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Essay Comparing The Flea And To His Coy Mistress

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Comparison
The poem “The Flea” written by John Donne and the poem “To His Coy Mistress” written by Andrew Marvell, are both poems written during the Renaissance. These poems revolve around the idea of the speaker taking away a certain woman’s virginity. Both poems approach convincing these women in the same way, but it’s Marvell that writes a more persuasive one. This was accomplished by using metaphors and meter.
"The Flea" is about a man who uses a flea to get the woman he wants to give him her virginity. It starts off with a flea, it bites both the woman and the man. Nevertheless, blood from both the people is now inside this flea. He claims that it isn’t shameful anymore because their fluids have already mixed once, so they can do it again. She obviously tries to kill the flea, who wouldn’t, but he stops her. He says the flea is a symbol for the joining of their blood, as in marriage. Long story short, she kills the flea. This was her attempt to call him out …show more content…

Both of the men offer sex to their women. After they both get rejected, who would have guessed that, each man begins to pour his heart out as to why she should say yes. For Marvell, the argument was that she couldn’t say no because there was not time for her to say anything but yes. If they had more time, her coyness wouldn’t be a crime and she could say no. Donne’s argument has to do with a flea. Who claims that since their blood has mingled inside the flea, they are married. Which is an attempt to persuade her into giving him her virginity, because it’s no longer sinful.
The two poems use insects as graphic imagery. “The Flea” describes her virginity as loss of maidenhead. Donne uses a flea throughout the poem. It draws a comparison between being joined in marriage to their blood being in a flea. “Coy” describes her virginity as long and preserved. The poem includes worms which will get in her body when she's

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