Analysis of "The Love Song" Essay

The poem “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson is the exact opposite “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. It is a brief poem that uses very simple vocabulary. The poem is a description of the man Richard Cory. Plenty of imagery is used to describe just what type of man Richard Cory was. The speaker of the poem seems to be a collective we. The speaker is all the people who saw and knew Richard Cory.

In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” the main character of the poem, Prufrock, expresses the theme of isolation and introduces the reader to his sense of feeling isolated because of how he thinks he is perceived by others. Prufrock’s search to end his isolation is shown by the conversational monologue that he carries out as he searches for a way to connect with other people. Prufrock’s isolation is shown through both an epigraph from Dante and multiple types of imagery spread throughout the poem such as music, sex, and nature.

When looking at the poem ‘Prufrock’ we must first notice that the full title is ‘The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock.’ This title seems almost ironic as, after reading the poem, we realise that the poem

The reader can find the speaker relatable; Prufrock shows multiple sides to his character. In one way, Prufrock is trying to seem cool, calm, and collected; he wants the reader to think that he knows everything; however, the reader can tell that Prufrock is trying to be somebody he is not. Prufrock later lets his walls drop and he says that he has let “the moment of greatness flicker…” He is talking about his greatness; Prufrock wants his life to be stagnant, and with very little struggle. This means that his life will be complete boredom. I believe that people should take Prufrock’s life as a lesson of how not to live; his emotional distance reveals that he is a sad man and that life should not be motionless and focused on maintaining the status quo.

Detail 2: As can be deduced from the poem, Prufrock spends all of his time pondering how to behave, and to act in society, as he wants to become a man of action. Prufrock imagines himself achieving great things for himself and having everything he desires. Nonetheless, he cannot find a way to realize his wishes. Prufrock is well aware of his tragedy, and he makes sure the audience understands that he is a flawed man full of fears, whims and self-fancies. Again, just as we find in Hamlet’s character, Prufrock’s personality makes him cautious of acting towards any goal he might have, and his over-analytic persona makes him incapable of taking control of any situation. Prufrock explains his problems through a simple example from one of his failures. He recounts that he was incapable of asking a girl to date him, and despite his loving for her, he did nothing to make his love count.

While having an perception on life and a wise priority set, Prufrock is unable to push himself to obtaining happiness. A change would be rough, but it would afford him the opportunity to live his life in a way that exemplifies his wisdom, not societies demands of him. Yet, due to his fear, he continues to give in to society and avoid his chance at happiness. Later on in his monologue, he is afforded a second chance to attain happiness. Now it is within the limitations of society – a relationship with a woman – but because of his fears of rejection, he ponders having the strength to force the moment to its crisis? and watches as happiness passes him by. Happiness can be attained, through self-government or a relationship, his fear hinders his action on both occasions. Furthermore, he incorrectly assumes that there will not be another chance to attain happiness. Prufrock’s failure is caused by his fear, which shatters his proven rationality and wisdom and renders him

Throughout the entirety of the poem, Prufrock struggles with paralyzing inaction stemming from his self-doubt. This holds a large portion of Prufrock’s inability to gain clarity. An example of this self doubt is expressed when he stated, “[They will say; ‘how his hair is growing thin!’]... [They will say: ‘But

He wants to murder the mask that he is wearing. He wants to come out and then recreate himself. However, when the first realization of his homosexuality comes to mind Prufrock starts second-guessing himself. In lines thirty-one through thirty-four we see this in decisiveness. Prufrock then starts thinking of his appearance if he were to let this be known. He thinks about how his perfect world is not ready for a idea of this magnitude to come forth. Prufrock knows that if his homosexuality was to be known, the perfect universe that he knows would the destroyed.

In T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," the author is establishing the trouble the narrator is having dealing with middle age. Prufrock(the narrator) believes that age is a burden and is deeply troubled by it.. His love of some women cannot be because he feels the prime of his life is over. His preoccupation with the passing of time characterizes the fear of aging he has. The poem deals with the aging and fears associated with it of the narrator. The themes of insecurity and time are concentrated on. This insecurity is definitely a hindrance for him. It holds him back from doing the things he wishes to do. This is the sort of characteristic that makes

He feels if he were to challenge the universe, he would disturb its equilibrium. Prufrock says that he is terrified of “The eyes that fix him in a formulated phrase” (Elliot 56), suggesting that he is filled with insecurity and fears judgment and criticism from others. He feels like he is inferior to those around him and will never be able to live up to their expectations. Prufrock accepts the fact that he will always be rejected and brushed off by women.

Prufrock's fear to live never allowed him to accomplish anything. The issue of death emerged again in lines 26-27. In these lines Eliot said, "There will be time, there will be time to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet."(ll. 26-27 Eliot) This statement showed that Prufrock spent the majority of his time preparing for death. In lines 37-39 Eliot said, "And indeed there will be time to wonder, 'Do I dare?' and 'Do I dare?' time to turn back and descend the stair."(ll. 37-39 Eliot) This line showed that Prufrock felt that he was bound to Hell. Prufrock constantly lived in fear of death. This fear caused him to not be able to live. In the second section Prufrock realized the error of his ways. He came to the understanding that being afraid to live was no way to live his life. Eliot summed up the entire reasoning of Prufrock in the following line, "And in short, I was afraid."(l 86 Eliot) Prufrock spent his entire life in a wasteland, because he did not have the courage to live. At this point he knew that there was no opportunity to regain the years that he lost. In lines 92-98 Eliot said, "To have squeezed the universe into a ball To roll it towards some overwhelming question, To say: 'I am Lazarus, come from the dead, Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all'- If one, settling pillow by her head, Should say: 'That is not what I meant at all. That is not it, at all.'"(ll. 92-98 Eliot) These lines showed how

Prufrock is a man with many contradictive and fragmental characteristics. While one part of him would like to shake startle these characteristics out of his life, he would have to risk disturbing his peaceful universe in order to do so. The latter part of the poem

In “Prufrock”, the thoughts are of Prufrock himself, not of the author, T. S. Eliot. The use of stream of consciousness in “Prufrock” opens the mind of the character, allowing the thoughts and feelings of the character to be exposed. This exposure makes the character more relatable because it shows the strengths, and more primarily, the insecurities of the character. Prufrock’s insecurities are on full display during the entire poem, and are apparent in the fifth stanza, line 39, as he thinks “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 thin!’)” (39-41). The parenthesis indicates a break in his original thought. As he notices the bald spot in his hair, he seems to immediately think to himself what “they” will say. He adds, “My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, / My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin- / (They will say: ‘But how his arms and legs are thin!’) (42-44). Again, his thought is broken by a worry. He realizes that his clothes do not fit him as well as they used to, and

In the third stanza, Prufrock switches from the present tense in which he says “Let us go” (Eliot, ln. 1) to saying “there will be time” (Eliot, ln. 23) which shows how the question he doesn’t want to answer is causing him “to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet” (Eliot, ln. 27). Every decision he tries to make leads to “a hundred indecisions, and time yet for a hundred visions and revisions before the taking of a toast and tea” (Eliot, ln. 31-34). This indecisiveness to a lack in self-confidence beginning with “’Do I dare?’…With a bald spot in the middle of my hair” (Eliot, ln. 38-40). He asks “Do I dare disturb the universe? …for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse” (Eliot, ln. 45-49), he is now beginning to feel like he is very insignificant in the universe and that he has

this “love song”, as it is entirely about Prufrock’s feelings about himself in regards to his lover. If