The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot is a poem unlike any I have ever read before. The poem starts off with the speaker taking what seems to be a potential lover along for a walk. The speaker first describes their surroundings and says that “the evening is spread out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table” and that “the streets follow like a tedious argument”. The sky is described as someone who has been anesthetized, someone who can’t feel anything. The streets are like an argument, something that can tear two people apart. The similes used make the setting seem dark and dreary. The speaker then brings up that he has a question he wishes to

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot is not a love song at all—but an insight into the mind of an extremely self-conscious, middle-aged man. Prufrock struggles in coping with the world he is living in—a world where his differences make him feel lonely and alienated. Eliot uses allusions and imagery, characterization, and the society Prufrock lives in to present how Prufrock partly contributes to his own alienation. Our ability of self-awareness separates us from other species, making humans more intelligent and giving people the upper hand in social settings, but, like Prufrock, it can sometimes cause us to feel alienated.

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.

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.

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

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.

Additionally, Prufrock is surrounded by a scene where impermanence reigns, where “women come and go talking of Michelangelo” and people seem less than eager to understand that time is of the essence. Prufrock longs to repeatedly convince himself that “there will be time” for anything he wishes to do, be it “murder and create” or “prepare a face to meet the faces that [he will] meet” (Eliot 27-28). However, he understands the precariousness of time, namely that it is a precious, finite resource that does not allow for an infinite number of modifications to one’s own life. A “hundred…revisions” to Prufrock’s lifestyle would not really matter if all of these are delicate enough such that “a minute will reverse” them anyway (Eliot 33, 48). Prufrock understands the grim underlying reality that there is not much time after all and implies this society in which he lives is drenched in its “empty fullness of its life” (Schneider 1104). In fact, the promise of time is a false consolation here, a “pathological insistence” by Prufrock to scrape up the seconds as they quickly fall through his fingers (Cahill 8).

J. Alfred Prufrock has internalized all comments others have made about him – regarding his appearance and age – which in turn influence his thoughts throughout the poem. J. Alfred Prufrock describes his dislike in himself, in his appearance, such that he feels he looks too old. J. Alfred Prufrock repeatedly returns to his appearance such as, while lamenting over his decision, when he describes “a bald spot in the middle of [his] hair” (Eliot 7. 40), demonstrative of his feelings that he looks too old. He then goes on to say “(They will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin’)” (Eliot 7. 41), in reference to others who have made comments about him. J. Alfred

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

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.

Eliot’s, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, he describes the internal war in the mind of his protagonist, one of loneliness, lust, and social awkwardness. Prufrock’s fear of judgement stops him in his tracks when he considers an attempt to make conversation, especially with women, who he seems impossibly unlucky with. While his peers focus on superficial matters, “In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo” (Eliot 13-14), Prufrock longs for something more profound and meaningful, but holds his tongue, knowing it would be detrimental to his already low social standing. He asks, “Do I dare / Disturb the universe? / In a minute there is time / For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse” (Eliot 45-46). Eliot begs the question; Is being one's true self worth the risk of not fitting

Prufrock begins his “Love” song with a peculiar quote from Dante’s Divine Comedy. It reads: “If I believed that my answer were to a person who could ever return to the world, this flame would no longer quiver. But because no one ever returned from this depth, if what I hear is true, without fear of infamy, I answer you.” In the Divine Comedy these lines are spoken by a damned soul who had sought absolution before committing a crime. I think that Eliot chose this quote to show that Prufrock is also looking for absolution, but for what he is unsure.

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.

Aspects of Mood Presented Through Setting in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and "Something Whispered in the Shakuhachi"

T.S. Eliot was an outstanding author and an exemplary representation of the ideas of modernism. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," despite being one of T.S Eliot's earliest publications, still manages to remain one of the most famous. He uses this poem to not only draw out the psychological aspect of members of modern society, but also to draw out the aspect of the time that he lived in. The speaker of this poem is a modern man who feels alone, isolated, and incapable of making decisive actions for himself. Prufrock desires to speak to a woman about his love for her, but he continuously hesitates while attempting to do so. This poem demonstrates a theme of fragmentation, which is a theme that we can see throughout the entire