In “The Flea,” the speaker tries to seduce his mistress with a surprising (and potentially gross) extended metaphor: both he and she have been bitten by the same flea, meaning their separate blood now mingles inside the flea’s body. Having sex is no different, the speaker argues, and no more dishonorable.
What is the flea a metaphor for?
‘The Flea’ is a 17th-century English poem by John Donne and uses a flea as a metaphor to explore the sexual union between a man and a woman. The speaker in the poem shows a flea to a young lady that has apparently bitten both of them.
What does the flea symbolize in the poem?
The flea represents this union because it contains the blood of both of them. He even tries to accuse the woman of attempting not one but three mortal sins when she raises her hand to crush the little bugger. Line 4: “Blood” is used both literally and figuratively throughout the poem, which makes it a kind of pun.
What literary devices are used in the flea?
John Donne employs rhyme, alliteration, and religious parallels in his poem ”The Flea. ” The lines of the poem adhere to an aabbccddd rhyme scheme. Thus, every two lines rhyme until the final three lines of each stanza, which rhyme as well.
What is being compared in the flea?
He is making a comparison between the mixing of “blood” – or other fluids – in the sex act with the mingling of the blood inside the flea.
What type of poem is the flea?
“The Flea” is an erotic metaphysical poem (first published posthumously in 1633) by John Donne (1572–1631).
Is hopping about like a flea a metaphor?
A – Since the phrase ““hopping about like a flea” is not often used to describe some jumping around at random (and the word “like” is used), this expression is a simile). 4.
What is fleas also known as?
Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds.
Is the flea a satire?
‘The Flea’ is a satirical love poem by medieval poet John Donne. In the poem, the speaker uses the flea as an example in attempts to persuade his lover into having intercourse with him.
What is the religious imagery in the flea?
The flea becomes a sacred object because it seems to fulfill the lovers’ own personal “Holy Trinity.” Instead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three distinct entities that simultaneously exist as one, Donne’s trinity in “The Flea” is the two lovers and the flea united.
How is the flea theoretically a marriage bed?
The flea contains the essence of both people, and their blood meets like two newlyweds in their wedding bed. The speaker pushes the religious envelope further by describing the flea’s body as a “temple” in which their marriage is consecrated.
What literary devices does Virginia Woolf use?
Virginia Woolf was one of the most distinctive writers of the English Literature using the stream of consciousness technique masterfully. The stream of consciousness technique is one of the most challenging narrative techniques in writing.
What literary devices does Hughes use?
Within two stanzas Hughes uses literally devices such as similes, metaphors, imagery and personification to convey the importance of his point.
Is the flea a conceit?
“The Flea” is a perfect example of a metaphysical conceit. The entire poem itself uses a flea bite as a way to talk a lover into a sexual relationship. Donne uses creative and complex analogies to compare their sexual union to the bite of a flea.
What is the relationship between flea and cat?
Fleas are the most common external parasite of cats and dogs. They are tiny, dark brown, wingless, blood sucking insects. They are a major nuisance to our pets and vectors of disease. There are over 2000 different species of fleas, the peskiest of which is (Ctenocephalides felis) the cat flea.
What relationship exists between the flea and the dog?
Complete answer:
Out of these, fleas and dogs share a parasitic kind of symbiosis. In this kind of relationship, one organism (in this case, fleas) lives on another (dogs) organism also called host organism, as a parasite. They keep extracting nutrients from the host body that benefits them but weakens the host body.
Is a flea the same as a fly?
Fleas and flies are organisms that are both categorized in the scientific phylum Anthropoda, class Insecta. Also, fleas and flies are known to be carriers of disease to other animals and humans. However in spite of some similarities, fleas and flies are distinctly different creatures with varied traits and habits.
What metaphor does Langston Hughes use?
The first metaphor is: “Life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” Here Hughes compares a frustrating life without dreams to a “broken-winged bird.” When Hughes makes this comparison, I picture a bird’s broken wing who can’t fly but tries his or her hardest.
What are the two metaphors in dreams by Langston Hughes?
“Dreams” revolves around two major metaphors. The speaker compares life after the loss of dreams to “a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly” and “a barren field / Frozen with snow.” The first metaphor is bleak and the second even more so.
What is metaphor by Sylvia Plath about?
“Metaphors” is a poem about the weirdness and wonder of being pregnant. The speaker uses a series of inventive metaphors to describe her changing body, which has become huge and unwieldy.
What are 3 metaphors examples?
Common metaphor examples
- Life is a highway.
- Her eyes were diamonds.
- He is a shining star.
- The snow is a white blanket.
- She is an early bird.