Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock 'And The Buried Life'

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.

Not only does Prufrock seem to be afraid of confronting woman talking of Michelangelo, he seems intimidated by the social settings he must engage in.

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.

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

Loneliness is a feeling that we have all felt here and there. A man in the poem “ The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S Eliot feels trapped which caused him to have disorders. Nothing has never changed from living in the same city and not using his time wisely. He tried numerous ways to approach women but his low self esteem stopped him from moving forward. Although Prufrock seems like a miserable person, Prufrock suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, and paranoia that caused him to feel this way.

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.

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 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

Throughout the poem, he contemplates if making decisions or taking risk would be the right thing for him to do. Unable to start nor hold conversations, especially with women, he seems to be living in a world that never changes. “For I have known them all already, known them all..” (Eliot, pg. 2525). Even though he tries to make progress, his irrational fear of failure inhibits him from taking any actions. Elliot presents Prufrock as the typical modern, urban man. He is an overeducated, sensitive, and articulate man who muses over missed opportunities about the opposite sex. “ I have measured my out my life in coffee spoons” (Eliot, pg. 2525). Prufrock is not your average alpha-male character, rather a wimpy male figure still trying to figure out

A major flaw that contributed to Prufrock’s fears of rejection and the future that would create his mid-life crisis was his lack of self-esteem. In the beginning of the poem, Prufrock tried to create an illusion of superiority and sophistication. However, his thoughts and actions later in the poem contradict this illusion to show his drastic low self-esteem. For example, the opinions of others showed to be a high priority on Prufrock’s list. He allowed the opinions of others to dictate his appearance. As Prufrock thought about socializing with others, he worriedly stated, “With a bald spot in the middle of my hair — (They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”),” (Eliot 823). He also worried about his clothes, stating he may wear his pants

In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, Alfred Prufrock is a man who is trying to prove, to the reader and to himself, what a man he is by trying to “sweet talk” us. He has three personalities: elusive, boastful, and truthful. Throughout the poem, the speaker intentionally switches between the elusive and the boastful, but occasionally the truthful man shines through the shed light on the deception. In the beginning, Prufrock is walking us around and telling us about the scenery. He keeps alluding to a big question he wants to discuss, but never actually asks the question. He continues to talk about the London fog and happenings of life. He then tries to convince us he is an intelligent, worldly man. He reminds me of a politician filibustering

Throughout The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock T.S. Eliot uses numerous methods to create a narrative for his character while he also enhances the significant meanings of his poem: unrequited love, lack of time and missed opportunities. By incorporating other acclaimed works of literature to resonate in sync with allusions cited, Eliot only strengthens the themes he’s trying to mention. The speaker of the poem Alfred Prufrock is characterized as a pessimistic, frail man “with a bald spot in the middle of his hair” (line 39) who holds many regrets towards his indecisiveness and lack of confidence when it comes to women in particular. The literary devices that are assimilated throughout the poem, ranging from imagery to personification, also help readers build a connection to real-life problems from the issues Prufrock is experiencing as introduced by Eliot. Altogether, each quote included in the poem holds minute components that translate to a bigger meaning of Prufrock’s self-conscious personality.

He asks "do I dare" as a way of trying to escape the situation. "Do I dare, disturb the universe" (45-46). Prufrock's state of thought at this moment is that if he were to take a chance at something he would somehow change the direction of the universe. It can be considered as another excuse for Prufrock to back out and live his monotonous life. Prufrock feels he cannot hide from his own insecurities when stating :"My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—(They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!")"(43-44). Here, Prufrock states another reason as to why he should not step out of his comfort zone. He believes he cannot hide from his own insecurities which allow him to not do anything with his life. The question do I dare reflects Prufrock's second-guessing of himself when it comes to trying to fit in to places he deems not suitable for himself.

As time passes, he enters scary, foggy streets where the reading feels mysterious as he keeps talking about the question, but procrastinating saying it and asking to himself if he dares. When he arrives to the whorehouse, which can be assumed by the description of the place and the women, Prufrock observes the women and boasts about knowing them all, but centers in describing the arm hairs of one specific woman and her perfume in the dress. The speaker keeps thinking to himself how should he presume. He tries to presume but does not know what to presume to impress her as he has not done anything worthy. Assuming he is watching the girl of his dreams, it can be assumed that he is on his way of confessing his love towards her but he never dares because of his insecurities; the question must be a love

Throughout this famous poem, the main character presents many different characteristics of a modern man. One big thing that J. Alfred Prufrock presents are his feelings of insecurity and unworthiness. “With a bald spot in the middle of my hair --- [They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”]” (Eliot 1915). This particular quote tells the reader that Prufrock is very concerned with the opinions of other people. It signifies the rejection that the character feels in his life, but also, this strengthens the fear of rejection from the woman he loves. Prufrock is a very self-conscious man. This obvious obsession with his self-image and confidence is truly what keeps Prufrock from living life to its full