Critical Analysis of The Indifferent by John Donne Essay -- Indifferen

Critical Analysis of The indifferent by derriere DonneThe Indifferent by John Donne is a relatively simple love rime incomparison to his other, more than complicated works. In this poem, he presents alover who regards constancy as a vice and promiscuity as the alley of virtueand good sense (Hunt 3). Because of Donnes Christian backsideground, this poemwas obviously meant to be a comical look at values that were opposite the onesheld by Christians. According to Clay Hunt, The Indifferent is probablyquite an early poem because of the simpleness and obviousness of its literarymethods, its untroubled gaiety, and its pose of libertinism, which all suggestthat Donne wrote the poem when he was a young man about town in ElizabethanLondon (1-2). The poem mocks the Petrarchan doctrine of eternal faithfulness,putting in its intrust the anti-morality which argues that constancy is a heresyand that Loves sweetest part is variety (Cruttwell 153). The prototypic deucestanzas of the poem se em to be the speaker talking to an audience of people, while the last one looks back and refers to the first two stanzas as a song.The audience to which this poem was think is very important because it candrastically change the meaning of the poem, and has thus been debated amongthe critics. sequence most critics believe that the audience changes from men, towomen, and so to a individual(a) woman, or something along those origins, Gregory Machacekbelieves that the audience remains throughout the poem as two women who constructdiscovered that they are both lovers of the speaker and have confronted himconcerning his infidelity (1). His strongest argument is that when thespeaker says, I can love her, and her, and you and you, he first points outtwo random nearby women for her, and her, then at the two that he is talkingto for you and you.The first stanza begins rather simply. Donne starts every line witheither I can love or Her who. According to Hunt, the step of the firststan za goes from weary and patient entreaty to a climax of pain at theend (4) in the lines I can love her, and her, and you and you / I can love any,so she be not true. The first octonary lines simply list opposite character types,but the last two lines go to her, and her, and you and you, then to any, justbefore Donne springs the sho... ...hold.This poem presents a speaker that holds morals opposite the onesaccepted by the greater part of society. While this poem is not incrediblycomplicated, it is very interesting to see how Donne spends the first 25 linesof the poem building up a convincing argument, then completely rebutting it inthe final two lines. He refers to promiscuity as a vice and constancy as avirtue, using many an(prenominal) sexual references to help illustrate his points. Donnesuccessfully creates a character in a simple love poem that believes that thereis nothing more to love than lust, and then uses his point of view to portray a delineation of love that is comple tely opposite of what Donne wants the reader toget from the poem.Works CitedCruttwell, Patrick. John Donne. Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 24153.Hunt, Clay. Donnes Poetry Essays in Literary Analysis. natural Haven YaleUniversity Press, 1954.Machacek, Gregory. Donnes The Indifferent. Explicator CD-ROM 53.4 (Summer1995) p. 192, 3 p. Availible Magazine Article Summaries Full Text Elite. full stop Number 951025812.McNees, Eleanor J. John Donne. Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 24207.