Repression,Rebellion and Rationality in John Donne’s Selected Poems

Abstract

This paper attempts to represent how a speaker has balanced his repressive and rebellious behaviors by his rationality and how John Donne as writer has beautifully portrayed the metaphysical existence of erotica in his selective poems. This dissertation examines Donne's five selective poems and comes with an outcome that the veryrepressed speakerwho has brought a rebellious characteristicin him and repression and rebellion as socially unaccepted behaviors are sublimated by his ingenuity. The speaker’s behaviors are observed and analyzed by defense mechanism, as mentioned in Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysm–in which, repression seems dominant that compels speaker to be a rational where he creatively attempts to get outlet his repression and controls over his rebellious characteristic. Therefore,the speakerhas artistically sublimated his libidinal energy into creativity. The speakerin the poem seems seducinga lady frequently, differently and strategically which makes the reading very aesthetic and pleasant. Further Donne has creatively shown how the literature or art intends to arouse sexual desire and how that carries aesthetic value and the way people get pleasure from the use of sexually explicit language. Analyzing Donne's creative poetry through the perspective of defense mechanism, eventually the speakergets outlet to the repressive and rebellious feelings from his unconscious faculty of mind. As whole, this paper analyses the speaker’s repression, this repression uplifts a rebellious characteristic in him and he creatively rebels against his own repressive and rebellious behaviors being ingenious and conscious. Along this finding, this papers hows the existence of metaphysics, conceit and aesthetic value in Donne’s selective poems. Keywords:Unconscious,Repression, Seduction,Rationality and Aesthetic