Examine how John Donne presents the speaker 's view of love within ‘The flea’.
I believe that within John Donne’s poem, he presents the view that love should overcome the boundaries of religion. With the view that loosing virginity before marriage is neither ‘a sin, nor shame’ Defending women, saying that they should be free to have sex before marriage. However an alternative view is that Donne is being selfish and wants to have sex with these women without having to marry them.
In the poem the speaker can be seen trying to guilt the lover with strong emotional tones ‘deny’st me’ , into feeling sympathy for him. This acts to try to persuade his lover into giving him what he so greatly desires. I feel the speaker is trying to appeal to the emotion within us to feel compassion and to give into him, to help him. Going on to say that what she has done with a flea is ‘alas more than we would’ appearing as if she has betrayed him in some way by letting the flea suck her blood, not accepting the advances of the speaker. This is likely to result in evoking a feeling of guilt and shame in the lover, for allowing a flea but not him.
The speaker also is distinctly using religion to encourage her this is the right decision, he is trying …show more content…
A renowned idea using surprising symbols. It is debated as to whether Donne is a metaphysical poet or not, one view being from T.S Eliot that it is difficult to find any ‘precise use of metaphor simile or other conceit’ in order to identify Donne with the other metaphysical ‘poets as a group’. I however disagree with T.S Eliot and this poem ‘The flea’ contains a metaphysical conceit right through the poem. Using the surprising symbol of a Flea something so ‘little’ to represent something that in the contemporary views, would have been such an astounding opinion to be shared so
I believe that within John Donne’s poem, he presents the view that love should overcome the boundaries of religion. With the view that loosing virginity before marriage is neither ‘a sin, nor shame’ Defending women, saying that they should be free to have sex before marriage. However an alternative view is that Donne is being selfish and wants to have sex with these women without having to marry them.
In the poem the speaker can be seen trying to guilt the lover with strong emotional tones ‘deny’st me’ , into feeling sympathy for him. This acts to try to persuade his lover into giving him what he so greatly desires. I feel the speaker is trying to appeal to the emotion within us to feel compassion and to give into him, to help him. Going on to say that what she has done with a flea is ‘alas more than we would’ appearing as if she has betrayed him in some way by letting the flea suck her blood, not accepting the advances of the speaker. This is likely to result in evoking a feeling of guilt and shame in the lover, for allowing a flea but not him.
The speaker also is distinctly using religion to encourage her this is the right decision, he is trying …show more content…
A renowned idea using surprising symbols. It is debated as to whether Donne is a metaphysical poet or not, one view being from T.S Eliot that it is difficult to find any ‘precise use of metaphor simile or other conceit’ in order to identify Donne with the other metaphysical ‘poets as a group’. I however disagree with T.S Eliot and this poem ‘The flea’ contains a metaphysical conceit right through the poem. Using the surprising symbol of a Flea something so ‘little’ to represent something that in the contemporary views, would have been such an astounding opinion to be shared so