T.S. Eliot and Modernism

The writers of the twentieth century modernist movement produced unique works of poetry and prose. The modernist writing style was unprecedented and reflected the socio-political events of the period. T.S Eliot was a pre-eminent figure in modernism, publishing many important works of prose and poetry in his lifetime. According to OXFORD BRITLIT, "Eliot forged a style of aggressively fragmentary, urban poetry, full of indelicate, 'unpoetic' images and diction." Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a poem that fully represents the ideas the modernists were attempting to convey. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" stands as a poem that is especially reflective of the modernist form because it contains elements used within modernism, such as intertextuality, thematic reactions to the writing of the Victorian period, and the use of form and language associated with modernism. First, this text strongly represents the modernist form because of its rich use of intertextuality. Eliot draws from many other works in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" to inform the reader and add to the text itself. The first instance of intertextuality is the epigram at the beginning of the poem taken from Dante's "Inferno." The Princeton Dante Project's translation of lines 64 to 66 of the section cited by Eliot reads, "'But since, up from these depths, no one has yet/ returned alive, if what I hear is true,/ I answer without fear of being shamed.'" These words are told to Dante's speaker by someone he meets in hell because he is certain he will never escape the depths of hell....

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...The ODLT defines a dramatic monologue as a poem in which a "character other than the poet speaks to a silent 'audience'." (97). Here, Prufrock is the speaker, not Eliot, and he addresses an unknown "we." Prufrock says, "Let us go then, you and I" (line 1). This mysterious audience could be the reader, but it could also be the figure mentioned by Prufrock in line 78. The writing of Eliot has been described as "aggressively fragmentary" (OXFORD BRITLIT). He stands among the great writers of modernism, and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is especially reflective of that form in several ways. Eliot's poem contains elements of intertextuality. Furthermore, it thematically reacts to the writing of the Victorian period, and finally, it uses form and language associated with modernism.