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The Flea analysis - Coggle Diagram
The Flea analysis
"It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;"
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' Thou know'st that this cannot be said / A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead'
Use of enjambment: This line implies a flaw in the rigid structure. It shows that what Donne is saying is in fact false and therefore flaws his argument the first reference to religion being a link to 'sin' refers directly to what the speaker is wanting to do as sinful.
l. As well as this the use of this is extremely ironic as due to Donne's connections to the church we see him denying something that was extremely reinforced in religious beliefs
Here we see repetition of this negative expression as even though he is basically lying to the woman he can't say a positive thing about what he wants as in the end it's unlikely he will marry her.
' Yet this enjoys before it woo, / And pampered swells with one blood made of two'
This gives a bitter tone with the speaker displaying an anger as the flea can enjoy before it has gone through the long process of a courtship which would have been expected at the time.
"swells" is a metaphor for erection the use of graphic /phallic imagery highlights the speakers intention are not pure
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'Cruel and sudden, hast thou since / Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence?'
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purple is associated with royalty so this contradicts the nasty flea it reflects the speaker's argument 'a hyperbole' of the idea of the flea being a minor thing vs sex before marriage a big taboo in the Elizabethan Era
' 'Tis true; then learn how false, fears be; / Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me, / Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee'
There is the use of alteration of 'f' sounds to extend his argument it gives a contrast between "false" where it reflects on Donne's contradictory statements and fears which reflects on religion as it was highly prioritised to by a devout christian
the speaker tries to assert power over the woman through this statement as he is expecting her to simply give in to him, there is a sense of finality in his argument due to the death of the flea where if she looses her virginity to him she will regain that honour she have lost.
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"Let not to that, self murder added be,/ and sacrilege, three sins in killing three
The use of hyperbole emphasis Donne's manipulation he refers to the holy trinity which have religious connotations this is meant to be unbreakable the speaker is using it to unionise them it would be a sin to kill the flea