Human Insecurity in T.S Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
T.S Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is an examination of human insecurity and folly, embodied in the title's J. Alfred Prufrock. Eliot's story of a man's "overwhelming question", his inability to ask it, and consequently, his mental rejection plays off the poem's many ambiguities, both structural and literal. Eliot uses these uncertainties to develop both the plot of the poem and the character of J. Alfred Prufrock.
The poem's setting is one that conjures up images of vagueness. It is filled with "yellow fog" and "yellow smoke", both of which suggest a certain denseness and haziness. Similarly, Prufrock is faced with another kind of mist - "perfume from a dress (65) that sends him back into his spiral of insecurity.
The importance of Prufrock's "overwhelming question" (presumably, proposing to a woman) is placed alongside items such as "tea and cakes and ices (79)" and various other trivialities such as novels, teacups, marmalade and "skirts that trail across the floor(102)". Prufrock's inner, mental world of thoughts and questions is divided from his outer, physical world which is composed of material objects; it is ironic then, that the material world inside the room is the one that is hidden by "...yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window panes/The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window pane (15-16)". Prufrock is trapped in this artificial world, however he is too afraid to escape - he asks himself if he dares "to disturb the universe"; and apparently, he doesn't.
The poem is also ambiguous regarding the identity of Prufrock's audience. Prufrock refers clearly to a "you and I" in the first stanzas of the poem but later...
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... he feels uncomfortable with Hamlet's "Prince" and the qualities associated with it.
J. Alfred Prufrock is a tragic figure in his own right; indecision being his tragic flaw. Eliot's character is a compelling portrait of insecurity, trapped in a rigid and materialistic environment by his own doubts and fears and unable to reconcile his desires with his actions.
Works Cited and Consulted
Eliot, T. S.. "The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock." Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 2nd Ed. Schlib & Clifford. Boston: Bedford, 2003. 851-855.
Pinion, F. B. A T.S. Eliot Companion. Totowa: Barnes & Noble Books, 1986.
Sharma, Jitendra Kumar. Time & T.S. Eliot: His Poetry, Plays, and Philosophy. New York: Apt Books, INC. 1985.
Spurr, David. Conflicts in Consciousness: T.S. Eliot’s Poetry & Criticism. Urbana: U of Illinois P. 1984.
"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.
Eliot, T.S.. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." An Introduction to Poetry. 13th ed. Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Boston: Little, Brown, 1966. 369-372. Print.
“Modern critics agree… that the novel has unity that its subject is an exploration of human aspiration and fulfillment by individual and social influences…” as a lining for various themes that Eliot uses through imagery and language. (Doyle 118) Beginning wi...
"(10) which is never identified, asked, or answered in the poem. This "question" is somehow associated with his social status, but both its ambiguity and Prufrock's denial to even ask "What is it? " (11) gives some insight into his state of internal turmoil. Prufrock's dissatisfaction with his personal appearance is evidence of an underlying lack of self-confidence. Not only is he unhappy with the way he looks, having "to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet," but he is constantly afraid of what others will have to say about him.
A common condition that is associated with GERD and LES problems is having a hiatal hernia. A hiatal hernia is when you have a larger than normal opening in the diaphragm where the esophagus passes through. Since this opening is larger, the stomach begins to enter this opening. When you eat, the stomach and esophagus ...
Eliot, T. S. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" in An Introduction to Literature. Ed Sylvan Barnet et al. 13 ed. New York: Longman. 2004. 937-940.
On the surface, ?The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock? is about an older man who is distressed by his own inability to tell a woman of his desire for her. He tries to relay his feelings to her but comes up with all kinds of excuses not to, and ultimately does not. The speakers? real problem is not that he is just too timid to confess his love for this particular woman, it is that he has a somewhat unproductive, bleak life and has a lack of willpower and boldness to change that life.
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T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 2. ed. M. H. Abrams New York, London: Norton, 1993.
Eliot, T.S.. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1996.
This gives the persona paranoia as he thinks he’s not sculpted to perfection. When the poem was written, industrialisation boomed into new proportions, including mass production of items used by society. Eliot suggests an element of ‘Victorian London’, he expresses how the fog manoeuvres through the city streets. “The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes” The image of a cat seems strong to the reader’s mind, as it makes its way through the city streets, then curls up beside the fire. The smoke is given a colour (Yellow) which symbolises a form of ‘Cowardice’ which reflects Prufrock’s own emotions when interacting with a female.
I diagnose Robert with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) based on his history and examination. GERD is commonly associated with acid reflux, but they are not the same thing. Acid reflux is an action that occurs in the disease. GERD is a condition when contents in the stomach travel back into the esophagus and create heartburn, a burning feeling in the chest and even throat (“What Is GERD?”, 2016). Other symptoms include coughing, breathing, nausea, and chest pain swallowing problems (“What Is GERD?”, 2016). To conclude, no it is not Robert’s heart.
T.S. Eliot was a poet, dramatist and he was also a literary critic. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “The...
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...
T.S Eliot, widely considered to be one of the fathers of modern poetry, has written many great poems. Among the most well known of these are “The Waste Land, and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, which share similar messages, but are also quite different. In both poems, Eliot uses various poetic techniques to convey themes of repression, alienation, and a general breakdown in western society. Some of the best techniques to examine are ones such as theme, structure, imagery and language, which all figure prominently in his poetry. These techniques in particular are used by Eliot to both enhance and support the purpose of his poems.