Analysis Of The Lovesong Of J. Alfred Prufrock

937 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Poetic techniques used in eliots prufrock

1. Who is J. Alfred Prufrock? The answer is not stated in the poem. You will have to make an argument and defend it. • I think that in the Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot, J. Alfred Prufrock is the narrator and he starts off as being a young man maybe in his twenties and throughout the poem he gets progressively older, becoming middle-aged and then elderly. “Let us go, through certain half deserted streets; The muttering retreats; Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels… Oh, do not ask, ‘What is it?’; Let us go and make our visit; In the room the women come and go,” (Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot, lines 10 – 19). To me, the above passage describes drunken nights with one-night stands, whose only purpose …show more content…

Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot is the Narrators’ hair. The hair is mentioned in three separate parts of the story and its gradual changes that irk the Narrator. “With a bald spot in the middle of my hair; (They will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin!’),” (Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot, lines 46 – 47). The Narrator is vainly interested in what people will think about his growing baldness, not because he doesn’t like it but because he doesn’t like the idea of people making a fuss about it. This depicts the Narrator’s age perfectly because most young people, prior to 30, embarrass easily and focus on the exterior issues more than the interior issues. “But though I have wept and fasted wept and prayed; Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter,” (Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot, lines 86 – 88). The Narrator continue the middle-age crisis trend by weeping over his loss of attraction because not only does he feel it slipping away and becoming a distant memory but there is physical proof for everyone to clearly see; that he is aging. “I grow old… Shall I part my hair behind?”, (Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot, lines 127 – 129). I find this bit kind of humorous because to me it entails that the Narrators no longer has any hair on the top of his hair but only on the edges of his skull. In my mind when the Narrator describes parting his hair, it looks like those older people with the long balding ponytails that are usually found at the

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Winterbourne and Prufrock

    594 Words  | 2 Pages

    "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.

    Read More

  • Prufrock by Eliot

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    Prufrock by Eliot In his poem, Eliot paints the picture of an insecure man looking for his niche in society. Prufrock has fallen in with the times, and places a lot of weight on social status and class to determine his identity. He is ashamed of his personal appearance and looks towards social advancement as a way to assure himself and those around him of his worth and establish who he is. Throughout the poem, the reader comes to realize that Prufrock has actually all but given up on himself and now sees his balding head and realizes that he has wasted his life striving for an unattainable goal.

    Read More

  • Women In The Lovesong Of J Alfred Prufrock

    386 Words  | 1 Pages

    a man named Prufrock. Prufrock, at first glance, has a cool composure. He leads his

    Read More

  • The Pitiful Prufrock of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

    1314 Words  | 3 Pages

    prophet like Lazarus or a prince like Hamlet, and he slips into the safety of a

    Read More

  • T.S. Elliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    First, Eliot weaves several layers of symbolism into Prufrocks’s narrative. This ambiguity shows largely through the vehicle of the yellow fog, which Eliot personifies with cat-like characteristics using phrases such as, “…rubs its back…rubs its muzzle on the window-panes” and “…curled once about the house, and fell asleep” in reference to the mist (Eliot). This feline depiction of the city smog creates an eerie setting which serves to further the tone of unsteadiness in Prufrock’s ramblings. The seeping movements of the fog also mirror the uncontrolled movements of Prufrock’s thoughts and his polluted self-concept which causes him to question his every move to no end (Childs). The smog is uncontainable and indefinable, much like Prufrock’s emotions when dependent upon his non-existent actions (Childs). In another instance, Eliot breaks up the deep, incessant wanderings of the speaker’s mind with the phrase, “In the room the women come and go talking of Michaelangelo” (Eliot). These women symbolize the society in which Pr...

    Read More

  • Response to The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

    452 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” as the Embodiment of the Modern Conscience

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eliot uses a number of notably modern techniques to construct his 'love song' which is, ironically, not a lyrical praise of beauty or confession of undying devotion. Instead, the reader is invited to explore the mind of a nervous man, presumably middle-aged due to the reference the "bald spot in the middle of [his] hair" (40), who is apprehensive about attending social functions where "the women come and go/Talking of Michelangelo" (13-14). This refrain, repeated in lines 35-36, represents the nature of the socialites that Prufrock encounters, individuals that use an i...

    Read More

  • An Analysis of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

    1939 Words  | 4 Pages

    By a correct reading of "Prufrock," I mean a reading consistent with the central theme of the poet's belief made mute because the poet lives in a culture of unbelief--that is, the "silence" of the poetic vision in modernity. Prufrock renounces his inherited, romantic role as "poet as prophet" and renounces poetry's role as a successor to religion. The future of poetry may have once been immense, but that future no longer exists for Prufrock, who is faced not only with the certainty of the rejection of his poetic vision but also with a situation in which there are no grounds for rhetoric: "That is not what I meant at all. / That is not it, at all." Fear of rejection leads Prufrock to the ultimate silencing of the prophet and hero within himself, to being "a pair of ragged claws." He cannot share his poetic vision of life: to do so would threaten the very existence of that life. Paradoxically, not to share his light, his "words among mankind," threatens the loss ...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Love Song Of Prufrock

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Emotion in T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first stanza introduces Prufrock’s isolation, as epitomized metaphorically by “half-deserted streets” (4): while empty streets imply solitude, Eliot’s diction emphasize Prufrock having been abandoned by the other “half” needed for a relationship or an “argument” (8). Hoping for a companion, Prufrock speaks to the reader when saying, “Let us go then, you and I” (1), as he needs to address his lament to an audience; conscious of the reader’s curiosity regarding the “overwhelming question,” (10) Prufrock answers, “Oh, do not ask, ‘What is it?’” (11). (The likely explanation for Eliot’s inconsistent use of you in this stanza is Prufrock probably meaning you as “To lead one,” as he refers to himself and not the reader in line 10.) Eliot continues the metaphor of Prufrock’s lonesomeness by anthropomorphizing the “yellow fog” and “smoke” (15, 16) to signify Prufrock, who interacts not with people, but only the environment in the third, fourth, and fifth stanzas. Clearly it is Prufrock who “rubs [his] muzzle on the window-panes” (15, 16), passively lets “fall upon [his] back the soot that falls from chimneys” (19), “slides along the street” (24), and performs the actions also described; also, the opacity of “fog” and “smoke” symbolizes the difficulty with which readers perceive Prufrock’s true character, further separating ...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of T. S. Eliot's The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are a few instances in the poem that refer to Prufrock as an introverted person distinguishing him from typical people today. For instance, in the poem Prufrock says “I

    Read More

  • The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

    1253 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 Prufrock lives in.

    Read More

  • J Alfred Prufrock Literary Devices

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T.S. Eliot, is the story of the life of a man. It tells of a man reminiscing over his life, regretting decisions that he made. Of a man who is thinking back on his life, and toward the end, it is told how the man is closely approaching death. He wants to be able to escape it, but alas, cannot, and, in the end, he dies. In The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot expresses a sense of regret using literary devices, such as imagery, metaphors, and allusion.

    Read More

  • Prufrock Themes

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” T.S Eliot uses a man named Prufrock to describe the uncertainties in life and how they affect a person views. Prufrock does not have the confidence to give or receive love. There is an equally amount of unhappiness to the concept of time and space. He is unsatisfied with life and with the decisions to think rather than act. He claims that there will be much time to do things in the social world. Prufrock is more of an anti-hero that is controlled by fear. T.S Eliot uses tone, allusions, and imagery to explain a man’s inability to make decisions and his own self confidence in life in which he is afraid of the outlook of his future by being misunderstood.

    Read More

  • The Character of J. Alfred Prufrock

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    T. S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" reveals the unvoiced inner thoughts of a disillusioned, lonely, insecure, and self-loathing middle-aged man. The thoughts are presented in a free association, or stream of consciousness style, creating images from which the reader can gain insight into Mr. Prufrock's character. Mr. Prufrock is disillusioned and disassociated with society, yet he is filled with longing for love, comfort, and companionship. He is self-conscious and fearful of his image as viewed through the world's eye, a perspective from which he develops his own feelings of insignificance and disgust. T. S. Eliot uses very specific imagery to build a portrait of Mr. Prufrock, believing that mental images provide insight where words fail.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of The Lovesong Of J. Alfred Prufrock

Open Document