Caravaggio's Conversion of St.Paul and John Donne's sonnet "Batter My Heart" share a thematic interest in

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Both Caravaggio's painting and Donne's sonnet depict the moment of the protagonist's conversion as a physical ravishment, where they feel like being attacked or taken violently by God. In Caravaggio's painting, St. Paul falls off his horse and is blinded by a heavenly light that overwhelms him physically. Similarly, in Donne's sonnet, the speaker pleads with God to break, blow, burn, and make him new, even if it means violent action. This imagery of physical ravishment illustrates the transformative power of God's grace and the willingness of the protagonist to be changed entirely. Therefore, "conversion imagined as physical ravishment" is the correct thematic interest shared by both the painting and the sonnet.