How does the listener affect the argument in John Donne’s poem “The Flea”?

In John Donne’s poetry, the presence of a listener is a significant departure from traditional Renaissance love lyrics, where speakers often lamented their feelings without directly addressing their beloved. Donne instead engages in a dramatic, direct confrontation with his listener, which often dictates the progression and structure of the poem.1

In the case of "The Flea," the listener’s actions directly influence the speaker's rhetorical strategy. The speaker uses the flea as a conceit—an extended metaphor—to argue for the innocence of lovemaking. However, the course of his argument is forced to shift abruptly once the woman crushes the insect, effectively dismantling the logic he had constructed. This interaction highlights how Donne’s work utilizes the speech patterns and emotional intensity of a real-time encounter, transforming the poem into a dynamic, closely reasoned argument that responds to the listener's immediate presence and reactions.1