Love in The Flea and To his Coy Mistress
Compare the ways John Donne in his poem The Flea and Andrew Marvell
in his poem To his Coy Mistress present the theme of love.
Donne and Marvell’s poems have both similarities and differences, as
they both present the theme of love in an unconventional way and dwell
on it superficially. This can be seen by the way in which both authors
show their views on love, though are clearly just using them as
attempts to seduce their mistresses, who are clearly reluctant. Taking
this into account, I feel that these “love poems” are more about lust
than love and are more focussed on the writer’s efforts of seduction.
Both poems are one sided dialogues between the poet and his mistress.
They do, however, differ in the ways in which they try to portray
their feelings on the topic, with Donne’s “The Flea”, depicting him as
comparing sexual intercourse with the way in which his blood is
mingled with that of his mistress in a flea, which has bitten both of
them. By doing this, he is incorporating 17th Century principles, such
as the belief that sexual intercourse involved the mingling of the two
bloods, and constantly refers to the flea, in an attempt to persuade
his mistress.
Marvell, however, introduces a hypothetical situation to argue his
case, with the central statement that he uses to bring his mistress
round to his line of thought being “Carpe Diem.” This derives from
Latin and translates “Seize the Day,” with Marvell using it to
emphasise that time is against them. The difference here, between the
two poems, is that Donne is saying that they’ve already had sex in the
flea, and therefore the whole affair is no longer a big deal, while
Marvell is suggesting a sense of...
... middle of paper ...
...erious note than Marvell, however, by using some strong biblical
imagery to show his mistress that, by killing the flea she has
committed a sin and, if she realises this, she has shown that she
feels intercourse is no big deal.
Overall, I feel that, rather than being “love” poems, these are both
superficial examples of love, which are actually implicated on lust
and seduction. A factor which supports this theory is that Donne
doesn’t even mention love throughout the entire course of his poem,
while Marvell uses love to show the extent of his feelings for his
mistress and, even then, admits that it is merely vegetable love,
which is a basic concept of love being no more than reproduction, and
therefore sex. I feel that Marvell’s poem can also, however, be
associated with making the most of life, as he clearly argues this
point in “To his Coy Mistress.”
In the poem “The Flea” by John Donne, the speaker uses clever sexual innuendo and metaphors in an attempt to manipulate a certain girl into losing her virginity to him. The poem begins with the speaker explaining that a flea has bit both him and her, and now both of their blood mixes inside it. He continues to try and ...
Ever since the beginning of time, love has played an enormous role among humans. Everyone feels a need to love and to be loved. Some attempt to fill this yearning with activities and possessions that will not satisfy – with activities in which they should not participate and possessions they should not own. In Andrew Marvell’s poem, “To His Coy Mistress,” the speaker encounters an emotion some would call love but fits better under the designation of lust for a woman. In contrast, the speaker of Robert Herrick’s poem, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” urges virgins to marry, to make a lasting commitment in which love plays a vital role. Comparing these poems reveals differences between love and lust. Despite the contrasting depictions of love and lust, both poets portray the underlying theme of carpe diem – “seize the day” – using the sun to show the brevity of any single person’s time on earth, and utilizing societal standards to back up their arguments.
Although Christopher Marlowe wrote his poem, " The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" in accordance with the Pastoral tradition, Andrew Marvell's " To His Coy Mistress", written with the intended theme of "carpe-diem" seems similar enough to Marlowe's poem to have been written by the same author even though the poems are separated by almost a century. Both poems are written in iambic tetrameter and are addressed to an unnamed lover. The tone of both poems are joy and romantic love, however Marvell expands his theme in his last stanza by bidding his lover to unite with him and use their strength to "tear our pleasures with rough strife, Thorough the iron gates of life."(Marvell, 128, lines 43-44)
In the story, “Loves Executioner”, Yalom treats and old woman named “Thelma” that is overly obsessed with a man named Matthew, her former therapist from ten years ago. Yalom feeling though that he is drawn to the facets of her dilemma decides to do everything he can to empower Thelma move past the obsessions that had been wrecking havoc on her mental health. Although Thelma’s love obsession with her therapist, and her subjective experiences on life of what is preventing her from living in the present, Yalom attempts to treat a 70-year-old woman only to learn that being love executioner more complicated as he had anticipated.
Romance. In the two poems “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,” the man wanted the women to move in with him and be his love. The man and the women have two different points of view. The guy’s point of view is he wants her to live with him. The girl’s point of view is she does not want to move in with the man.
The poem “The Flea” by John Donne is a funny poem showing that something as small as a flea can be compared to premarital sex. The flea, which is made to seem insignificant throughout the poem, is taken on a “sex” journey without ever even knowing it. The poem maintains one speaker until the end, but interesting enough, has two significant characters: the speaker and his lover. The audience is the speaker’s lover, yet she has a major role that goes beyond listening. While he is trying to convince his female lover to see that her virginity isn’t all that it’s hyped to be (insignificant), he compares a flea to sex in the process. He describes the flea as insignificant, yet the poem is mainly based on this tiny insect. By doing this, the speaker contradicts himself and gives the “insignificant flea” importance and does so throughout the poem. Ultimately by comparing the flea to his lovers “insignificant” virginity, he shows that by trying to convince her to give it up, he essentially gives her the power to make the final decision: whether to have sex or not, giving her importance even without a voice. Therefore, by trying to convince her through his speech to give up her “maidenhead” and give him “power,” he ultimately puts her “on top” with all the power by pestering her and essentially being unsuccessful in his attempts to woo her.
Different Ways of Expressing Ideas About Love in The Beggar Woman, To His Coy Mistress, My Last Duchess, How Do I Love Thee and Remember
A very symbolic artist by the name of Beyonce once sang lyrics that said “you see her, she getting paid She ain't callin' him to greet her, don't need him, her bed's made.” What women most desire varies depending on the type of person and their personality. According to the Wife of Baths Tale, women most desire independence and power over their husbands.
The tone of “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” and “To His Coy Mistress” are different. In Herrick’s poem, his tone is relaxed. For instance when he writes, “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, /Old times is still a-flying,” his word choice has a very relaxed and casual tone. His attitude reflects the relaxed tone in his poem. In Marvell’s poem, his tone is serious. Marvell’s purpose is to persuade his mistress to have sex with him. He tries to lure her in when saying, “Had we but World enough, and Time.” He starts out very seriously, in attempt to convince his mistress. The relaxed tone of “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” and serious tone of “To His Coy Mistress” point out the difference in the way the writers feel about their characters.
Lover A Ballad was written as a reply to the poem To His Coy Mistress.
In the days of Shakespeare, marriages were not commonly made for love, but rather for power, wealth or even just so that a parent could be assured care at an advanced age. Such marriages were made very young, and most times arranged between the parents of the two who were to be wed, or between the bridegroom and the parents of the bride. In looking at A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this notion is not exempt. In fact, it is almost emphasized throughout the play. Shakespeare’s comedy offers an exposition of a person’s wish for dominance over the emotional states of those that they love, represented by the tandem conflicts that bridge the mortal and supernatural worlds. The more the characters fight to control the affections of their counterparts, the more it becomes clear that they have virtually no control over where the objects of their affection’s own love lies, such as that of Hermia and her father’s wishes, Oberon and Titania, and a role reversal in the case of Helena and Demetrius. Although the play is meant to be as absurdly comedic as possible (and, indeed, even the great trickster Robin Goodfellow apologizes in the end for its ridiculousness), this central theme truly reflects the flavor of a changing era, where outside arrangements of love were beginning to be traded in western Europe for arrangements from the heart.
The two poems The Flea and The Sunne Rising capture John Donne’s primary motive to get in bed with women. Donne wrote these poems at an early age, and at that time he was seeking nothing more than a sexual relationship. His poetry depicted clearly how sexist he was at the time and how he used to perceive women as a medium of pleasure. The content of his early poems express an immature and desperate image of Donne, who is dominated by his fixation on the sensuality of women. In The Flea, Donne shows his desperation to have sex by addressing a flea that has sucked the blood of both him and the woman he is persuading. It is quite awkward how the poet uses this obscure image of the flea as a symbol of love and sex to convince the woman that...
The Flea and To His Coy Mistress are two poems written by poets living during the Renaissance Period. To His Coy Mistress was written by Andrew Marvell and The Flea was written by John Donne. Both of these poets were well-educated 'metaphysical poets', and these poems illustrate metaphysical concerns, highly abstract and theoretical ideas, that the poets would have been interested in. Both poems are based around the same idea of trying to reason with a 'mistress' as to why they should give up their virginity to the poet.
Metaphysical poets use startling juxtapositions in their poetry to create a greater significance in their arguments and intended meanings throughout the poem. John Donne is said to be the unsurpassed metaphysical poet, metaphysical poetry being poetry relating to a group of 17-century English poets whose verse is typified by an intellectually arduous style, admitting extended metaphors and comparing very disparate things. In 17th century England new discoveries were being made and social customs such as men being the dominant over women still applied. Through Donne’s poetry we can see that he is goaded and confused by the new discoveries and the social customs avert him from reaching his desires. This is incalculably recognized in his two poems, “The Sunne Rising” and “The Flea” where Donne’s arguments challenge some beliefs of the 17th century England. Through “The Sunne Rising” we gain a sense of meaning that Donne is irritated and perplexed with new discoveries and that he believes his love is everything in the whole world. In “The Flea” we can see Donne challenging the social costumes of the 17th century, such as chastity of women, his tremendous persistence to sexually unite with the woman and the overall dominance presented over the woman. In both of these poems Donne uses vividly striking differences in the argument to emphasize the overall meaning of the poem. These dramatic contrasts include conceit, binary opposition, imagery, specific words and the movement of the poem, which are additionally affirmed by poetic devices.
In Redeeming Love Angel starts off refusing to have any hope, but after a few visits from Michael she feels herself starting to believe again and “[t]he hope she thought long-since dead was resurrected.” (199) After she and Michael are married she lives in his cabin with him and though she wants to be free from her past and pretend those horrible things hadn’t happened “[t]hey had, and they left deep, raw, gaping wounds. Even when the wounds healed, there were scars.” (254) These scars remind her of how awful her life was and make her hesitant to hope for something better. Michael can see her struggling to forgive herself and be hopeful, therefore, since they are married and he knows sex was the one thing that had always caused her pain and