The Lovesong Of J Alfred Prufrock Analysis Essay

T. S. Eliot introduces “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” with an Italian quote, which is undoubtedly not indicative of a love song. Essentially, alerting the reader to an impending twist to their early expectations, regarding the title. The epigraph is an excerpt from Dante’s Inferno, Canto 27.61-66. In the Eighth Circle of Hell, Count Guido has been damned for all eternity due to giving fraudulent guidance, and when he meets Dante (who he also believes to be damned), Guido divulges his identity and his sins (Raffa). If one doesn’t take the time to translate the epigraph, the poem could seem bewilderingly incongruous with its title about love. Nonetheless, if one investigates the Inferno epigraph, there’s the impression that Eliot’s poem

In the epigraph, Guido speaks of his sins due to his perception that living people won’t hear about them, and will therefore still hold him in regard, as he believes Hell is eternal, and that Dante is unable to leave (Raffa). Prufrock equates his life to an unrelenting hell, close to that of Guido’s. “Prufrock’s appropriation of these lines [Inferno epigraph] might suggest a similar horror to being quoted” (McCullough). When addressing the “other” other side of himself, Prufrock’s inner-thoughts are uncomfortable secrets, ones he’s hesitant to reveal to others. Though uneasy at revealing his secrets, he could think the revelations are in vain, for he sees everyone as damned and living double lives. Akin to Prufrock’s different facades, and his need to wear masks, to avoid dealing with reality. The private mask of rejection and contempt for himself and society, and a public mask of conformity. All to avoid more uninvited attention of his inadequacies. “Like Count Guido, the fraudulent Prufrock is also a self-deceiving man who uses hyperboles to avoid a situation” (Mandal and Arindam 3). Deception comes in many forms and incorporates lies, pretenses, and facades. This exemplifies how Prufrock and countless other people have different aspects of their identity, a public persona and one kept hidden. Prufrock claims that there’s

“Life is an ironic picture, a meaningless pattern endlessly repeated everywhere. The epigraph indicates [Prufrock’s] view of life’s futility, since death is inevitable” (Anderson and Walton 234). Prufrock’s reflections on mortality and aging lead him to become regretfully aware of wasted time, but also the pointlessness in making life decisions. Prufrock wants to postpone making any choices when he states, “Time for you and time for me / And time yet for a hundred revisions” (Eliot 31-32). Prufrock’s time on earth is finite, as is everyone’s. Despite this, he continues to show inaction in making changes to his life. In the Hell of the Inferno, the damned repeat the same actions over again, as a sentence for their meaningless lives, whereas Prufrock is trapped in inaction and a life that never varies. He’s aware that his life measures up as small and unimportant and relates this with the sentiment of “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons” (Eliot 51). He’s too scared to take chances, so he continues living a rigid life filled with mundane social routine. Though Prufrock’s emotional paralysis and emptiness stop him from making changes, it can’t stall time. He sounds mentally exhausted when he acknowledges “I grow old … I grow old …” (Eliot 120). Prufrock has an emotionally draining life, as one without