T.S. Eliot’s breakthrough poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is expertly crafted to have a complex structure with various hidden themes. The poem acts as an inner monologue for the titular character, appearing as lyric-narrative poetry. However, it does appear to lean towards a lyric poem, with the hazy plot consisting of Prufrock describing what his life has been like, in retrospect to speculating on what is to come next. The monologue throughout is melancholy in nature, with Prufrock dwelling on issues such as unrequited love, his frail body, his looming demise, and a dissatisfaction with the modernist world. Eliot uses a variety of metaphor within the poem to showcase Prufrock’s indecision, between being unable to fully live, while …show more content…
Eliot begins the poem with the original Italian text of Dante’s epic, “The Divine Comedy.” It contains six lines borrowed from “Inferno” that are verbal quotes from a character in the eighth circle of hell, stating he will confide in Dante on the basis that Dante should not be able to escape hell, and therefore cannot divulge his secrets to the people still living (Alighieri, 61-66). This reflects J. Alfred’s willingness to lament to the reader since the reader has no means to share his secrets with those in his world. With the reader being Dante in this analogy, it puts Prufrock in the position of Guido da Montefeltro, the damned soul speaking to Dante. While Guido is not alive, his soul is technically still living, having to endure torture for his mortal misdeeds. Similar to how Prufrock is a searing soul inside a decaying body, evidenced by the lines “With a bald spot in the middle of my hair” (Eliot, 40) and “(They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”)” (Eliot, 44). Meanwhile, Prufrock’s inner psyche is tormented by thoughts such as “though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed” (Eliot, 81) and saying his place in life is “Almost, at times, the Fool.” (Eliot, 118). These descriptions of himself develop the idea that Prufrock is likewise in a figurative Bolgia of hell, unwilling or unable to climb out, and so, like Guido, confesses his woes. Prufrock is, however, physically more alive than …show more content…
The first one is how Prufrock wishes to be a crab “Scuttling across the floors of silent seas” (73-74). By thinking this, Prufrock describes what his current life is like, a bystander not affecting anything or anybody. His human life is wasted for all the potential it had when he could have been a crab instead doing the same thing, which would be a fair life for a crab. Akin to the crab metaphor, Prufrock also states how he “shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk along the beach” (122). The white his trousers could signify the blankness that white represents, while a beach is an edge between land and ocean. The land is the world he belonged to in the past, while the sea is where he now feels he belongs by becoming a silent crab sunk beneath the depths. It can be gathered that Prufrock intends to clear his head like the whiteness of his trousers, and then to walk the line between the warm life he has known, and the cold slumber under the ocean. While Prufrock has been in agony overthinking this decision he decides the best course of action is to empty his thoughts and see what he
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is about a timid and downcast man in search of meaning, of love, and in search of something to break from the dullness and superficiality which he feels his life to be. Eliot lets us into Prufrock's world for an evening, and traces his progression of emotion from timidity, and, ultimately, to despair of life. He searches for meaning and acceptance by the love of a woman, but falls miserably because of his lack of self-assurance. Prufrock is a man for whom, it seems, everything goes wrong, and for whom there are no happy allowances. The emptiness and shallowness of Prufrock's "universe" and of Prufrock himself are evident from the very beginning of the poem. He cannot find it in himself to tell the woman what he really feels, and when he tries to tell her, it comes out in a mess. At the end of the poem, he realizes that he has no big role in life.
Before we are introduced to Prufrock himself, we notice that the initial scenes of this poem paint a landscape of apathy. The narrator mentions little about himself initially and beckons that we follow him down into a world without consequence “of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels” (Eliot 6). The later “streets that follow like a tedious argument of insidious intent” set the stage for Prufrock’s dilemma (ibid 9-10). Audrey Cahill says this scene foreshadows “Prufrock’s dialogue with himself, a dialogue which leads nowhere” and that thrusts the reader into meaningless chaos (6). Thus, even if these streets lead to an overwhelming question, the journey down them is rather mind-numbing and unnecessary if the answer gets us nowhere or, worse, merely emphasizes our own desolation. This is compounded by the appearance of a mysterious yellow catlike fog that “curled once about the house and fell asleep” (Eliot 22). Cahill also affirms that becaus...
The beginning of the poem is pre -empted by an excerpt from Dante's Inferno which Eliot uses to begin his exploration of Prufrock's self-consciousness. By inserting this quote, a parallel is created between Prufrock and the speaker, Guido da Montefeltro, who is very aware of his position in "hell" and his inability to escape his fate. Prufrock is also very aware of his current status, but doesn't realize until the end that he is unable to rise above it. The issue of his fate leads Prufrock to an "overwhelming question.
J. Alfred Prufrock is a man who is destined to find the right women to with for the rest of his life. He always holds off finding the perfect women to another day, but time is ticking against him and he does not have much time left. In T.S. Eliot’s, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” Illustrates Prufrock’s inability to interact with women in the coffee shop, fear of being turned down, and the significance of love and time.
...ince none has ever returned alive from this depth, if what I hear is true, I answer you without fear of infamy." Guido has no fear of answering all of Dante's questions--of letting his flame shine forth. Prufrock, on the other hand, lives with his light entombed in the dark hell of his own fear of rejection: he cannot share his "love song." He says, in effect, A prophet is never honored in his own time; therefore, this prophet shall remain silent. He says, in effect, Lazarus wasn't sent back from the dead--because you already have your prophets. So what need have you of me? The labyrinth of his own "love song" is the hell that Prufrock is certain no one of us will escape. His silence is assured.
There is no omniscient narrator looking down at Prufrock and telling us about the poor life of Prufrock. The narrator could describe Prufrock’s actions and maybe give us a glimpse into his thoughts, and that would have given us a story about a down trodden man. This poem is told in a more intimate manner. We are hearing Prufrock’s story through his words and
Prufrocks next thoughts tell of his old age and his lack of will to say what is on his mind. He mentions his bald spot in his hair and his thin arms and legs. This suggests that he knows he is growing old, and therefore contradicts what he had mentioned earlier in the poem about having plenty of time. Throughout the poem he is indecisive and somewhat aloof from the self-involved group of women. One part of him would like to startle them out of their frustratingly polite conversations and express his love for her, but to accomplish this he would have to risk disturbing their ?universe? and being rejected. He also mentions ?sprawling on a pin?, as though he pictures himself being pinned in place and viciously analyzed like that of an insect being literally pinned in place. The latter part of the poem captures his sense of overwhelming lack of willpower for failing to act daringly, not only at that tea party, but throughout his life.
For example in the poem he says, “…Time to turn back and descend the stair, With a bald spot in the middle of my hair- [They will say: “How his hair is growing so thin!] My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, My necklace rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin- [They will say:” But how his arms and legs are so thin!”]…” This quotation is an example of Prufrock overthinks situations. He wants to go to the party and ask a question but cannot stop thinking about if he will be judged by the people at the party because of his hair balding and thin body. But a typical person today would acknowledge the fact that the people who will attend the party will be concerned with the party they are attending rather than minor details on him. This is another instance where Prufrock is not typical of people today. People today do tend to over think things but Prufrock takes it to another level with overthinking about things normal people wouldn’t and allows it to affect each choice he makes even the simplest ones in his
The poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” written by T.S. Eliot is a depiction of sadness and a disillusioned narrator. While reading this poem, one senses that the narrator is disturbed and has maybe given up hope, and that he feels he is just an actor in a tedious drama At the very beginning of the poem, Eliot uses a quote from Dante’s “Inferno”, preparing the poem’s reader to expect a vision of hell. This device seems to ask the reader to accept that what they are about to be told by the poem’s narrator was not supposed to be revealed to the living world, as Dante was exposed to horrors in the Inferno that were not supposed to be revealed to the world of the living. This comparison is frightening and intriguing, and casts a shadow on the poem and its narrator before it has even begun. J. Alfred Prufrock is anxious, self-concsious, and depressed.
In conclusion, after exploring the theme of this poem and reading it for myself, Eliot has created this persona, in industrialised England or somewhere else. A man of low self-esteem, you embark his journey as he struggles with a rational fear of being rejected by a woman. Which gives the reader sympathy to Prufrock, as he lives within his own personal
Eliot and Kafka characterize their respective characters as having negative self-images, a prior lack of success, and as being fundamentally lonely. Prufrock views himself as undesirable, and his self-image seems to grow worse with age. While Prufrock has the chance early on to make something of his life, he sits in a room, presumably one in which there is a display of artwork, and “the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo” (ll. 13-14). Prufrock goes by unnoticed next to what could be the beautiful works of Michelangelo. It can especially be presumed that he feels inadequate next to the Statue of David, a sculpture for which Michelangelo is famous. As time goes on, his feelings of inadequacy increase when he begins to fear what others will think of his aged appearance, for “They will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin!’” and “They will say: ‘But how his arms and legs are thin!’” (ll. 41, 44). Prufrock’s lack of self-confid...
First, Eliot weaves several layers of symbolism into Prufrocks’s narrative. This ambiguity shows largely through the vehicle of the yellow fog, which Eliot personifies with cat-like characteristics using phrases such as, “…rubs its back…rubs its muzzle on the window-panes” and “…curled once about the house, and fell asleep” in reference to the mist (Eliot). This feline depiction of the city smog creates an eerie setting which serves to further the tone of unsteadiness in Prufrock’s ramblings. The seeping movements of the fog also mirror the uncontrolled movements of Prufrock’s thoughts and his polluted self-concept which causes him to question his every move to no end (Childs). The smog is uncontainable and indefinable, much like Prufrock’s emotions when dependent upon his non-existent actions (Childs). In another instance, Eliot breaks up the deep, incessant wanderings of the speaker’s mind with the phrase, “In the room the women come and go talking of Michaelangelo” (Eliot). These women symbolize the society in which Pr...
T.S. Eliot has been one of the most daring innovators of twentieth-century poetry. His poem“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, is different and unusual. He rejects the logic connection, thus, his poems lack logic interpretation. He himself justifies himself by saying: he wrote it to want it to be difficult. The dissociation of sensibility, on the contrary, arouses the emotion of readers immediately. This poem contains Prufrock’ s love affairs. But it is more than that. It is actually only the narration of Prufrock, a middle-aged man, and a romantic aesthete , who is bored with his meaningless life and driven to despair because he wished but
T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is an ironic depiction of a man’s inability to take decisive action in a modern society that is void of meaningful human connection. The poem reinforces its central idea through the techniques of fragmentation, and through the use of Eliot’s commentary about Prufrock’s social world. Using a series of natural images, Eliot uses fragmentation to show Prufrock’s inability to act, as well as his fear of society. Eliot’s commentary about Prufrock’s social world is also evident throughout. At no point in the poem did Prufrock confess his love, even though it is called “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, but through this poem, T.S. Eliot voices his social commentary about the world that Prufrock lives in.
The poem begins by suggesting that Mr. Prufrock is mentally disassociated with society. Mr. Prufrock, addressing the audience or some imaginary confidante, proposes the mental journey commence "When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherised [sic] upon a table" (ll. 2-3). The lines evoke images of drug induced, altered realities. He follows by recommending visits to "one-night cheap hotels" (l. 6) and "sawdust restaurants" (l. 7). The references infer that the locations are not the speaker's normal environments and are part of fantasy environments. In lines 15 through 22, the speaker credits the smog with feline characteristics. He further states "Though I have seen my head [...] brought in upon a platter..." (l. 81). Although it is a biblical reference to the decapitation of John the Baptist, the statement is indicative of an active fantasy life. He admits to having heard mermaids sing and speaks of life on a beach. He creates the fanta...