John Donne - The Flea Flashcards
What is the main message of the poem?
No one would consider it a sin or shameful for their bodily fluids to mix inside a bug, so why don’t they just swap fluids in bed?
What is Donne’s comeback to when the woman squashes the flea?
The fact that she hasn’t suffered from the death of the flea in which their bloods were mixed means that “swapping fluids” isn’t so dangerous to her honour as she thinks.
What does the second line, ‘How little that which thou deniest me is’, suggest?
The smallness of the flea relates to the insignificance or triviality of the thing she has denied him.
What does “Maidenhead” refer to?
Virginity or chastity. Even if the woman is not technically a virgin, being promiscuous with the speaker could lead to a loss of her reputation as a “proper” maiden.
What are the ‘three sins in killing three’?
- Murder - because his blood is in the flea.
- Suicide because hers is, too
- Sacrilege because, according to the logic of the speaker, they are married the flea.
What is a typical metaphysical aspect of this poem?
It contains wild shifts in the imaginative setting of the poem even as the literal setting stays in one place.
How does the speaker convey his speech?
In simple and seductive rhymes - turns tricky arguments into songs - Like the snake that tempts Eve in the Garden of Eden, the devil employs sibilance (“deniest,” “suck’d,” “first,” “sucks,” “know’st,” “sin,” “shame.”)
What are the caesuras used for?
To allow more time for the seeds of doubt and temptation to slip into the woman’s mind.
How does the flea contrast to modern opinions of marriage and sex?
Te speaker treats sex as if it would fulfil a religious purpose within the sacrament of marriage. Modern age sex and religion = opposed, in Donne’s poetry they have a natural and familiar relation with each other.
What is the metaphysical conceit of the poem?
The mixing of blood in the flea is somehow similar to the consecration of a marriage through sex.
How does the flea compare to ‘to his coy mistress’?
Both poems urge the ladies in question to quit fussing around and get down to the business of loving.
