The Flea John Donne Analysis

The poem “The Flea” by John Donne takes a very in-depth look at the lives of two characters that appear to resemble the infamous tale of Romeo and Juliet. Overall, in the poem the flea represents a metaphor for the unity between two beings, the child they create, and the lack of innocence and guilt that the two are left with. Each stanza has the ability to set a different mood due to what the flea is representing in that moment. Throughout the poem, the flea is able to represent many things. During the first stanza, the flea represents the unity between two people. The line “How little that which thou deniest me” (2) symbolizes a young man being denied of sex from a young girl. A metaphor is used with “A sin, nor shame, nor lose of maidenhead;
/Yet this joy before it woo.” (6 - 7). This metaphor represents the man attempting to convince the woman to have sex with him, telling her that it would not be a sin or shameful if they were to engage in an act that is traditionally seen as bad thing during the time period in which the poem takes place. “And pamper’d swells with the one blood made of two” (8) insinuates that after convincing the woman to sleep with him, their blood being merged is actually a child that the two conceive. Donne uses lots of imagery to illustrate the guilt that is held over the couples’ heads after they conceive the child.
“O stay, three lives in one flea spare” (10) re-illustrates that there are now three lives that have to be taken in to consideration. “This flea is you and I, and this our marriage temple is” (12 - 13) shows that now that they are faced with her pregnancy. They have to no choice but to get married, although it is very obvious that their parents are less than impressed with the situation their children have gotten themselves in. This is shown with the line, “Though parents grudge, and you, we’re met…” (14). This line also shows that even though their parents held a grudge, they still went through with having the baby and continuing their relationship. As stated earlier this is directly linked to Romeo and Juliet, since their parents didn‘t agree to their relationship as well. In a time when sex before marriage was forbidden and their parents had to pick their partner, they still had the desire to be together. In this poem, however, they do more than just be together, which pulls them away from Romeo and Juliet slightly. “Though use make you apt to kill me, / Let not that self-murder added be, / And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.” (15 - 17) shows that since they are upset with their children’s’ choices and are filled with embarrassment, they want to kill the children; however there is no longer just three of them. If they were to kill them, they
would have to live with the sins of not killing two, but three people, one being a helpless child. In the third and final stanza of the poem, Donne speaks of how the children are left with no innocence and lots of guilt. “Cruel and sudden” (18) re-emphasizes how unexpected the whole situation was. The final line of the poem “Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee” (26) comments on how the outcome and consequences weren’t worth having sex. Furthermore, it emphasizes how the flea took life from what they did, and they were left to pay the price. In conclusion, the entire poem is one big metaphor. The flea is able to represent a different thing in each stanza. It is able to represent the unity between two people, the baby they recreate after performing a forbidden deed, and lastly the guilt and lack of innocence they are left with after following through with the deed.