"The
Flea": John Donne
"The
Flea" written by John Donne describes how the speaker, a man is trying to
persuade the woman mentioned throughout the poem to have sex with him, he
compares his desire to that of a flea taking some of her blood without any
resistance from her "it suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, and in this
flea our two bloods mingled be" (lines 3-4). Throughout the entire poem he
is trying to persuade her that it is not sinful or disastrous as she may fear.
This compares to Dracula in the way that both of these pieces revolve around
the theme of sexuality, and persuasion of some kind. In the novel
"Dracula", Dracula himself is a very sexual character and is trying
to persuade Lucky to be with him, just like the speaker is trying to get with
the woman in the poem. Also just like in "The Flea" both females
roles which are seen though the males argument, seem to be conflicted about the
good and the evil within what the males are asking of them.
Interesting thematic connection. If both "Dracula" and "The Flea" talk about getting with a woman they desire then is it possible that both authors maybe felt some strong relation to this concept? Not only does Stoker emphasize this feeling, but shows how the character's reacted and took action. How Stoker's writing illuminates these concepts is important, in this specific analysis what devices did either author use?
ReplyDeleteAside from the use of devices, thinking about comparing and contrasting the pieces, you say that both pieces have similar female roles. These roles, you say are conflicted with the “good and evil the men are asking of them” these good and evil ideas, specifically what ideas are they and what quote connects the two pieces together? I think this is a good observation, but there is so much more I would like to know about how the woman affected the male’s argument, if they did at all. What specifically does “The Flea” have to do with women? From my interpretation I believe that the woman is considered to be the victim of the flea, just as the woman was the victim of Dracula, both of these characters want a human, specifically a woman and they go after it, this determination and no fear, was it prevalent throughout both pieces entirely?
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