To His Mistress Going To Bed By John Donne Analysis

“To his mistress going to bed” was a poem written in the 16th century by John Donne; however the poem was not published till after the poet’s death in 1631. The poem is characterised by him expressing the way in which he undresses his mistress, who, according to Donne, the girl in the poem may have been of high social status due to the description given in describing her. The poem is strictly from a male point of view before engaging in sexual intercourse with the girl. She undresses in stages to complete nakedness to the point where she is only covered with a sheet. This is further coupled with his growing excitement and anticipation to sleep with her. The poem’s message as a whole is rather simple as it emphasises his desire for his mistress …show more content…
The female character who is being undressed is not described in much detail throughout especially concerning her inner life and thus it is unclear to what she might feel regarding sleeping with him. The girl might still be a virgin according to the poem due to the reason that near the conclusion the author gives the impression that he is going to “teach” her. She only serves as the body from which her attire is being cast away piece by piece. This may give the impression that she might simply be an object of sexual desire for the author. She is, however, a women of high social standing as being descried in the poem due to the clothes she is wearing as stated by the “spangled breast-plate," and "coronet", which clearly indicate a women who has attained much wealth. He is thus aroused to a large extent by these favourable characteristics and with the high expectations he has for the woman and her body. He also compares her "gown going off" with the beauty of "when from flow'ry meads th'hills shadow steals," and the girl herself to "heaven's Angels." Another well used metaphor which can be regarded as extremely witty is the disrobing of her yet- to- be explored body as his New World through the phrase, “O my America! My new-found-land”. This has been cleverly used as an excellent metaphor due to this era actually being the era of global exploration. Women of …show more content…
This fact is proven by the fact that he commands her about what piece of clothing she should remove and at what time. Quotes like “Unlace yourself”, “off with that girdle”, and “off with those shoes”, are all clear example of the above mentioned fact and thus it is clear that he is in complete control of the situation. This dominance and egotism is apparent from the beginning of the poem as he urges her to come to bed with him and instructing her to remove her clothes whether or not she wants to; he completely ignores her absent feelings. His disregard for her feelings are reflected by the lack of response on her part. The author further views the woman’s naked body as “the far fairer world” which should be discovered and used to his advantage or, in simpler terms, to be conquered. Work on the coherence between this paragraph and the