Topic > Comparison of "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell and "The Flea" by John Donne

"To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell and "The Flea" by John Donne have a similar situation going on. Both stories involve a man trying to convince his lover to have sex with him. Each of them takes a different path to convince their women to stop rejecting the idea of ​​having sex. Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" takes a more serious and meaningful path. "The Flea" by John Donne is not that romantic and uses a metaphor to try to convince the lover in the story to have sex. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Marvell's speaker believes that the woman is just wasting precious time by not sleeping with him. He loves her deeply and tries to convince her by speaking to her romantically: "A hundred years should go to praising / your eyes and the look on your forehead; / two hundred to worship each breast, / but thirty thousand for the rest." The speaker tells the woman that they are not immortal and will eventually grow old and die. He reminds her that any time left together should be spent having sex while they are still young and attractive. Marvell's argument seems to be more about his love for this woman than just sexual desire and attraction. I think this was a pretty good argument that may have changed the woman's mind. He spoke to her with passion and this could have touched her heart and made her realize that life is too short. Those who talk about women seem to argue more out of sexual desire than love. His argument with his lover about having sex was neither crude nor moving. Instead of speaking intimately to the woman, he uses a flea as a metaphor for their love “First he sucked me, and now he sucks you, / And in this flea our two bloods are mixed; / You know that this cannot be called / a sin, nor shame, nor loss of virginity. The argument put forward by Donne's rapporteur was not very convincing. It was quite clear that the woman had not taken the man's argument seriously as she simply nonchalantly swatted the flea: "Cruel and sudden, you have since stained your nail purple, in the blood of the innocence?" I don't think the woman has changed her mind about chastity. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Both “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell and “The Flea” by John Donne” find a similar flaw in the chastity argument. In their own way, each story states that life is too short not to have sex. In “The Flea,” the brevity of their lives is linked in some sense to the life of fleas, “Though usage makes you inclined to kill me, / Let us not add to this self-murder, / And sacrilege, three sins in killing three." In “To His Coy Mistress,” the narrator emphasizes how short life is to remember “But behind me I always feel/ the winged chariot of time fast approaching;/ And yonder before us they lie / Deserts of vast eternity. Your beauty will never be found again.” “To His Coy Mistress” includes a more effective and serious argument that is driven by the love for his mistress deeper. John Donne's story cannot be taken that seriously and is not that significant.