The Flea

• A04:

  Metaphysical conceit poem

  Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDDD

  Carpe Diem themes

  Seduction poem in which the speaker tries to convince a women to sleep with him, using grotesque imagery of a flea sucking from both their blood to persuade her
• A03:

  - poem is arguably based on the Renaissance belief that during sex the blood of two partners are mingled

  - arguably not a love poem but it deals with themes of seduction and sex aligned with love
• Quote 1:

  'mark but this flea...How little that which thou deny'st me
• A02:

  Monosyllabic first line- imperative tone speaker commanding the subject - euphemistic compares the flea to sex(diminishes the significance of the loss of virginity)

  'deny'st me' -speaker prioritises his needs over the subject's
• Quote 2: (pepper)

  'and pampered swells with one blood made of two
• A02:

  possible grotesque imagery double entrendre sexual undertones pervade the poem
• Quote 3:

  'and sacrilege, three sins in killing three
• A02:

  Suicide- mortal sin

  Allusion to the Holy Trinity

  Speaker uses a satirical hyperbole 'it would be a triple homicide' - alluding to the Renaissance idea that blood was mingled during intercourse

  Speaker ironically contradicts himself with the sacrilegious idea of suicide as a mortal sin but overlooks his lustful carnal desire of intercourse outside of marriage
• A03:

  antiquated patriarchal view of women being obliged to do what a man desires

  women reduced to being objects of desire for men
• A05:

  Wheeler - 'a metaphor suggesting that she mistreats him by denying him her love and refusing to sleep with him
• While the exact date of writing is not certain, it is probable that 'The Flea was written in the 1590s, a time when love poetry - and sonnets in particular - were extremely popular. The newfound popularity of love poetry can be perhaps attributed to the uncommon peacefulness of the age. This peacefulness would have allowed people to turn inwards and attend to their hearts after decades of political turmoil. While 'The Flea' is not a love poem, it deals with themes aligned with love: seduction and sex. It could also be argued that Donne is satirising
• A03

  The Flea was written under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I, often known as the "Virgin Queen'.

  Elizabeth had supposedly vowed herself to a life of perpetual chastity, and was commonly considered to have wed herself to the state. Elizabeth's virginity was linked to England's political stability; her celibacy was "converted into a powerful propagandistic claim that she sacrificed personal interests in the name of public interest" (John King). At the same time, her occupation of the highest role in England as an unmarried woman created great anxiety in a strongly patriarchal