What are the main characteristics of metaphysical poetry in John Donne's "The Flea"?
Metaphysical poetry contains a metaphysical conceit. It compares two things so unalike that it takes a explanation to see the connection. With "The Flea," the comparison is between the speaker's love for the young lady and a common flea. At first glance, there is nothing romantic in it, but on closer inspection the comparison is more understandable. In stanza one, the speaker says that the flea has bitten both himself and his would-be lover. Their blood is already mixed within his body--so she can't say that it is a sin to mix their blood the normal way since the flea is already enjoying what the two people might and the flea didn't have to woo her first. Stanza two, we understand that the young lady has indicated she'd kill the flea then and be done with this saucy talk. The speaker begs for the the flea's life since, in killing it, she would kill not only their love, but the "unborn child" within the "walls of jet"--the flea. Kill me, he says, but don't add killing yourself and our "baby" to that list. In Stanza three, we come to understand that she does kill it. The speaker calls her action "cruel and sudden" since the flea was not guilty of anything; it was innocent except for the act of sucking the blood of both people. He comes back to the question of their intimacy by saying that nothing has happened with the death of the flea, so what harm could come from shared tenderness behind closed doors?
What's a good thesis statement for John Donne's poem 'The Flea'?
In order to construct a thesis statement for an essay analyzing this poem, you must first brainstorm and pre-write ideas for what you are going to write about. Remember, a thesis statement is one or two sentences giving the overall purpose of your paper. Until you decide what your purpose is, you cannot create a thesis.
That said, consider a few things that will help you begin. First, a poetry analysis should not simply be a summary of the poem. Consider that the general idea behind this poem is a man who is trying to persuade a woman to make love to him. The poem is a conversation but there is only one speaker. The man is creating the argument on both sides. It is a subtly witty poem; the humor is very tongue in cheek (meaning, ironic and not meant to be taken literally).
Keeping the purpose and message of the poem in mind, you should brainstorm and analyze which poetic techniques the author makes use of in order to portray this message. Some ideas to consider are: structure (stanzas, lines, rhyme scheme, rhythm), diction or figures of speech, tone and irony, and point of view. If this is a 5 paragraph essay, you need only analyze 3 major techniques.
Once you have taken the time to pre-write for this essay, your thesis statement will be comprised of the overall purpose of your essay (what you seek to prove) and the three avenues through which you plan to prove it (the poetic elements you choose to analyze).
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