As T.S Eliot writes “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, he gives insight into a “modern man”. This modern man is recognized not only by his appearances, but also by his boredom and isolation with the subject of love. As this song progresses, it is simple to understand how these aspects play a part in his whole life. Prufrock is not only searching for love, but is also learning much about himself during the process.
J. Alfred Prufrock is a man who dresses elegant and has classy taste. Stanzas 37-45 show Prufrocks expensive taste. The modern man knows how to play the part of presenting himself like a gentleman. Dressed in a suit with a necktie and just a simple pin to decorate it, J. Alfred is dressed to astound the people. After describing
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The writers during the time were disinterested and worried about what would happen to society, “authors were left disillusioned by the effects that war had on their society and needed a literature that would explain what had happened and what was happening in their society” (Farahbakhsh 36). Prufrock seemed to live the same day repeatedly, “In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo.” (Baym 13-14 / 35-36), this quote is mentioned twice as if he sees these women everyday doing the same thing over and over. This also could suggest that all of the women were equal, and that not even one stood out to him. As a modern man, if he is watching for a certain woman it seems as though she has not shown up yet; that is if he is looking for a woman that is different from all the others. It was a continuous pattern with nothing exciting seeming to happen. He started to dislike how he spent and is spending his time, “And for a hundred visions and revisions / Before taking of toast and tea” (Baym 33-34). He was bored with how he lived his life and while taking tea he contemplated the times he sat there and just had tea, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons”(Baym 51), and the times to come where he would continue to do the same. He is continually bored because he cannot make a decision on anything. In the poem he is always asking how should I do this or how should I do that …show more content…
Alfred Prufrock worries about how he looks and seems to be continuously bored. Through discovering this, he discovers that he is isolated from everybody else. He tries to carry on conversations with other people, mainly the females, but always ends up discouraging himself from talking to them, “And would it have been worth it, after all, / Would it have been worthwhile” (Baym 99-100). This isolation is a theme throughout the story as he feels that people are watching his every move, especially the females. At one point, he imagines himself as a crab stating, “I should have been a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floors of silent seas” (Baym 73-74), and even as a crab there is silence because he is alone. “I grow old… I grow old …” / “Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?” (Baym 120,122), are statements that lead to the end of his love song. This modern man has come of the realization that he is getting older and many things do not matter anymore. As many men grow older they seem to question their life and the things in it as T.S Eliot shows, Prufrock is questioning even the simplest act of eating a peach. He sees that as he has been looking for love all this time as men before him have, he has lost sight of who he even
"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
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
In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the author is establishing the trouble the main character, Prufrock, is having coming to terms with middle age. 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 preoccupation with time throughout the poem characterizes 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.
T.S. Eliot’s poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock has a plethora of possible interpretations. Many people argue that the poem represents a man who appears to be very introverted person who is contemplating a major decision in his life. This decision is whether or not he will consummate a relationship with someone he appears to have an attraction to or feelings for. People also debate whether or not Prufrock from the poem is typical of people today. While there are a plethora of reasons Prufrock is not typical of people today the main three reasons are he is very reserved, he overthinks most situations and he tries avoid his problems instead of solve them.
In conclusion, after exploring the theme of this poem and reading it for myself, Eliot has created this persona, in industrialised England or somewhere else. A man of low self-esteem, you embark his journey as he struggles with a rational fear of being rejected by a woman. Which gives the reader sympathy to Prufrock, as he lives within his own personal
Elliot, T.S. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Compact 3rd ed. Eds. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1997. 781-785.
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’s views. Prufrock does not have the confidence to give or receive love. There is an equal amount of unhappiness to the concept of time and space. He is unsatisfied with life and with the decision to think rather than act.
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.
In this passage, it's clear that Prufrock desires a woman's attention but doesn't think he will ever have it. This pessimistic outlook gives no hope at all and is just depressing.
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot is proof of entirely modernist English when the comparison is made to other famous writers such as Shakespeare. In the poem, Eliot is dealing with an exceptionally personal subject matter that makes use of indirect, fragmentized, ironic and equivocal style. By making use of modernist English, Eliot calculative does this in a manner that is giving a picture of complete objectiveness as well as detachment. Also, as a well-versed writer, the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock sets the proceeding and the scenes in the protagonist psyche. Unlike, the romantic era that is preceding it, the modernist literary movement reflects the feelings of a lost generation impacted by war trauma and industrialization (Mandal, p.14).