John Donne - The Flea

Question 1

What does the use of “suck’d” and “swells” represent?

Answer 1

The use of sexual/erotic language

Question 2

Why is sexual language used in this poem?

Answer 2

To show the desires the male figure has for the female, he has very strong lustful desires which he needs to convey passionately in order to win her

Question 3

How is the speaker degrading the woman?

Answer 3

Through using her for lust, by treating her disrespectfully through woeful tactics

Question 4

What is John also degrading throughout the poem?

Answer 4

The meaning of sex which in the Bible is only for procreation not for lustful desires or enjoyment which is something Donne would have known

Question 5

What does the poem show about Donne’s relationship with religion?

Answer 5

It seems to be degrading religious values as he is trying to have sex with a woman before marriage which is highly frowned upon, also without the desire for procreation

Question 6

What is the flea?

Answer 6

An analogy of the man’s argument

Question 7

What do both the flea and the woman have in common?

Answer 7

Innocence, as they are both trying to survive

Question 8

Who moves the poem along?

Answer 8

The woman’s actions such as her threatening to kill the flea and then actually doing it in the final stanza

Question 9

What format is the poem written in?

Answer 9

A conversational format, it is written how the male speaks to the woman

Question 10

How has rhyming been used?

Answer 10

Rhyming has been used to express the way the speaker is trying to seduce the woman by the end of the poem

Question 11

What does the use of rhetorical questions do to the reader?

Answer 11

It engages the reader as your intrigued as to what the speakers next argument will be, and ultimately the woman’s response

Question 12

How is the woman presented in the poem?

Answer 12

Through imagery, she is still a dominant figure however even though she does not speak

Question 13

What fashion has the poem been written in?

Answer 13

A lyrical fashion

Question 14

What happens to the final three lines of the stanza?

Answer 14

They are a tercet

Question 15

Why is the rhyming appealing to the audience for this specific poem?

Answer 15

As it seems to be a love poem, as he is seducing the woman, i.e. could be regarded as a song, but also because rhyming gives the poem passion for the woman

Question 16

“Marke but this flea…”

Answer 16

Shows how the flea is a symbol, a reflection, of what the speaker is asking of his lady

Question 17

What is the speaker emphasising to the woman in the first stanza of the poem?

Answer 17

He is emphasising how he and his lover are one in the flea, but not physically one, only sex can make this possible and build up the bond of their relationship

Question 18

“A sinne, nor shame…”

Answer 18

Is an example of the persuasive/manipulative language the speaker is using to try and get her to have sex with him

Question 19

What is the speakers intention when he says ‘A sinne, nor shame’?

Answer 19

He is trying to tell her that there is nothing morally wrong with what they would be doing and for her not to be ashamed of it as God will grant it

Question 20

“How little that which thou deny’st me…”

Answer 20

He is asking his lady for sex, after her refusal he uses imagery of the flea to reflect how small sex actually is, it is simply in his eyes, a physical bond between a man and woman to seal their love

Question 21

What is the speakers intention throughout the poem?

Answer 21

To persuade the woman to have sex with him even though she has denied him that right

Question 22

What feelings does the speaker have towards the flea?

Answer 22

There could be slight feelings of both jealousy and resentment as the flea has had what he desires and took it without going through everything he has

Question 23

“And pamper’d swells with one blood…”

Answer 23

Phallic symbolism, he has used sexual imagery as a way of representing the lustful feelings he has towards the woman and what he desires from her as a result

Question 24

“Thou know’st that this cannot be said…”

Answer 24

Shows how they have no control over the flea and therefore shouldn’t have control over their true desires, i.e. linking to ‘if you loved me you would do it’

Question 25

“It suck’d me first, and now sucks thee…”

Answer 25

Ultimately by stating the joining of their blood within this flea he is also saying they might as well finish off what the flea has left undone

Question 26

“And this, alas, is more than wee would doe…”

Answer 26

This suggest his final opening argument as he is saying they are identical to the flea and should just have sex to fix their problems

Question 27

“Killing three”

Answer 27

A religious connotation of the Holy Trinity - the father, the son and the Holy Spirit

Question 28

Does the woman fall for the speaker’s tactics?

Answer 28

She isn’t having any of his attempts and threatens to kill the flea so he no longer has an argument to make

Question 29

What does the woman killing the flea suggest?

Answer 29

How easy it is for them to destroy the relationship by having sex outside of marriage, God will punish them for what they have done

Question 30

“Three sinnes in killing three…”

Answer 30

This shows how the woman would not only be killing one life, the flea’s, but also how she is killing herself and him as their lives and love has been mingled within this flea

Question 31

What is a key point to the speaker’s arguments?

Answer 31

Religious values, this is especially true when he tries to stop her from killing the flea although ultimately he is contradicting his own arguments

Question 32

“Three lives in one flea spare…”

Answer 32

Suggests their lives and the fleas would be a waste if they did not finish the deed as sex is a gift from God and should be respected as such