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The Search for True Love in John Donne’s “The Extasie”
Abstract
“The Extasie” is one of John Donne's most well known poems that demonstrate his distinctive understanding of love. Critics have argued over the interpretations of “The Extasie”. Some critics have conceived it as an expression of spiritual love and others looked at it as a satirical criticism. This paper attempts to show how “The Extasie” presents an example of great satirical poetry. The poem takes advocates of Platonic love in a mesmerizing journey when reading the first two-thirds of the poem. Ironically, the poem ends with a criticism of Platonisms who exclude the body from the notion of love.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.5p.9
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