John Donne’s poem “The Canonization” engages in a Marxist exploration of love, power dynamics, and socioeconomic struggles. The poem portrays a speaker pleading with an unnamed authority to allow them to love freely, challenging conventional expectations tied to wealth, social status, and power. The central argument revolves around the disruptive potential of love, which transcends societal norms and hierarchical structures, posing a threat to established power dynamics. I don’t think the first sentence makes sense. The poem does not engage in a Marxist exploration; however, we as critics can definitely engage in a Marxist exploration, and I think this poem is an especially interesting one for this type of approach because we know that part of the objection to Donne’s marriage was an economic one. Remember that as with New Historicism, with Marxist criticism, we need to know something about the time period when John Donne lived and about the circumstances surrounding the marriage. As a result of his secret marriage to Ann More, Donne lost his job as Sir Thomas Egerton’s secretary. His father-in-law sought to have the marriage anulled because he did not think Donne was a suitable spouse for his daughter. Knowing these things about the poem’s context is important to a Marxist critique.  A better thesis statement might acknowledge this historical context: Written within the context of Donne’s own marriage to a much-younger woman from a different socioeconomic class, “The Canonization” mocks the conventions of social hierarchies enforced by the bourgesoie in 17th century England. 

The poem begins with a command, “For God’s sake hold your tongue, and let me love,” immediately setting the tone for a confrontation between the speaker and an external authority. The speaker acknowledges the constraints imposed by societal expectations, referencing ailments such as palsy, gout, and financial ruin. These references highlight the physical and economic challenges tied to the speaker’s love, suggesting a conflict between personal desires and the oppressive forces of socioeconomic norms. The point about the poem’s commanding and powerful tone is a good one to make in a Marxist critique. The speaker does not have the power in this relationship, but argues from a place of superiority, using the extended metaphor of religion as his justification. I would focus more on financial ruin and the historical circumstances of Donne’s loss of employment here. I would also focus on the oppressive forces here, introducing more information about social classes in 17th century England. Literary scholar Judith Anderson points out that ” in Donne’s instance, evident in any reasonably informed reading of “The Canonization,” this real world includes the Tudor-Stuart court, the Reformation, Donne’s coterie readers, and his own biography, all concerns with which his poetry is infused and which close reading discovers….“The Canonization” is a situated utterance that is saturated in its culture, and a close reading of this poem opens up a wider, deeper awareness of its situatedness in real time” (159, 164).

Donne uses vivid imagery to portray the impact of the speaker’s love, asking who has been harmed by it. The rhetorical questions challenge the notion that personal affections can have a detrimental effect on society or the powers that be. The poem further emphasizes the unity of the lovers, presenting them as a single entity despite societal attempts to classify and separate them. The reference to the phœnix riddle reinforces the idea that their love is mysterious and transformative, challenging established norms. This paragraph feels more like New Criticism than Marxist criticism to me. I would look at the phoenix as a warning to the capitalists that the people will “burn it all down” and make a new world if their needs are not acknowledged and addressed.

The concluding lines of the poem introduce the concept of canonization, presenting the lovers as figures worthy of reverence and recognition. By invoking the imagery of tombs, hearse, and chronicles, Donne suggests that their love story, though deemed unfit for traditional societal structures, will find its place in poetry and verse. The act of building “pretty rooms” through sonnets implies a defiance of traditional monuments, creating a narrative that challenges and transcends societal expectations. Again, this is pretty weak. The idea of canonization and religion itself is an important concept in Marxist criticism. Any reference to organized religion within this type of criticism would be viewed as a tool the bourgesoie are using to control the masses, and thus, the references to canonization and sainthood should be used in this context, to argue that the poem’s speaker is begging to be accepted by the bourgesoie rather than attempting to subvert existing power structures. 

In conclusion, “The Canonization” reflects a Marxist interrogation of power, socioeconomic struggle, and the disruptive potential of love. Donne’s portrayal of the lovers as defiant figures, resisting societal norms, provides a lens through which to examine the intersection of personal desire and broader power structures. The poem invites readers to consider the subversive nature of love and its ability to challenge and redefine established hierarchies. I like the first sentence here. It’s the closest thing to an actual thesis statement that I saw in this paper. But I think there’s a much more interesting argument to be made by looking at both the historical context and the central extended metaphor of religious canonization from a Marxist viewpoint. 

Works Cited

Anderson, Judith H. “Literature, Culture, and Other Redundancies: Close Reading Donne.” Connotations: a Journal for Critical Debate 27 (2018): 155-166. https://www.connotations.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/anderson027.pdf 

Poetry Foundation. “John Donne.” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-donne, accessed 16 October 2023.