Sexuality in John Donnes The Flea Essay -- essays research papers

A Reading of John Donnes The FleaIt is common to ascribe to Donne the status of archetypal logical poet- a human whose works are tightly crafted, confident, and certain in their application of metaphor and analogy. True enough, Donnes poem seems to suggest a certain self-security we see a tight, predictable rhyme scheme, and an ordered structure. There is also arguably a wealth of rhetorical resources - Donne does not shy away from using the lexis of the military ( exultst), the medical (two bloodsmingled) or even the religious (cloysterd, sacrilege). Such a feature that might be read as hinting at Donnes essential confidence in his ability to create a unified philosophy, to adapt a wide range of discourses, to demonstrate poetic craft. However, I demand to suggest that the relations of power and position of sexuality in this small poem are a great deal less certain than such an interpretation might suggest.At the very least, Donne is not simply providing a stylised, easy conclus ion but is engaging in a real rhetorical struggle. He chooses to employ exuberant, self-conscious metaphors that often contradict themselves. The conclusion of his poem, Just so much honor, when thou yeeldst to mee, Will wast, as this fleas dying tooke life from theesimultaneously insists on the identification of the flea with the sexual union (i.e. it may be compared to yielding) and on the impossibility of doing so (referring to the mistress counter-argument, where the fleas death cannot be equated to the death of man and wife). That is, one might translate the meaning of the climax as this fleas death did not kill you, and therefore the flea cannot be identified with us, barely this flea rep... ...e taken by this fleas death. It is noticeable how this triumph actually fits rather neatly into Donnes rhyme, and more importantly how his choice of pronouns (thouthyselfmee) alerts us to this line being Donnes rendering of her speech- his pronouns reflect his own perspective. As indirect speech, the feminine voice is interpreted, defined and staged through the poets fundamentally masculine perspective.This male-ordained self-castration makes the supposedly easy task of assigning gender roles in The Flea a far more complex matter. Donnes poem hints not at stable patriarchy, but an early modern society questioning and playing with concepts of gender and associated forms of power. There is a straddling of public and private spheres here, yet also a failure to achieve secure identity in either. The Flea points towards a symbolic order in a state of flux.