Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay: The Existential Anguish of J. Alfred

The “eyes” (55) and “arms” (62) that Prufrock claims to “have known” are synecdoches for women; since he does not say he is familiar with their hearts, which would metaphorically imply experience with their love, Prufrock only knows women physically. He gives one explanation for this by noting the “perfume” and “dress” (65) that make him “digress” (66) from presumably his goal: instead of fostering relationships, Prufrock focuses on sexual/sensual aspects. In spite of this, Eliot provides insight to Prufrock desiring more than physical intimacy through the repeated mention of meals: “toast and tea” (34), “tea and cakes and ices” (79), “marmalade” (88), “tea cups” (102); these references indicate a wish to no longer dine alone, and Prufrock saying, “Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me” exemplifies his aspiration for domestic life.

When reading the title of T.S Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” it is believed we are in store for a poem of romance and hope. A song that will inspire embrace and warmth of the heart, regretfully this is could not be further from the truth. This poem takes us into the depths of J. Alfred Prufrock, someone who holds faltering doubt and as a result may never come to understand real love. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” takes us through Prufrock’s mindset and his self-doubting and self-defeating thoughts. With desolate imagery, a tone that is known through the ages and delicate diction we see a man who is insecure, tentative and completely fearful.

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.

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

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.

Prufrock's dilemma represents the inability to live a meaningful existence in the modern world.[24] McCoy and Harlan wrote "For many readers in the 1920s, Prufrock seemed to epitomize the frustration and impotence of the modern individual. He seemed to represent thwarted desires and modern disillusionment."[22]

Although rejection is a rational fear, Prufrock allowed it to overwhelm him like his other fears and flaws. Prufrock showed a tendency to let his fears dictate his life. The fear of rejection caused and prevented him from fulfilling his desires, such as spending time with his mystery woman. He possessed dreams and aspirations, like many people, but the possibility of rejection stopped him from achieving these dreams. For example, Prufrock daydreamed of inviting a lover to lie with him, “Asleep ... tired... or it malingers, Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me,” (Eliot 824). Although this was a dream of his, Prufrock did not try to achieve this because he could barely speak to a woman. He spoke of women coming and going several times

“Let us go then, you and I, (1).” We are being offered an invitation into Prufrock’s world. As you read on you see

From stanza 10, ‘Is it perfume from a dress/That makes me so digress?”Prufrock once again asks questions. Perfume and a dress, they are all possession coming from a woman. A heterosexual man should be feeling interested in a dress or a bottle of perfume but Prufrock does not feel this way. He feels as if those are the things that he is least interested in. He still does not know for sure that he is a homosexual. The last line of stanza 8 ,9 and 10 ,”So how should I presume?/And how should I presume?/And should I then presume?/And how should I begin?”It is seen that Prufrock is lost. He does not know his way. He does not know what to think. He is not sure if he should act base on how he feels or the rules from the

Having decided not to try, Prufrock questions whether his efforts would have been worthwhile. He believes that he can not relate to the women that which he feels, 'It is impossible to say just what I mean!'; (line 104). He rationalizes his fear by imagining that his speaking to the women would not have achieved any real response. He further imagines the women saying, 'That is not what I meant at all, /

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 attempting to ground himself in reality when he says the he is “not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be”. He doesn’t have to “prepare a face” whenever he goes into society or interacts with women in general, because he accepts the fact that he has “seen the moment of [his] greatness flicker”. Prufrock is overcoming his constant paranoia that whatever he does is never enough. But all of his self-reassurance is torn down when he starts to overcompensate and become “full of high sentence”. Prufrock realizes that his job is to be an “easy tool” and that anybody

In Milton Hindus’ “On the Question of Prufrock”, he begins by stating that Prufrock, at first glance, does not know what he is contemplating. After this initial assumption, the next plausible assumption would be that Prufrock’s love song is a proposal to a woman, however, Hindus then brings in arguments from literary textbooks to suggest that rather than Prufrock’s love story representing a proposal, it is instead a mere proposition, which explains the gentle nature rejection that he received. Hindus then refutes all of these claims, and instead suggests that Prufrock’s real purpose is to ask a metaphysical question about life experience. Going based off of an essay by David Hume, Hindus suggests that that Prufrock is contemplating his suicide

Alfred Prufrock is portrayed as being shy and timid when it comes to the women he wishes to address.