LONG ESSAY on The Flea- analysis

[Caesara Gill]

John Donne’s “The Flea” is a seduction poem in which the author
presents the title insect to his lover as a symbol of the potential
consummation of their relationship. The poem is organized into three
stanzas of nine lines each. Each of these stanzas deals with a
different aspect of Donne’s argument. Donne uses metaphors, images,
and general persuasion to try to bend his lover’s thoughts to his way
of thinking. In the end, Donne presents a convincing argument through
his use of logic and his use of the flea as a metaphor for he and his
lover’s relationship.
From the very beginning of the poem, it is obvious that Donne is
speaking to someone with the words “Mark but this flea” (l. 1). The
opening line presents the image of Donne holding a flea before
someone’s eyes and saying, “Take note of this.” With the word “but,”
he seems to discount the worthiness of the flea. Continuing on, he
mentions, “mark in this,” (l.1) which draws the reader’s attention
from the body of the flea to the interior of the flea. Donne
introduces the idea that the person to whom the poem is directed
“deniest” (l. 2) him. At this point, it becomes obvious that this
person is his lover and that this is a seduction poem. The inside of
the flea contains the woman’s blood, and this is what Donne is
referring to when he writes “how little that which thou deniest me
is” (l. 2). His lover is denying him blood. More specifically, his
lover is denying him of the blood that would be produced upon having
sex with her since she is a virgin. By diminishing the importance of
the flea, and then the blood inside the flea, Donne also diminishes
the importance of his lover’s virginity.
After reducing the significance of the lover’s virginity, Donne moves
on to images of combined blood. The flea has “sucked”(l. 3) blood from
both he and his lover so that their “two bloods mingled be” (l. 4).
The word “sucked” has a sensual connotation. The mingling of the two
bloods calls to mind the exchange of bodily fluids, whether blood or
otherwise, that occurs during sex. Blood is also intimately connected
to the body, so the mixing of the blood parallels the intertwining of
two bodies joined in sex. This is even more apparent when Donne
introduces his metaphors in the second stanza, which will be covered
in a few paragraphs.
Donne next argues that the mingling of the blood within the flea
cannot be considered “a sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhead” (l. 6).
These are all ways in which sex with him would be viewed. Most
religions consider premarital sex a sin and society shames those that
are known to have participated in that act. Premarital sex is
equivalent to the “loss of maidenhead” since “maidenhead” is an
archaic word for the hymen. The word “or” is problematic. It implies
that the tryst that Donne is suggesting would be considered one of
those three possibilities, instead of being all three at the same
time, as it is commonly viewed. In fact, is would be impossible for
one of the other two choices to occur without the “loss of
maidenhead.” Donne seems to be supplementing his argument by making
the consequences of sex with him appear less severe.
Donne also presents the point that the flea is enjoying his lover’s
blood “before it woo” (l. 7). He has been trying to unsuccessfully woo
his lover to gain her blood, and the flea has managed to obtain that
blood without any effort on its part. It is as if he is asking why the
flea can partake of the sweetness of his lover while he cannot. Since
the flea receives this prize with no effort, it is therefore
“pampered” (l. 8). Donne says that the flea “swells” (l. 8) with their
mingled blood. As mentioned in a footnote, this swelling calls to mind
the idea of pregnancy, a natural result of sex and the loss of
maidenhood. The word “swells” also suggests sexual excitement and the
swelling that accompanies it.
The mixing of blood within the flea and the swelling that it enjoys
are “alas, more than we would do” (l. 9). Donne ends the first section
of the poem with a cry of regret. “Alas” shows his true dismay at
knowing that he cannot enjoy the same privilege as the flea, and that
he and his lover cannot consummate their relationship.
In the second stanza Donne introduces two principal metaphors. First,
when he writes, “three lives in one flea spare,” (l. 10) he is saying
that the fluid inside the flea is not just blood, but also he and his
lover. Their lives are contained within the flea. The flea is the
first life, and they are the additional two. By using the word “spare”
to describe the flea, Donne once again diminishes its importance.
However, Donne also says, “This flea is you and I” (l. 12). By first
making the flea appear unimportant and then suggesting that the flea
is both he and his lover, the logical conclusion is that he and his
lover are unimportant. This seems a bit odd at first, but it plays
into the idea Donne is trying to make his lover decrease the value she
places on her virginity. One of his methods of making virginity seem
less crucial is to make each body seem less so. If a body is not the
object of importance it is usually made to be, then any one part of
that body is not worth protecting as assiduously as the lover is
protecting her “maidenhead.”
Donne’s second metaphor of this stanza compares the flea to a
“marriage bed and marriage temple” (l. 13). This emphasizes the
intimate nature of the mingling of blood presented earlier. The flea
is a place where the two lovers can have a marital relationship. In
fact, they “more than married are” (l. 11). Marriage is the
traditional relationship that is required before “proper” people are
allowed to have sex. So Donne is suggesting that the mingling of their
blood is akin to marriage. The conclusion that he would like is lover
to come to lies along the lines of: if they can be as good as married
in the body of a flea, why can they not have that same relationship
and all the physical aspects that go along with it in the real world.
Donne presents the idea of social conventions when he says that
“parents grudge, and you” (l. 14). The parents are representative of
the society that says that premarital sex is a sin. With the placement
of the comma, “and you” seems to be almost an afterthought. It is as
if Donne does not want to concede at first that his lover is every bit
as involved in the resistance against his advances as the conventions
of society. This makes it apparent that not only does the outside
world condemn their potential act of love, but his lover believes in
these social and cultural conventions. However he emphasizes that “we
are met” (l. 14) which outlines the fact that regardless of what
everyone else thinks, their blood is still combined in the flea. In
fact, the world does not even realize that their blood is mixing at
that very moment. The possible conclusion is that perhaps the world
would never realize it if their blood mixed in the act of sex.
In the final tercet of the second stanza, Donne returns to the image
of the blood within the flea as an embodiment of he and his lover. He
compares the killing of the flea to murder. It would be “three sins in
killing three” (l. 18) since he and his lover would be killed within
the flea if she were to follow her natural tendency to dispose of the
insect. He even states that the act of killing the flea would be
“sacrilege” (l. 18). This is a term that is generally applied to acts
that go against religion. If the lover denies the fact that their
blood, and therefore their lives, are contained within the flea, it is
similar to committing an irreligious act. This would seem to make the
reverse, to acknowledge their closeness within the flea, compatible
with religion. To acknowledge this closeness is also to acknowledge
that it is allowable, which could lead to the conclusion that Donne
wishes his lover to arrive at: she should give in to his desires
because there is nothing wrong with the intimate mingling of two
people.
As the final stanza begins, Donne’s lover kills the flea and
“purple(s) her nail in blood of innocence” (l. 20). By saying that the
blood is innocent, Donne could intend the reader to infer two things.
First of all, the line states that even though the blood of the two
lovers is mixed in an intimate relationship, it has still maintained
its innocence. An alternate reading of the phrase introduces the idea
that the lover has shown little regard for the innocence of the flea.
So if she has such little regard for innocence, why should she
safeguard her own innocence so diligently? Either interpretation
strengthens his argument.
Donne writes, “Wherein could this flea guilty be, / Except in that
drop which it sucked from thee?” (ll. 21-22). This is another
statement that emphasizes the previously mentioned innocence of the
flea. The use of the word “suck” once again introduces a sensual
image. The previous stanza lacks the more explicit references to sex
that appeared in the first stanza, perhaps because Donne wishes to
focus the reader’s attention on the idea of marriage, rather than the
physical act of sex. Finally, Donne turns his lover’s own actions
against her. He points out that she does not find “thy self nor me the
weaker now” (l. 24) after killing the flea. This returns to Donne’s
previous metaphor comparing the blood inside the flea to their actual
living bodies. Since the death of the flea results in no change in
their status, then the blood that the flea took from them is not
important. Once again, Donne diminishes the importance of the flea to
compliment his argument.
This argument culminates in the final tercet of the poem. Donne says
that his lover has had “false fears” (l. 25). In those two words, he
seems to dismiss her trepidation about sex. While earlier, he mentions
the societal conventions that prevent his lover from having sex, the
word “fears” seems to place more of the responsibility on the lover,
rather than those around her. She has a personal fear of giving in to
him and the consequences of sex, regardless of whether her “parents
grudge” (l. 14). Donne’s focus in his final argument, then, is on
convincing his lover that nothing bad will happen to her if she has
sex with him.
To achieve this end, Donne finishes the poem by writing, “Just so much
honor, when thou yield’st to me, / Will waste, as this flea’s death
took life from thee” (ll. 26-27). The moment she yields to him will be
the moment when she decides to have sex with him. The idea of wasting
honor recalls his lover’s fears. She is afraid of what everyone will
say about her if they find out, and how much she will be degraded by
the act of sex. The word “waste” implies that she is afraid of
throwing away her honor without regard for these concerns. Donne,
however, feels that her hesitancy is foolish because losing her
virginity will have every bit as much effect as the destruction of
their blood within the flea had on her. In other words, it will have
no effect at all. Donne brings his argument full circle by not only
finding arguments from the flea in its living incarnation, but also in
its death.