Prufrock Analysis

We may never be given a second chance to do something daring ever again so we seize the day! However, people like in J. Alfred Prufrock make the attempt to do but it doesn’t work. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” written by T.S. Elliot, essentially is about a simple man that wishes to ask a question, although the question is never revealed, the reader is taken on journey the with the speaker, only to find that they have spent a lengthy amount of time of their lives without ever asking the question. Even more so, this poem is illustrates the idea that we must confront reality and take advantage or never take the chance. This claim is supported through poetic and rhetoric elements, such as repetition, and symbolism.

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.

He also says such things as the of his thinning hair and his resulting bald spot in order to indicate the passage of age and the importance he feels now that he is past his prime: "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) This shows Prufrock's fear of being laughed at.

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

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.

At first glance lines forty-nine through sixty-one seem to be about him wanting death. This, however, is not the case. Furthermore, we see him asking himself what he should do if he does come out and tell people of his sexuality. He is weighing the possibilities and the reprocutions of his decision. He finnaly comes to the conclusion that evrything is alright now and he does not want to disturb this peacfulness. Line eighty-seven clearly tells us that he did not come out. Yet he is also second guessing his decision. No, he tells himself, it would not have been worth his own morality to ruin everyones perfect picture of himself. Prufrock would miss the boring events, or would he?

The monologue style of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” is interesting because it doesn’t clearly identify whether or not the speaker is talking to another person or his inner self. A monologue is like a conversation, but uses the language of poetry. This particular dramatic monologue tells the story of J. Alfred Prufrock, a man who is so wracked with insecurity and worried about how others perceive him that he is afraid to live his life.

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

The poem “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock” by T.S Eliot is one extended metaphor depicting the trials the character must go through in his attempt to achieve his quest for the ideal. In this case, the ideal is the world inhabited by the ladies he wants to talk to. The perils the character, Prufrock, has to contend with are low self-esteem and his fear of rejection. The poet illustrates his character’s low self-esteem with the image that Prufrock paints of himself as a man “With a bald spot in the middle of my hair” (39). Prufrock’s poor self-image is also evident in his

The human psyche has perpetually been characterized by a nagging sense of doubt. When one makes the decision to follow through (or, rather, not follow through) with an action, it is unlikely that he does so without questioning whether he made the right choice; this is recurring theme in literature, evident in works such as Crime and Punishment and A Separate Peace. T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock explores the universal nature of hesitation and self-doubt as part of the human condition primarily through apt use of metaphor, syntax, and allusion.

The Story of Prufrock starts out with him deciphering with himself if he should make this “change” in his life; he has always been a loner who only observes the world, instead of joining it, but

Despite his initial determination and desire to make his feeling knowns, Prufrock finally decides, in lines 111-131, that he doesn't have the willpower to declare his love.