Modern Man in T. S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

The first stanza introduces Prufrock’s isolation, as epitomized metaphorically by “half-deserted streets” (4): while empty streets imply solitude, Eliot’s diction emphasize Prufrock having been abandoned by the other “half” needed for a relationship or an “argument” (8). Hoping for a companion, Prufrock speaks to the reader when

From the works: “Notes from Underground” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison, the reader sees that two people, by trying to become their own individual person, can be alienated from society for different reasons. If we are to allow people to become an individual, it is crucial we stop seeing people as part of a group’s

By looking through a critical lens at T Stearns Eliot’s poetry in light of his 20th century, modernist context, much is revealed about his personal and the rapidly evolving societal beliefs of that era. Through his repeating motif of time and fragmentation throughout his poems, Eliot reveals the prevalent feelings of isolation while in society along with the need to hide one’s feelings and emotions in this degrading society. His exploration of the use of ambiguity and stream of consciousness by Eliot, which is a characteristic of modernist artists, allows his work to resound over decades while being interpreted and differently understood by every audience that encounters them.

People base their judgement of others through the way they talk, act, dress, and live. In the memoir Us and Them by David Sedaris, young Sedaris wants to know how the Tomkeys, his neighbors, live their lives without a television. His curiosity causes him to spy on the family during the day and night. Even though the Tomkeys may seem strange and not “normal,” Sedaris learns that he, himself, is not a perfect individual either. Sedaris uses allusions, irony, and first person point of view to deliver his message that people need to stop judging others and look at themselves instead.

American born poet, T.S. Eliot reflects modernistic ideas of isolation, individual perception and human consciousness in his many poems. His poems express the disillusionment of the post–World War I generation with both literary and social values and traditions. In one of Eliot’s most famous poems, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” which was published in 1915, a speaker who is very unhappy with his life takes readers on a journey through the hell he is living in. In this journey, Prufrock criticizes the well-dressed, upstanding citizens who love their material pleasures more than they love other people, while explaining he feels ostracized from the society of women. Eliot’s use of isolation, human consciousness and individual perception is quite evident in his dramatic monologue within the story of J. Alfred Prufrock. Prufrock wants to be seen as a normal citizen who can find friends or a lover, but his anxiety-driven isolation forces him to live a life that relates more to Hell than paradise. In over examining every fine detail of his life, Prufrock perceives himself as useless and even a waste of life. By using many poetic devices including repetition, personification, and imagery Eliot drives readers to feel the painful reality of Prufrock’s life. In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” T.S Eliot uses modernistic ideas and poetic devices to portray how Prufrock’s life relates to Hell while simultaneously criticizing social aspects of the younger post–World War I generation.

In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, the speaker, Prufrock feels alienated

One’s individuality and freedom are questioned when it does not conform to society’s ideals. This is often demonstrated in real life, as well as in popular literary pieces.

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

The use of allusions bring a sense of intimacy between reader and author. Prufrock wishes to be comforted.

Modernism has created a world that has the ability to adapt to the standards of society. The poem “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Elliot, is a dramatic monologue which talks explicitly about a modern man named J. Alfred Prufrock who is from the late nineteenth century and early twentieth, during a transitional era of traditional norms to modernism. Throughout the poem, Prufrock has an unknown factor pertaining him; his view on his life has a way of illustrating to his readers a pure uncertainty with who he is as a person, something which is outrageous because he develops a specific view on women in the poem. Since, he likes a women in the monologue, Prufrock feels a need to be very specific on what he is doing with her and when is he going to do it. By doing this, he finds a way to find out who he is as a person in society. In the poem, “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S Eliot, Prufrock’s view on life is of someone who is lost in their thoughts about their self-identity in the world, shown through the use of modernism and time relativity in the poem. This creates a self reflection on how people view their own life based upon Prufrock view on his in the sonnet.

J. Alfred Prufrock constantly lived in fear, in fear of life and death. T. S. Eliot divided his classic poem into three equally important sections. Each division provided the reader with insight into the mental structure of J. Alfred Prufrock. In actuality, Prufrock maintained a good heart and a worthy instinct, but he never seemed to truly exist. A false shadow hung over his existence. Prufrock never allowed himself to actually live. He had no ambitions that would drive him to succeed. The poem is a silent cry for help from Prufrock. In each section, T. S. Eliot provided his audience with vague attempts to understand J. Alfred Prufrock. Each individual reader can only interpret these

This disdain of superficiality contributes to Prufrock's inclination to avoid interactions with those who conformed to the shallow behavior that characterized the period's social decorum. He feels that everyone involved is putting on airs, participating in meaningless gatherings in order to accomplish nothing, much like the measuring of coffee spoons.

Eliot is not solely criticising modern life in the poem, it also serves as a reflection of Eliot’s social context and his own life, a product of its time.

Prufrock’s inability to show and portray love is shown through the refrains and rhetorical questions,” there will be time” and “how should I presume?” which structurally reveal his inability to make progress in life as they recur regularly. Imagery of crab-like features such as, “a pair of ragged claws,” symbolizing his inability to move forward as crabs scuttle sideways while the synechoche stresses him as incomplete and broken. As a modernist poet, Eliot was contextually influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis with the portrayal of the character’s subconscious, enhancing my ability understand Prufrock’s inertia. His hyperbolic statement, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” metaphorically signifies his fear of being into mundane social situations and routines if he joins his lady’s world, while the metaphor of being “pinned and wriggling on the wall” reveals his paralysis. This leads Prufrock to exist in a very imptent state which Cleanth Brooks argues is Eliot’s judgement on the whole culture”. Hence the context, language and perspectives of other on ‘Prufrock shape my personal view of the human experience of paralysis givng the peom an enduring

   Thomas Stearns Eliot was not a revolutionary, yet he revolutionized the way the Western world writes and reads poetry. Some of his works were as imagist and incomprehensible as could be most of it in free verse, yet his concentration was always on the meaning of his language, and the lessons he wished to teach with them. Eliot consorted with modernist literary iconoclast Ezra Pound but was obsessed with the traditional works of Shakespeare and Dante. He was a man of his time yet was obsessed with the past. He was born in the United States, but later became a royal subject in England. In short, Eliot is as complete and total a