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Eliot, T. S. ‘The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock.’
Interpretive questions for T.S Eliot the love song of J alfred prufrock
Interpretive questions for T.S Eliot the love song of J alfred prufrock
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Prufrock isn't your classic heroic alpha-male. He is symbolic of the modern man. Prufrock is overeducated, fearful, overly sensitive, articulate and poetic. He ponders about missed opportunities and questions unanswered about the opposite sex. This is the modern man, not strong and silent but vulnerable and accessible. He represents the modern man by openly displaying disillusionment and vulnerability. Eliot personally feels that modern man has an exiguous view on the quality of life and the truly important things. His character, J. Alfred Prufrock, represents all characteristics of a modern man that Eliot loathes. For example, Prufrock is obsessed with appearance and age and he exhibits deficient communication skills.
The poem centers on a
He is deeply distressed over the fact that he is growing old, and feels that the prime of his life has passed him by. His obsession with time throughout the poem exemplifies his fear of aging. He is a man experiencing a mid-life crisis, brought about by his perception of aging and his own feelings of inadequacy. J. Alfred Prufrock is a man caught in a trap of constant self-examination and indecision. “And time yet for a hundred indecisions, and for a hundred visions and revisions.” (32, 33) He has no confidence in himself mentally or physically. He cannot make a decision and act on it because of his feelings of inadequacy and his deep fear of rejection. Although Alfred is seemingly prosperous, He still fears that society will judge him because of his balding head and thin, aging body. “With a bald spot in the middle of my hair— they will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin!’” (39-40) Prufrock sees himself as a victim of social status. He believes that he is constantly being analyzed by others and that he has been alienated from society. However, Prufrock’s way of life is sad being that he is insecure, unable to make clear decisions, melodramatic, and reserved. It is clear that in order to get what he wants, Prufrock must be realistic, accept his life and his personality. In the poem, Prufrock’s main interest lies in the upper-class women, ‘in the room the women come and go/ Talking of
S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is not a poem about love, at least not in any traditional sense. Rather It is a collection of the disjointed thoughts of a man without any self-esteem. Far from being about love, it is about one man’s incapability to love himself or the world around him. It is the cynical statement of a man who does not believe good things will ever happen to him, or that the world has anything to offer him. The title is bitterly ironic because Prufrock does not love anybody, not even himself, nor does he believe that any one could ever love
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is about a timid and downcast man in search of meaning, of love, and in search of something to break from the dullness and superficiality which he feels his life to be. Eliot lets us into Prufrock's world for an evening, and traces his progression of emotion from timidity, and, ultimately, to despair of life. He searches for meaning and acceptance by the love of a woman, but falls miserably because of his lack of self-assurance. Prufrock is a man for whom, it seems, everything goes wrong, and for whom there are no happy allowances. The emptiness and shallowness of Prufrock's "universe" and of Prufrock himself are evident from the very beginning of the poem. He cannot find it in himself to tell the woman what he really feels, and when he tries to tell her, it comes out in a mess. At the end of the poem, he realizes that he has no big role in life.
Eliot, T.S.. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." An Introduction to Poetry. 13th ed. Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Boston: Little, Brown, 1966. 369-372. Print.
The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a poem that was written by T. S Eliot. The poem introduces the character, Prufrock, as a man who is very pessimistic about everything and is incapable of change. Prufrock sees the society he lives in as a place that is full of people who think alike, and he thinks he is different from them. Though Prufrock, realizes that the society he is associated with needs a change and have more people who think differently, but the fact that he is very concerned about what people would think of him if he tries to speak up to make a change or that he would be ignored or be misunderstood for whatever he says hindered him from expressing himself the way he would like to. Prufrock then decides not to express himself in order to avoid any type of rejection. In the poem, Prufrock made use of several imagery and metaphor to illustrate how he feels about himself and the society he is involved in. Prufrock use of imageries and
Eliot and Kafka characterize their respective characters as having negative self-images, a prior lack of success, and as being fundamentally lonely. Prufrock views himself as undesirable, and his self-image seems to grow worse with age. While Prufrock has the chance early on to make something of his life, he sits in a room, presumably one in which there is a display of artwork, and “the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo” (ll. 13-14). Prufrock goes by unnoticed next to what could be the beautiful works of Michelangelo. It can especially be presumed that he feels inadequate next to the Statue of David, a sculpture for which Michelangelo is famous. As time goes on, his feelings of inadequacy increase when he begins to fear what others will think of his aged appearance, for “They will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin!’” and “They will say: ‘But how his arms and legs are thin!’” (ll. 41, 44). Prufrock’s lack of self-confid...
In T.S. Eliot’s poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, he describes a man who is self
T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 2. ed. M. H. Abrams New York, London: Norton, 1993.
T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” tells the speaker’s story through several literary devices, allowing the reader to analyze the poem through symbolism, character qualities, and allusions that the work displays. In this way, the reader clearly sees the hopelessness and apathy that the speaker has towards his future. John Steven Childs sums it up well in saying Prufrock’s “chronic indecision blocks him from some important action” (Childs). Each literary device- symbolism, character, and allusion- supports this description. Ultimately, the premise of the poem is Prufrock second guessing himself to no end over talking to a woman, but this issue represents all forms of insecurity and inactivity.
Prufrocks next thoughts tell of his old age and his lack of will to say what is on his mind. He mentions his bald spot in his hair and his thin arms and legs. This suggests that he knows he is growing old, and therefore contradicts what he had mentioned earlier in the poem about having plenty of time. Throughout the poem he is indecisive and somewhat aloof from the self-involved group of women. One part of him would like to startle them out of their frustratingly polite conversations and express his love for her, but to accomplish this he would have to risk disturbing their ?universe? and being rejected. He also mentions ?sprawling on a pin?, as though he pictures himself being pinned in place and viciously analyzed like that of an insect being literally pinned in place. The latter part of the poem captures his sense of overwhelming lack of willpower for failing to act daringly, not only at that tea party, but throughout his life.
Eliot, T.S.. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1996. 2459-2463.
T.S. Eliot has been one of the most daring innovators of twentieth-century poetry. His poem“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, is different and unusual. He rejects the logic connection, thus, his poems lack logic interpretation. He himself justifies himself by saying: he wrote it to want it to be difficult. The dissociation of sensibility, on the contrary, arouses the emotion of readers immediately. This poem contains Prufrock’ s love affairs. But it is more than that. It is actually only the narration of Prufrock, a middle-aged man, and a romantic aesthete , who is bored with his meaningless life and driven to despair because he wished but
Modernism is demonstrated in this poem when Prufrock talks about the setting and tone with his own modern thoughts. This poem is not set in a countryside area and shows the sadness with the movement from one society to a different society. Prufrock quotes, “With a bald spot in the middle of my hair— ” (Eliot 659). This indicates that Prufrock has nobody to speak to and is suffering from
The title T. S. Eliot chose for his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is ironic. Mr. Prufrock does not love anyone, nor does he believe he is loved. He has disdain for the society of which he wishes he were a part, and he believes society views him no differently. The imagery of Mr. Prufrock's thoughts provide the audience a more detailed insight into his character than had Mr. Eliot simply listed Mr. Prufrock's virtues and flaws. Mr. Prufrock is seen as an exaggeration or extreme for the sake of literary commentary, but the world has many Prufrocks in many differing degrees, and T. S. Eliot has made them a little easier to understand.
Prufrock, the narrator of the poem, is a middle-aged man who is living a life void of meaning and purpose. His thoughts are depressing as he mulls over his dull, uneventful life. One of his most crippling traits is cowardice. He's v...
The importance of women to Prufrock was that they seemed to be crucial issue for Prufrock to connect to . Eliot used women as a very relatable relationship that not all of us are able to make in our lives. Evidence for Prufrock not fitting in are used by Eliot by him suggesting that women will judge him “With a bald spot in the middle of my hair /[They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”]. This is important to the author’s idea of Prufrock not fitting into the world around him because he uses women as a bench mark for this with the judgment he feels in the next line; My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin/ [They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”]. This is a reference by Eliot to how women will judge Prufrock therefore not giving him the acceptance he desires. Eliot makes Prufrock wait to talk to women. Prufrock makes excuses as to why he cannot connect to those around him. This is evident in the text with Prufrock expressing his displeasure with his predicament by not wanting to “disturb the universe.” This important because Prufrock sees himself as a disturbance feeling as though he cannot connect to the women around him. He sees visions of his own self image which is supported by: “For I have known them all already, known them all.” This is important to Prufrock not connecting to his world because he sees others around him and thinks that he will disturb the woman’s peace with his presence. Prufrock feels very uncomfortable making connections with women much as if he is “ sprawling on a
Another line that is correlated to the theme of time is, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons” (line 51). These two sets of lines as almost contradictory. In, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons” (line 51) Prufrock seems to be aware of the passing of time, his life passing by before his eyes and nothing changing, and an anxiety building within due to this phenomenon. On the other hand, the lines, "There will be time, there will be time/To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;" (26-27) demonstrate Prufrock putting off his actions for later, which ultimately leads him to the frustration of his time passing by. Furthermore, this prominent theme of time brings forward the question, exactly how much time has Prufrock been pursuing this lover without taking action? Days? Years? From his demonstrated unwise use of time, one can argue an extended amount of time has gone by where Prufrock has not taken