 14 Donne portrays the speaker as a noble human being because he is anxious to pleaseRead MoreThe Analysis of the Profane and Sacred in John Donnes Poems The Flea and Holy Sonnet 141869 Words   |  8 PagesJohn Donne who is considered to be one of the wittiest poets of the seventeenth century writes the metaphysical poem The Flea and the religious poem Holy Sonnet 14. In both poems, Donne explores the two opposing themes of physical and sacred love; in his love poem The Flea, he depicts the speaker as an immoral human being who is solely concerned with pleasing himself, where as in his sacred poem Holy Sonnet 14 Donne portrays the speaker as a noble human being because he is anxious to pleaseRead MoreThe Carpe Diem Poetry By Andrew Marvell Essay1773 Words   |  8 Pagesacknowledge the swiftness of time and how imperative it was to make good use of opportunities. In fact, a number of poets used the style in creating the various themes such as death, life, time and sexuality. More importantly, some of the poems even adopted the sexual innuendos as a way of looking at the sexuality indirectly. For instance, the poem â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† by Andrew Marvell reveals multiple themes that insist that people should use their time effectively. More specifically, it illustratesRead MoreThe s Coy Mistress By Andrew Marvell And The Flea1919 Words   |  8 PagesThe representation of sexual pleasure and intercourse throughout  "To His Coy Mistress† by Andrew Marvell and â€Å"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 â€Å"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