The flea - donne Flashcards
How is religious imagery used in the second stanza?
Religious and theological imagery downplays the importance of virginity and subverts the sacred union of marriage, presenting a blasphemous union with the flea in contrast with the typical idea of marriage being a union with god. this is therefore a shocking conceit, typical of the metaphysical poets
What does the phrase ‘a sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead’ suggest?
It attempts to diminish the concepts of honour and shame associated with virginity.
What is the significance of ‘three lives in one flea spare’?
repetition of the holy trinity - outlandish, but also allows him to naturalise his ideas so that they seem plausible
How does the poem’s argument relate to the concept of marriage?
‘Our marriage bed, and marriage temple be’ the analogies grow progressively more sacred as the poem progresses. the poem’s argument is based on the renaissance belief that during sex the blood of the couple mingled - the union of blood acting as a marriage. here, religious imagery is a tool for seduction and manipulation
What is the structure of the poem?
3 stanzas with 3 rhyming couplets - Donne focuses on the union of 3 and the regularity of the rhyme scheme seems to convey the reasonableness of the speaker’s argument as does the calm/plodding tone.
What is the effect of mixed metre in the poem?
The use of mixed metre (iambic pentameter and tetrameter) mirrors the gulf between heavy themes and the speaker’s playful argument.
What does ‘purpled thy nail in blood of innocence’ imply?
blood is purple. this blood of innocence is oxymoronic - spilling blood was actually a sin. It also signals a turning point in the poem - in the last stanza, he argued that it is murder to kill, alluding to how they wild be innocent if they had sex.
