In most of John Donne's poetry, it is easy to characterize Donne as a domineering speaker, one who often overpowers the female voice. Yet in “The Flea,” Donne complicates the prototypical gender roles seen in most early modern love poetry. Throughout the poem, the poet uses symbolism and unspoken dialogue to imply a complicated and conflicted relationship with the poem's recipient. Instead of insisting on a stable patriarchy, Donne uses these tools to destabilize the hierarchical systems of power associated with gender. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Exhibiting classic elements of metaphysical poetry, Donne uses the most unlikely images to symbolize romance. In this poem, it is the flea itself that the speaker uses to try to persuade his lover to have premarital sex. By using the flea as a symbolic element of the structure, Donne is able to create a unique exchange between the speaker and his addressee. For the speaker, their blood “mixed” inside the flea's body is equivalent to the exchange of body fluids during sexual intercourse (4). But its recipient obviously does not agree, having “denied” him what the flea symbolically enjoys (2). Unlike many love poems in which the male figure dominates, the flea serves as a symbol of the mutual union of lovemaking and the woman's role in seduction. The opening stanza provides a compelling example of the blurred gender lines mentioned earlier: the male seducer is identified with the female seduced by the mutual sucking of insects ("First he sucked me, and now he sucks you"; line 3). In a way, Donne introduces the innovative idea that romance is mutual and sacred, rather than solely for a man's sexual pleasure. While an overall look at the poem may lead readers to believe that the speaker is a misogynistic character interested only in his own sexual gratification, a closer look at the speaker's persuasive monologue suggests a progressive view of women. "The Flea" describes an interaction between two equally intelligent people jokingly challenging each other. Although the woman in the poem is completely silent, ironically it is her unexpressed voice that controls the poem. Even by suggesting a woman's ability to engage in witty discussion, Donne is subtly complimenting female intelligence. He not only has the ability to understand his proposal, but also to respond and participate in jokes. Furthermore, the woman is presented as concerned with preserving her honor, or “virgin,” rather than succumbing to the male's pleas (6). The opening lines “Mark but this flea, and note in this, / How little is that which you deny me” immediately establishes a woman's right to refuse a man's sexual desires (1-2). The next lines regarding “a sin, a shame, or the loss of virginity” indicate the woman's desire to remain pure and virtuous – positive attributes in the eyes of early modern society (6). By presenting the poem's recipient as morally excellent, Donne reveals the barbaric and overtly sexualized ideals held by men. Similarly, Donne emphasizes a woman's power to deny a man sex. Although the male speaker presents a somewhat convincing argument, it is the woman who ultimately controls the outcome. By line 19, the recipient of the poem has become "cruel and sudden" and decisively kills the flea. With "violet[ing] [her] nail in the blood of innocence," the woman not only kills the flea, but also symbolically crushes.