Women In The Lovesong Of J Alfred Prufrock

T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", revolves around the persona of

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

reader down an intricate evening path and begins stalling his apparent "overwhelming

question" (16). As the poem progresses, however, Prufrock's facade fades away. Instead,

he is immensley insecure with himself and lives a depressing lonely life. His relationship

with women is apprehensive, and causes him to be withdrawn from society as a whole.

Prufrock almost angrily implies women's superficial nature by repeating the lines,

"In the room the women come and go/Talking of Michelangelo." (19-20) Given he is a

reknown artist, it is easy to sound knowledgeable on the subject.

Prufrock can also be
directing this to himself. He dismally acknowledges his own flaws and insecurities and
incidentally blames a women's shallowness for causing him to be plaugued with the fact
he is not "good looking".

Prufrock is very insecure with his outward appearence. Elliot describes him as
having thin arms and legs (44) and “a bald spot in the middle of [his] hair” (46).
Prufrock's constant repetition of his flaws indicates he's been scrutinized before,
specifically, by women.

He describes the feeling of being judged as being "pinned and

wriggling on the wall" (64). Prufrock is uncomfortable under the eye of anyone, making

it diffucult for him to pursue relationships.

Despite "grow[ing] old" (126), however, Prufrock is determined he still has time to face

the music, time "for a hundred indecisions, / And for a hundred visions and revisions" (38-39).

Prufrock consistently avoids the direct subject of not being able to socially interact with a

woman. He is a desolated soul and eventually expresses feelings of estrangement from society

all together. So mentally collapsed, he even admits he “should have been a pair of ragged claws

/Scuttling across the floors of silent seas” (79-80).

Prufrock does not relate well to people, women especially. His constant self scrutiny

and unhappiness with society makes him believe he is identified closer with mermaids than

humans. He refers to the mythological creatures as "we", suggesting Prufrock's wishes to escape

humanity and be alone somewhere desolated such as the sea. He ends the poem with the final

thought that until he is dead, he will never fully be content with

himself.