Men of the 16th and 17th century were the largest contributors of literature of that time. This led to misogynistic views, and subhuman treatment of women. Although it was socially forbidden for a woman to have sex outside of marriage, this did not stop men from trying to convince her. John Donne, a poet of the 16th century, wrote misogynistic pieces in his early works. Andrew Marvell, a contemporary of Donne, who also wrote seduction poems. Donne’s “The Flea” and Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” both have seduction techniques, yet the degree of success is different. The degree of success each seducer has can be judged by looking at the rhetoric, imagery and emotional appeals in “The Flea” and “To His Coy Mistress.”
The seducer of “The Flea” makes use of different arguments to convince the woman to have sex. One argument is that the blood of both him and his lover has mingled inside a flea, because it has bit them both. He tells her that nothing has befallen her that there is not “A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead” (The Flea, 6). The Flea has both lovers’ blood in it, and they have not committed a sin for the punishment of their blood mixing. The seducer connects this to sex and explains that there will not be any punishment for having intercourse, either. This is not successful because he must use other ways to convince her. The seducer also uses imagery. He calls the flea, with his and her blood inside of it, a holy trinity. He explains it would be suicidal to kill the flea, and that it would be “sacrilege, three sins in killing three” (The Flea, 18). The seducer shows his lover that they all form a trinity, and it should not be broken. The image of the holy trinity to the lover would have been a strong point, but the ex...
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...gth into one ball;/ And tear our pleasures with rough strife” (To His Coy Mistress, 41-42). The seducer’s argument is blunt and straight to the point. He tells her that while they are still youthful, they should have sex. After his other arguments, the man might be able to convince the lady, through flattery and trust. When compared with “The Flea,” “To His Coy Mistress” seduction techniques are much more refined and well thought out.
The ability to use rhetoric, imagery and emotional appeal by the seducers of “The Flea” and “To His Coy Mistress” have some success in seducing women. The rhetoric used in Donne’s poem does not seem as planned or sophisticated as Marvell’s. Although there are many misogynistic poems from the 16th and 17th century, woman did not cave into the man’s pressure so easily. If they did, men would not have a reason to write about seduction.
In the 18th century, reading novels served as a pass time and a diversion from household chores for the women. Though formal female education is not developed, the female characters are seen having a keen interest in books, something that was earlier frowned upon for the sentimental content of books might be destructive to societal values. At the time, books were meant to teach and reflect upon the socially acceptable ideas of romance, courtship, and marriage. We find Miss Wharton asking for books to read from her friend Mrs. Lucy Sumner, “Send me some new books; not such, however, as will require much attention. Let them be plays or novels, or anything else that will amuse and extort a smile.” (Foster, 192) Mrs. Sumner sends her novels which she considers “chaste and of a lighter reading” (Foster, 196). We can thus construe that books and novels in The Coquette though meant for reading pleasure, also play form part of the female
In the article “Courtly Love: Who Needs It?” by E. Jane Burns, the author establishes what would be considered the quintessential female persona as it appears in medieval literature, particularly in the romance genre. She begins by calling attention to the similarities between the expected mannerisms of women in the structure of courtly love and the modern book The Rules. The text is a self-help guide for women who are looking to attract a husband by employing medieval methods of attraction (Burns 23). It employs outdated strategies to encourage women to become unemotional and disinterested, but also subservient, with anticipation of attaining the unwavering affection of a potential suitor. Thereby perpetuating the well-established “ideology
critique the misogyny and misrepresentations of marriages put forth by male poets, such as John Donne,
Using this choice of words like “then worms shall try” and “…turn to dust”, the speaker essentially tells his mistress that there will be consequences if she does not engage with him. He believes his wit will gain control over his mistress, and her “coyness” will inevitably disappear. In his mind, the repercussions are if she dies without having sex with him, the worms will take her virginity, which can be considered as phallic imagery. In the lines, the worms symbolically mirror the narrator’s male sexual organ. Marvell creates an interesting approach with this daring and disturbing language because the appealing strategy grasps the reader’s attention and explores the question of the extent a person will go to fulfill their sexual desires. While discussing this proposed tight-lipped subject, the tone of the narrator in “To His Coy Mistress” greatly differs from the narrator’s tone in “A Rose for Emily.” The readers can perceive that Marvell’s speaker is intelligent and informed in the sexual category because of his style and word choice. He creates a relaxed tone with his audience, which makes the readers feel comfortable, and he is very clear about what he writes. The direction of the arguments he makes is very undeviating because he goes straight into what he wants
Traditional female characteristics and female unrest are underscored in literary works of the Middle Ages. Although patriarchal views were firmly established back then, traces of female contempt for such beliefs could be found in several popular literary works. Female characters’ opposition to societal norms serves to create humor and wish- fulfillment for female and male audiences to enjoy. “Lanval” by Marie De France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer both show subversion of patriarchal attitudes by displaying the women in the text as superior or equal to the men. However, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” also incorporates conventional societal ideas by including degradation of women and mistreatment of a wife by her husband.
...seful miscommunication between men and women. Lastly, when looking through the imagined perspective of the thoughtless male tricksters, the reader is shown the heartlessness of men. After this reader’s final consideration, the main theme in each of the presented poems is that both authors saw women as victims of a male dominated society.
“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” by Rober Herrick and Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” have many similarities and differences. The tone of the speakers, the audience each poem is directed to, and the theme make up some of the literary elements that help fit this description.
He is suggesting that they are united in this flea and ,thus, would equally be united in intimacy. In addition, he states, "This flea is you and I, and this our marriage bed, and marriage temple is." The speaker is suggesting that through the flea the two are married. Again, the flea represents marriage, union, and consummation through intimacy. However, the woman crushes the flea, thus, refusing his request, and states that neither she nor he is weakened by its death.
Shakespeare’s story, Love Labour’s Lost, focuses the story on the endearing lust of men. Women are a powerful force, so in order to persuade them men will try to use a variety of different resources in order to attract the opposite sex. Men will often use their primal instincts like a mating call, which could equivocate today to whistling at a woman as she walks by. With the use of lies to tell a girl what she wants to hear, the musk cologne in order to make you appear more sensual, or the cliché use of the love poem, men strive to appeal to women with the intent to see his way into her heart. William Shakespeare is a man, who based on some of his other works, has a pretty good understand and is full of passion for the opposite sex. Nonetheless, whether it had been honest love or perverse lust, Shakespeare, along with most men, aimed to try to charm women. With keeping this understanding of Shakespeare in mind, his weapon of choice, to find his portal way into a woman’s heart, was his power of writing.
Bloch, R. Howard. Medieval Misogyny and the Invention of Western Romantic Love. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991.
I shall endeavour to explore and analyse how women are presented in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” and Duffy’s “Human Interest”.
“The Flea” John Donne observes a typical bar, every Saturday night sweat drenched bodies emitting alcohol and pheromones from every pore, exchange conversation, pleasantries, and yes even sex (perhaps not directly in view but certainly eluded to). Is this animalistic, barbaric behavior acceptable? Should sex be taken so lightheartedly? Or do we take it too seriously, guarding sex like it was the Holy Grail, or the secret to life itself? These questions may be to deep and pointed for most to approach, yet John Donne in his poem “The Flea” wades through them like the kiddy pool. In this clever poem Donne uses a flea, blood, and the murder of the flea as an analogy for the oldest most primal exchange, sex. Donne, through symbolic images, not only questions the validity of coveting virginity but also the importance of sex as it pertains to life. The metaphors in “The Flea” are plentiful, but the symbols repeated throughout the poem are clear, beginning with the most prevalent, and the flea. This small parasitic creature is chalk full of symbolic meaning. During the time this poem was written (the Renaissance) the flea was use in many poems about sex. I derive that in this particular poem the flea is symbolic of the act of sex from the speaker’s remark in the beginning, “Mark but this flea, and mark in this, how little that which deniest me is” the flea is small and inconsequential, his lady denies him sex, which the speaker believes is also petty. The flea is described as a marriage temple and a carrier of life, but in the next stanza as something insignificant and small. The speaker applies a certain duality to the flea and therefore to sex. The metaphor develops more as it relates to the other symbols. Blood is used more than once a...
The Flea and To His Coy Mistress are two poems written by poets living during the Renaissance Period. To His Coy Mistress was written by Andrew Marvell and The Flea was written by John Donne. Both of these poets were well-educated 'metaphysical poets', and these poems illustrate metaphysical concerns, highly abstract and theoretical ideas, that the poets would have been interested in. Both poems are based around the same idea of trying to reason with a 'mistress' as to why they should give up their virginity to the poet.
Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress is a sieze the moment kind of poem in which an anonomyous young man tries to woo the hand of his mistress. This kind of poem gives the reader the idea that time is not only precious, but scarce. The speaker uses many smooth tatics to persuade the young girl, starting with compliments and ending with a more forceful, morbid appraoch. "To His Coy Mistress" is not only witty but imgagistic, full of wordplay, and percieved differently by both males and females.
In John Donne’s poem, “The Flea”, Donne uses the conceit of the flea to contrast the insignificant size of the flea and the incredibly significant metaphor attached to the flea. The speaker of the poem is talking to a woman, trying to convince her into having sex with him outside of marriage. This poem can be broken into three stanzas, of nine lines each, utilizes the image of the flea to convey three main ideas: the first as a vessel where their essence mingles, second as the institution of marriage, and finally as an insignificant representation of honor which would have no effect on them. Donne’s hyperbolic use of the flea extends through the poem as a metaphysical conceit to convey a logical argument out of something seemingly unrelated to the situation at hand.