During the seventeenth century it was believed that women became pregnant when the blood of the man (present in his semen) mixed with her blood during sexual intercourse;
“O stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, yea, more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.
Though parents grudge, and you, we're met,
And cloister’d in these living walls of jet.”
The flea is the main metaphor that is used in the poem and it conveys his argument in a humorous way. The use of biblical language tries to make his argument seem more important and more serious. Donne makes this poem almost like dialogical as we don't actually see what each person says but you can tell what they might be saying;
"Cruell and sodaine, has thou since purpled thy naile, in thy blood of innocence?"
The male persona uses one argument then twists it so that it fits into why she has killed the flea. The poem is very direct as the male persona tells his lover exactly what he wants and when;
"Thou know'st that this cannot be said...”
The poem is more about desperate measures of getting sex because there is a lack of love. Love is not mentioned once throughout the poem, only sex is mentioned. The poem is also quite graphic of the image of sex because the male persona tells his lover that the flea swells with blood just like the male sex organ swells while having sex;
"And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two".
It can, however, be seen in a less explicit light where it is said that the line indicates the result of sexual intercourse, pregnancy, rather than the act itself.
The poem is a dramatic monologue used to persuade his mistress to get into bed and disregard her morals. The mistress’ morals are threatened by the flea so she kills it, the persona is quick witted and points out that the flea has united them both and in paraphrase:-
Let not to this, selfe murder added bee,
And sacrilege, three sinnes in killing three.
This line has religious overtones and religious imagery. The woman, hence, has her morals, which stem from religion, threatened by the personas use of religious imagery.
