Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Gender Roles
In her essay, Beckham explains how her view of men—primarily her father—changed as she grew older. She uses lines from the poems “I Saw in Louisiana a Live-Oak Growing” by Walt Whitman and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot to support and illustrate her ideas. She treats the character from Whitman's poem as the strong, solid, "manly" person she used to view the men in her life as, whereas Eliot's character is nearly the opposite; a person who feels weak and insecure, unsure of his own worth and abilities. She draws on the differences between these poems throughout her essay, comparing and contrasting lines from each and relating them to anecdotes about her father, revealing how she began to see him differently. She ends her
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
“Come Up From the Fields, Father” vividly describes the colors of the trees during harvest. Whitman even asks if his readers can smell “the buckwheat where the bees were lately buzzing” (Whitman 86)? By asking questions with his word choice, Whitman triggers the sense of sound and smell. Once Whitman paints a clear picture of the setting, he creates a suspenseful feeling within the characters. The mother is called to read the letter from her son. Whitman mirrors suspense in the mother by describing her movements as trembling, and not caring enough to smooth her hair. He then delivers the news, that he has held his readers in suspense for, the family's only son is dead. The news is given blatantly but the information of death still evokes strong emotion. Whitman does not leave the pain there; he creates a startling picture of the mother’s depression after her loss. Her depression is dotted with untouched meals, fitful nights, weeping, and longing. The poem even hints at her depression turning suicidal as stated, “O that she might withdraw unnoticed, silent from life escape and withdraw/ To follow, to seek, to be with her dead son. (Whitman 86)” Using a vivid word selection, Whitman clearly tells of the agony families’ endured during the civil war
In his poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” T.S. Eliot subtly conveys a wide variety of Prufrock’s emotions; he creates pathos for the speaker by employing the “objective correlative,” which Eliot defines as “a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events [that] shall be the formula of that particular emotion” (“Hamlet and His Problems”).
J. Alfred Prufrock was a balding, middle-aged man who was insecure of his ability to converse with women. However, he implicitly danced with dishonesty and lived in an attitude of ignorance caused ironically through his lack of confidence in himself. Likewise, T.S. Eliot seems to have a monologue with himself as well as Prufrock that includes similar feelings of Prufrock’s character. For example, in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” Eliot reveals his personal insecurities in regard to writing modern public poetry in lines such as, “There will be time, there will be time/ to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;” (27-28) and, “Do I dare/ Disturb the universe?” (45-46). These lines enhance the reader’s understanding that Eliot ponders whether he should allow his poetry to go public; telling himself that he has time and more time to enter his writing into the universe of new literature to be judged by critics as Prufrock felt he would have been criticized by women who admired men in great positions. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” was most apparently written about Prufrock’s insecurity of women, but lines which contain dual meanings can be applied to both the main character and the author to indicate that Eliot is actually referring to his own anxieties of being an unsuccessful, modernistic poet whose voice could go unheard.
The poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T. S. Eliot, is in the unpleasant modern world era. Eliot portrays Prufrock as a middle-aged man who is aging and becoming bald. Prufrock is similar to Hell. The poem is a dramatic monologue that helps sets the personality. Prufrock takes us on a journey through a city that seems a lot like London. In the poem, he shows some imagery of “one-night cheap hotels” (line 6) and “sawdust restaurants” (line 7). He states women coming and going talking about Michelangelo, a famous painter from the Renaissance. Eliot uses much imagery as he allows the yellow fog to be vivid through the city. Prufrock is nervous, but sharp-looking. The poem requires involvement. The reader must observe with the mind’s
?The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock? has some immaculate imagery. T.S. Eliot uses figurative diction to create almost cinematic images in the readers mind, almost like a memory of their own. The imagery creates an incredible mood and atmosphere, and this evokes appropriately vivid feelings and emotions that all the same, feel eerily familiar and appeal to the senses of the reader. This is the case as the reader can relate to the personal feelings of Prufrock. Yet, the individual images, I consider are not the guiding force or theme of the poem. The constant and central theme of the poem is the dismissive tone of the self-cynical persona, Prufrock.
Throughout the early years of America, many new types and styles of writing started to appear. Among these styles, the ideas of Transcendentalism and self-reliance were prominent themes. Some of the main figures of Transcendentalism and self-reliance were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Both of these men promoted free-thinking through their work and actions and set a path that many after would follow. Among those who followed in their footsteps were Fredrick Douglas, Emily Dickinson, and Walt Whitman. All of these influential writers followed a theme throughout their writings that is best summarized by a quote from Emerson, “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” Douglas acted as a nonconformist by rebelling against his masters and teaching himself to read and write, Dickinson by rejecting traditional religious acts such as going to church and baptisms, and Whitman through his promotion of national identity. For their nonconformity, the majority viewed these fine writers as odd and strange; these views can be seen through each of the
Eliot is another example of capturing the moment in his poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. Eliot didn’t completely shy away from rhyming and structure like the other modernist poets of his time and he also used flowery language. This poem uses many similes and metaphors to explain what is going on. For example, he says, “the evening is spread out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table,” (Canvas). That use of a simile creates a much more vivid picture than saying the sky was dark and dreary. Throughout this entire poem, Eliot uses many things to describe exactly what he is talking about. In colloquial terms, this poem would be much less descriptive. Although most metaphors are left up to the reader’s interpretation, Eliot used metaphors to paint the exact picture he wants. According to the background of the reader, they will interpret the information differently. One’s experience with the cold is different for someone living in St. George as it would be for someone living in Chicago. If the writer was to just say that it was cold outside the reader from St. George could take that as meaning it was 60 degrees outside. Even if the writer were to report exactly what temperature it was, that doesn’t paint the same picture as saying something like every breath felt like icicles stabbing the back of your throat. Despite one’s background they can imagine what that would feel like. To ensure all his readers had similar experiences with this poem, Eliot doesn’t use simple terms. Eliot captures J. Alfred Prufrock in such despair and internal struggle so well. Eliot takes us through what the surrounding is like, what is going through Prufrock’s head, and what ultimately ends up happening. Eliot describes the moment so well that it feels as though the reader is there at the party, maybe even as
T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a poem which enters the dynamic consciousness of its title character, whose feelings, thoughts and emotions are displayed in a motley but organized sequence, as they ride the man's wavering mood. His is a mood wavering more often towards haplessness than fulfillment, because Prufrock is a man caught in a vicious cycle of introspection, journey, and retreat. More specifically, J. Alfred Prufrock, as developed by Eliot, is a man experiencing a mid life crisis, brought about by society, and sustained by his own fear and reluctance.
TS Eliot’s, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, is a dramatic monologue, from the view-point of a middle-class male. Many themes can be found in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, which will later define modernist or 20th century literature. Prufrock’s ultimate problem is caused by his own weakened fear of failure and his depressed outlook of the world. If Prufrock continues on this path his future will be a loveless one, hence the irony of the title, he cannot bring himself to articulate his emotions to another woman. This poem conveys the protagonist as someone who is indecisive and often has trouble relating to women; he fears having his sexual advances turned down. Eliot, forces the reader through an arduous “verbal maze”, while slowly revealing his intentions. The themes of fear of aging and mortality, alienation and regression can all be interpreted from this poem.
Both Browning and Eliot seek to improve upon the nature of the dramatic monologue. Browning emphasizes structure and a separation between the poet and the character which is reiterated by Eliot’s poem. Browning’s influence on Eliot can be seen by the form and structure of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” adding working intrinsically with the theme and subject of the work. However, Eliot deviates slightly from Browning by the portrayal of his characters, and the amount of information that he is willing to share with the reader. The intended message of Browning’s poem is much more apparent than Eliot’s who creates an open ended poem that can be interpreted differently by each reader.
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.
The entire poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” deals with one man’s total inability to be a part of any successful relationship with the opposite sex. Eliot portrays Prufroc...
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” a poem by T. S. Eliot, in which Eliot describes a man that was placed in the wrong time period. To do this, he references some of Prufrock’s characteristics from other authors, such as Shakespeare. Shymal Bagchee expresses his view on Eliot’s modernist and absurdist viewpoints for the poem in his critical review titled “‘Prufrock’: An Absurdist View of the Poem.” Prufrock does not express his emotions like a regular person would, one that is connected to their feelings about the opposite sex.