An Explication of "The Flea"
John Donne’s “The Flea” is a seduction poem in which the author presents the title
insect to his lover as a symbol of the potential consummation of their relationship.
The poem is organized into three stanzas of nine lines each. Each of these stanzas
deals with a different aspect of Donne’s argument. Donne uses metaphors, images,
and general persuasion to try to bend his lover’s thoughts to his way of thinking. In
the end, Donne presents a convincing argument through his use of logic and his use of
the flea as a metaphor for he and his lover’s relationship.
From the very beginning of the poem, it is obvious that Donne is speaking to
someone with the words “Mark but this flea” (l. 1). The opening line presents the
image of Donne holding a flea before someone’s eyes and saying, “Take note of
this.” With the word “but,” he seems to discount the worthiness of the flea.
Continuing on, he mentions, “mark in this,” (l.1) which draws the reader’s attention
from the body of the flea to the interior of the flea. Donne introduces the idea that the
person to whom the poem is directed “deniest” (l. 2) him. At this point, it becomes
obvious that this person is his lover and that this is a seduction poem. The inside of
the flea contains the woman’s blood, and this is what Donne is referring to when he
writes “how little that which thou deniest me is” (l. 2). His lover is denying him
blood. More specifically, his lover is denying him of the blood that would be
produced upon having with her since she is a virgin. By diminishing the importance
of the flea, and then the blood inside the flea, Donne also diminishes the importance
of his lover’s virginity.
After reducing the significance of the lover’s virginity, Donne moves on to images
of combined blood. The flea has “sucked”(l. 3) blood from both he and his lover so
that their “two bloods mingled be” (l. 4). The word “sucked” has a sensual
connotation. The mingling of the two bloods calls to mind the exchange of bodily
fluids, whether blood or otherwise, that occurs during sex. Blood is also intimately
connected to the body, so the mixing of the blood parallels the intertwining of two
bodies joined in sex. This is even more apparent when Donne introduces his
metaphors in the second stanza, which will be covered in a few paragraphs.
Donne next argues that the mingling of the blood within the flea cannot be
considered “a sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhead” (l. 6). These are all ways in
which sex with him would be viewed. Most religions consider premarital sex a sin
and society shames those that are known to have participated in that act. Premarital
sex is equivalent to the “loss of maidenhead” since “maidenhead” is an archaic word
for the hymen. The word “or” is problematic. It implies that the tryst that Donne is
suggesting would be considered one of those three possibilities, instead of being all
three at the same time, as it is commonly viewed. In fact, is would be impossible for
one of the other two choices to occur without the “loss of maidenhead.” Donne seems
to be supplementing his argument by making the consequences of sex with him
appear less severe.
Donne also presents the point that the flea is enjoying his lover’s blood “before it
woo” (l. 7). He has been trying to unsuccessfully woo his lover to gain her blood, and
the flea has managed to obtain that blood without any effort on its part. It is as if he is
asking why the flea can partake of the sweetness of his lover while he cannot. Since
the flea receives this prize with no effort, it is therefore “pampered” (l. 8). Donne
says that the flea “swells” (l. 8) with their mingled blood. As mentioned in a footnote,
this swelling calls to mind the idea of pregnancy, a natural result of sex and the loss of
maidenhood. The word “swells” also suggests sexual excitement and the swelling
that accompanies it.
The mixing of blood within the flea and the swelling that it enjoys are “alas, more
than we would do” (l. 9). Donne ends the first section of the poem with a cry of
regret. “Alas” shows his true dismay at knowing that he cannot enjoy the same
privilege as the flea, and that he and his lover cannot consummate their relationship.
In the second stanza Donne introduces two principal metaphors. First, when he
writes, “three lives in one flea spare,” (l. 10) he is saying that the fluid inside the flea
is not just blood, but also he and his lover. Their lives are contained within the flea.
The flea is the first life, and they are the additional two. By using the word “spare” to
describe the flea, Donne once again diminishes its importance. However, Donne also
says, “This flea is you and I” (l. 12). By first making the flea appear unimportant and
then suggesting that the flea is both he and his lover, the logical conclusion is that he
and his lover are unimportant. This seems a bit odd at first, but it plays into the idea
Donne is trying to make his lover decrease the value she places on her virginity. One
of his methods of making virginity seem less crucial is to make each body seem less
so. If a body is not the object of importance it is usually made to be, then any one part
of that body is not worth protecting as assiduously as the lover is protecting her
“maidenhead.”
Donne’s second metaphor of this stanza compares the flea to a “marriage bed and
marriage temple” (l. 13). This emphasizes the intimate nature of the mingling of
blood presented earlier. The flea is a place where the two lovers can have a marital
relationship. In fact, they “more than married are” (l. 11). Marriage is the traditional
relationship that is required before “proper” people are allowed to have sex. So
Donne is suggesting that the mingling of their blood is akin to marriage. The
conclusion that he would like is lover to come to lies along the lines of: if they can be
as good as married in the body of a flea, why can they not have that same relationship
and all the physical aspects that go along with it in the real world.
Donne presents the idea of social conventions when he says that “parents grudge,
and you” (l. 14). The parents are representative of the society that says that premarital
sex is a sin. With the placement of the comma, “and you” seems to be almost an
afterthought. It is as if Donne does not want to concede at first that his lover is every
bit as involved in the resistance against his advances as the conventions of society.
This makes it apparent that not only does the outside world condemn their potential
act of love, but his lover believes in these social and cultural conventions. However
he emphasizes that “we are met” (l. 14) which outlines the fact that regardless of what
everyone else thinks, their blood is still combined in the flea. In fact, the world does
not even realize that their blood is mixing at that very moment. The possible
conclusion is that perhaps the world would never realize it if their blood mixed in the
act of sex.
In the final tercet of the second stanza, Donne returns to the image of the blood
within the flea as an embodiment of he and his lover. He compares the killing of the
flea to murder. It would be “three sins in killing three” (l. 18) since he and his lover
would be killed within the flea if she were to follow her natural tendency to dispose of
the insect. He even states that the act of killing the flea would be “sacrilege” (l. 18).
This is a term that is generally applied to acts that go against religion. If the lover
denies the fact that their blood, and therefore their lives, are contained within the flea,
it is similar to committing an irreligious act. This would seem to make the reverse, to
acknowledge their closeness within the flea, compatible with religion. To
acknowledge this closeness is also to acknowledge that it is allowable, which could
lead to the conclusion that Donne wishes his lover to arrive at: she should give in to
his desires because there is nothing wrong with the intimate mingling of two people.
As the final stanza begins, Donne’s lover kills the flea and “purple(s) her nail in
blood of innocence” (l. 20). By saying that the blood is innocent, Donne could intend
the reader to infer two things. First of all, the line states that even though the blood of
the two lovers is mixed in an intimate relationship, it has still maintained its
innocence. An alternate reading of the phrase introduces the idea that the lover has
shown little regard for the innocence of the flea. So if she has such little regard for
innocence, why should she safeguard her own innocence so diligently? Either
interpretation strengthens his argument.
Donne writes, “Wherein could this flea guilty be, / Except in that drop which it
sucked from thee?” (ll. 21-22). This is another statement that emphasizes the
previously mentioned innocence of the flea. The use of the word “suck” once again
introduces a sensual image. The previous stanza lacks the more explicit references to
sex that appeared in the first stanza, perhaps because Donne wishes to focus the
reader’s attention on the idea of marriage, rather than the physical act of sex. Finally,
Donne turns his lover’s own actions against her. He points out that she does not find
“thy self nor me the weaker now” (l. 24) after killing the flea. This returns to Donne’s
previous metaphor comparing the blood inside the flea to their actual living bodies.
Since the death of the flea results in no change in their status, then the blood that the
flea took from them is not important. Once again, Donne diminishes the importance
of the flea to compliment his argument.
This argument culminates in the final tercet of the poem. Donne says that his lover
has had “false fears” (l. 25). In those two words, he seems to dismiss her trepidation
about sex. While earlier, he mentions the societal conventions that prevent his lover
from having sex, the word “fears” seems to place more of the responsibility on the
lover, rather than those around her. She has a personal fear of giving in to him and the
consequences of sex, regardless of whether her “parents grudge” (l. 14). Donne’s
focus in his final argument, then, is on convincing his lover that nothing bad will
happen to her if she has sex with him.
To achieve this end, Donne finishes the poem by writing, “Just so much honor,
when thou yield’st to me, / Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee” (ll. 2627). The moment she yields to him will be the moment when she decides to have sex
with him. The idea of wasting honor recalls his lover’s fears. She is afraid of what
everyone will say about her if they find out, and how much she will be degraded by
the act of sex. The word “waste” implies that she is afraid of throwing away her
honor without regard for these concerns. Donne, however, feels that her hesitancy is
foolish because losing her virginity will have every bit as much effect as the
destruction of their blood within the flea had on her. In other words, it will have no
effect at all. Donne brings his argument full circle by not only finding arguments from
the flea in its living incarnation, but also in its death.
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