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  • Essay / Gender Roles in John Donne's "The Flea"

    In the majority of John Donne's poetry, it is easy to characterize Donne as a domineering speaker, who frequently dominates the female voice. Yet in “The Flea,” Donne complicates the prototypical gender roles seen in much early modern love poetry. Throughout the poem, the poet uses symbolism and unspoken dialogue to imply a complicated and conflicted relationship with the recipient of the poem. Instead of insisting on a stable patriarchy, Donne uses these devices to destabilize hierarchical systems of power associated with gender. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Featuring classic elements of metaphysical poetry, Donne uses the most unlikely images to symbolize romance. In this poem, it is the flea itself that the speaker uses to try to persuade his lover to have premarital sex. By using the bullet as a symbolic framing element, Donne is able to set up a unique banter between the speaker and his addressee. For the speaker, their blood “mixed” in the flea's body is equivalent to the exchange of bodily fluids during sexual intercourse (4). But his addressee obviously does not agree, having “refused” him what the flea symbolically enjoys (2). Unlike many love poems where the male figure dominates, the flea symbolizes the mutual union of love and the role of the woman in seduction. The opening stanza provides a compelling example of the previously mentioned blurred gender lines: the male seducer identifies with the seduced woman through the insects' mutual sucking ("First he sucked me, and now he sucks you" ; line 3). In a sense, Donne introduces the innovative idea that romance is mutual and sacred, rather than solely for the man's sexual pleasure. While an overall look at the poem may lead readers to believe that the speaker is a misogynistic character concerned only with his own sexual gratification, a closer look at the speaker's persuasive monologue suggests a progressive view of women. “The Flea” depicts an interaction between two equally intelligent people playfully challenging each other. Although the woman in the poem is entirely silent, it is ironically her unspoken voice that controls the poem. By even suggesting the woman's ability to engage in a witty argument, Donne subtly compliments female intelligence. Not only does she have the ability to understand his proposal, but also to respond and participate in the jokes. Furthermore, the woman is presented as concerned with preserving her honor, or her “virginity,” instead of succumbing to the man's entreaties (6). The opening lines "Mark this chip, and mark this, / How little is what you refuse me" immediately establishes a woman's right to refuse a man's sexual desires (1-2). The final lines regarding “a sin, or a shame, or a loss of virginity” indicate the woman's desire to remain pure and virtuous – positive attributes in the eyes of early modern society (6). By presenting the recipient of the poem as morally excellent, Donne reveals the barbaric and overtly sexualized ideals that men possess. Likewise, Donne emphasizes a woman's power to deny a man sex. Although the male speaker presents a somewhat convincing argument, it is ultimately the woman who controls the outcome. In line 19, the recipient of the poem has become “cruel and sudden” and she kills the flea decisively. By “purple[ing] her fingernail in the blood of innocence,” the woman not only kills..