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...
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...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 ...
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.
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...
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.
Marvell's piece is structured as a poem but flows as a classical argument. He uses the three stanzas to address the issues of time, love, and sex. In doing so, he creates his own standpoint and satirizes his audience in the process. Using appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos; logical reasoning; and even a hint of the Rogerian technique - Marvell proves that acting now is essential. The logical argument for the "carpe diem" theme is built up from beginning to end.
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
Lover A Ballad was written as a reply to the poem To His Coy Mistress.
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...
Marvell uses many images that work as tools to express how he wishes to love his mistress in the first stanza of the poem. From line 1 to 20 Marvell tells his mistress how he wishes he had all the time in the world to love her. In the very first line Marvell brings up the focus of time, “Had we but world enough and time/This coyness, lady, were no crime”. The second line shows the conflict that the author is facing in the poem, her coyness. Marvell continues from these initial lines to tell his mistress what he would do if he had enough time. In lines, three and four Marvell talks of “sitting down” to “think” where they will walk on their “long love’s day”. All of these word...
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.
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.
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.
Structure, a major tool stressed in this poem, tends to rearrange the text in a large-scale way. In "To His Coy Mistress", the reader should focus on the most significant types of structure: stanza and temporal. In other words, time and chronological order assemble the whole meaning of the text throughout the poem. Although the story contains seduction and intimacy, which is portrayed in the title alone, it is merely a cry for two lovers to be together before time runs out. Temporally, the man first explains to the woman how he would love her if he only had the time. The man's sincerity is truly expressed when Marvell writes, "Had we but world enough, and time...I would love you ten years before the flood...nor would I love at lower rate," (373: 1, 7-8, 20). It seems that the man genuinely cares for the lady, or is he secretly seducing her into bed? Taking a look at the second stanza...
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