Essential yet underplayed, seduction is a means to establishing a physical union. Throughout literature the basic arts of seduction, chasing the opposite sex, have changed, but a reader of such literature can see that the motive of seduction has mostly remained the same. The metaphysical literary motive of seduction in the context of this paper is a delicate technique of intentionally tempting a person to participate in a physical union or exploitation, or to inspire or persuade a person to partake in sexual behaviors. Although the outcome of these seduction techniques are sexual, literary authors have their own ways of writing these complex ideas in a colloquial language. As time progressed, debates over the literary means of seduction has
At the threat of demise, the speaker states “This flea is you and I, and this/Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is” (12-13). A union is created and through the three of them, it is seen as a correlation to the holy trinity with God being replaced by the flea. Even though the woman does not seem inclined to spare the flea, Donne furthers his argument with the mixing of their blood allowing for an unmistakable union without societal norms or scandal. Since the flea can hop from one host to the other without commitment, so can we have a little romp in the hay without the pressures of marriage and life ever after. Through the third stanza, we find that the woman has killed the flea and therefore quelled any chance of a sexual union between the speaker and his quarry. He has failed once again to gain her favor and seal the deal. While the flea may have been able to take her blood without seduction, the speaker finds excitement in the challenge to live and woo another day. Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” is another attempting at seducing an unwilling woman. “Had we but world enough and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime” (Marvell 1-2). Its emphases by Dr. Michael William that in the first two lines of the first stanza Marvell played a game with irony and specified
The imagery of worms and dust provide a finite view on the beauty, virtue, and innocence in the women they wish to seduce. Donne does this through trying to prevent the death of the flea and when that doesn’t work he castigates the woman in the loss of life and passion, “Cruel and sudden, hast thou since/Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence?” (Donne 19-20). The guilt placed on the woman should turn her no into a yes by harping on the death of the poor flea who did nothing but join their two bloods together. However, his ambition is to gain her favors and he tells her if she will yield to him, the flea’s death will not be wasted. Although Marvell may not be able to stop time, their lovemaking can make time run from the fury of their passion. Marvell attempts to persuade his conquest with a focus on death through the imagery of ashes and time. “Then worms shall try/That long-preserved virginity, And your quaint honor turn to dust,” (Marvell 28-29). This exaggerated image is used to encourage the young mistress to give her virginity rather than see the silliness in seen worms as a threat to her out of date female genitals in her grave. His pleas fall on deaf ears as we do not hear from the side of the woman. Both literary work not only provide great pieces when contemplating outdated seduction
Throughout the entire poem, coyness is not regarded as an attractive behavior in the long term view of objective reality. Time is always of the essence, and death puts an end to all physical and emotional interactions between people. This is expressed in the line “that long-preserved virginity, and your quaint honor turn to dust, and into ashes all my lust” (Marvell). As time progresses, so does the process of decay, and this is what leads to the cycle of life and death. Marvell conveys both the biological and emotional need to propagate the concept of carpe diem, seizing the day and taking initiative in the face of time’s constant war against mortality.
The speaker in Andrew Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress'; is a man who is addressing a silent listener, who happens to be his mistress. In this dramatic monologue the speaker tries to explain his feelings to his mistress. The speaker uses many allusions to empires and other objects, events and ideas that are not directly related to his feelings, in order to explain how he feels. He uses these allusions to exaggerate his feelings in order to clearly show them. After reading over the poem once, you get a sense of what the speaker is feeling. Upon further analysis of the poem you realize that the allusions used in the poem, are in fact, what makes this poem so interesting.
“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” by Rober Herrick and Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” have many similarities and differences. The tone of the speakers, the audience each poem is directed to, and the theme make up some of the literary elements that help fit this description.
There is a similar theme running through both of the poems, in which both mistresses are refusing to partake in sexual intercourse with both of the poets. The way in which both poets present their argument is quite different as Marvell is writing from a perspective from which he is depicting his mistress as being 'coy', and essentially, mean, in refusing him sex, and Donne is comparing the blood lost by a flea bite to the blood that would be united during sex. Marvell immediately makes clear his thoughts in the poem when he says, "Had we but world enough, and time/ This coyness, Lady were no crime", he is conveying the 'carpe diem' idea that there is not enough time for her to be 'coy' and refuse him sexual intercourse and he justifies this thought when he suggests when she is dead, in ?thy marble vault?, and ?worms shall try that long preserved virginity?. He is using the idea of worms crawling all over and in her corpse as a way of saying that the worms are going to take her virginity if she waits until death. Donne justifies his bid for her virginity in a much longer and more methodical way, he uses the idea of the flea taking her blood and mixing it with his, ?It suck?d me first, and now sucks thee?, and then...
Men of the 16th and 17th century were the largest contributors of literature of that time. This led to misogynistic views, and subhuman treatment of women. Although it was socially forbidden for a woman to have sex outside of marriage, this did not stop men from trying to convince her. John Donne, a poet of the 16th century, wrote misogynistic pieces in his early works. Andrew Marvell, a contemporary of Donne, who also wrote seduction poems. Donne’s “The Flea” and Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” both have seduction techniques, yet the degree of success is different. The degree of success each seducer has can be judged by looking at the rhetoric, imagery and emotional appeals in “The Flea” and “To His Coy Mistress.”
flattery with an aim toward seduction. He uses such grandiose statements to help his mistress understand that he truly cares for her enough to spend hundreds of years simply gazing at her. However, this leads to a problem, as there is simply not the time available. This causes Marvell in the second stanza to remind his mistress that always her hears at his back "[t]ime's wing'ed chariot hurrying near" (ll. 21-22). This lets her know gently, but in ... ...
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.
Allen, Dennis W. “No Love for Lydia: The Fate of Desire in Pride and Prejudice.” Texas Studies in Literature and Languages. 1985 Winter: 27: 425-443.
During the 17th century, certain poets wrote poems with the specific purpose of persuading a woman to have sexual intercourse with them. Three of these seduction poems utilize several strategies to do this: Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress,” and Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning” and “The Flea.” Some of the reasoning used by both poets is similar to the reasoning used today by men to convince women to have sexual intercourse with them. These gimmicks vary from poem to poem but coincide with modern day rationalization. The tactics used in 17th century seduction poems are relevant and similar to the seduction tactics used in the 21st century.
The process of choosing a partner began altering at the beginning of the 17th century. Whilst the upper aristocratic class still chose the marriage partners for their children, the rest of society permitted their children to choose their future mates. Additionally, the motive of choosing a spouse moved from the “consolidation of wealth, property, and political power” to being based on romantic love and physical attraction. The narrator in The Flea adopts the relationship based on his independent choice and physical attraction to the woman. He argues the woman should “yield’st to” his sexual advances, despite their parent’s antipathy. Similar to the way their bloods “mingled” inside the flea, he wants them to physically mingle. The fact he asks her to have sex rather than wed her suggests his motivation is immediate physical pleasure rather than the outmoded joining of economic power; marriage entails commitment as opposed to sex. Since Donne is abiding by the new attitude towards choosing a spouse, he must, as Marx predicted, be a product of his social
simultaneously insists on the identification of the flea with the sexual union (i.e. it may be compared to ‘yielding’) and on the impossibility of doing so (referring to the mistress’ counter-argument, where the flea’s death cannot be equated to the death of man and wife). That is, one might translate the meaning of the climax as: ‘this flea’s death did not kill you, and therefore the flea cannot be identified with us, yet this flea rep...
In the poem “To his coy mistress” by Andrew Marvell, this author is referring to his lust for his mistress. The feeling of lust is a strong desire. Just as, in this poem the author does not really love his mistress. “And your quaint honour turn to dust, / and into ashes all of my lust,” (29-30). What the author
By the time they have read (aloud) the entire poem, readers should be less concerned with the poem's overall moral (or amoral) philosophizing than with its musicality. Marvell, after all, is writing a poem, not a work of philosophy. His use and then subversion of conventional rhyme, rhythm, and meter, create a music that opposes both philosophy and anti-philosophy. Life, these irregularities remind us, exists in the here and now, not on the neatly divided clock or calendar. We cannot control the fact that life is followed by death, nor should we try to do so through fantasizing about the future, but we can control each moment that we are alive: each irregular, spontaneous, surprising moment.
The poem “My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing like the Sun” by William Shakespeare is about the love towards an imperfect woman. He explains that although his mistress is imperfect, he finds his love special and rare. To clear things up mistress in this poem holds a completely different meaning than that of the modern-day term we are used to. The word mistress now refers to a woman having a sexual relationship outside of marriage, especially with a married man however, in Shakespeare's time, it meant a woman who rules others or has control. The reader can focus on some important aspects of this poem such as imagery, and tone to better understand the poem.
Andrew Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress is all about seize the day, but it’s really more than just Carpe Diem poem. It’s about Carpe diem relating to morality, freedom, and sex roles. The morality, freedom and sex roles were very important at the time period when this poem was written because there was civil war going on and because of the war, I’m sure people would have been afraid of future that they have to face. There must have been many questions but wondering how much time is left with them must be the most curious and worried subject. Amongst those people, Andrew Marvell must have been one of them, and I’m assuming he must have been highly influenced by the events where he must have been exposed to when he was alive. And his poem To His Coy Mistress would be one of the literatures that were written under the impression and pressure.