The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is an extra-ordinary dramatic monologue by T S Eliot, a pioneer of a new literary trend of early twentieth century. In the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” through the character of “J. Alfred Prufrock”, a modern man, the poet portrays a modern man’s mental crisis of so called urban civilization.

Actually, the age the poet was the age of growing so called civilization, but the human being’s mental condition was full of frustration. The First World War took place owing to unwise decision of some ambitious world leaders while the world was developing in different aspects. The war caused the death of millions of people and massive destruction of property. Moreover, it threw the modern people in desperation which reflected in their thought and feeling. So, a conscious man of that time T S Eliot shows us a modern man’s mental crisis and ugliness of an urban modern civilization through his poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”.

In fact, the main theme of the poem is modern man’s mental restlessness, tension and conflict between passion and cowardice; his irresolution and frustration. Now we will have a discussion on it.

             

Here J. Alfred Prufrock is the representative of modern man. In the very beginning of the poem, we see the mental condition of a modern city man revealing though some symbols and images.

            “When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;”

Alfred Prufrock invites his beloved for an evening together, but his mood is compared with the patient who has been etherized for an operation and he is conscious of everything but conscious of nothing.

“Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent”

Here, the streets of the cities compared with a long tedious argument of a concealed desire which includes a number of arguments one after another. This image utters Prufrock’s boredom to the city streets as well to the city life.

There is another image which expresses the general tendency of the city women.

“In the room the women come and goTalking of Michelangelo.”

It indicates that women have a tendency to discuss something or somebody about which they know nothing properly. They do so only for maintaining so called social manner. Again Prufrock tells:

“Is it perfume from a dressThat makes me so digress?”

It means that the modern ladies use such some perfumes that shake the mentality of male persons.

             Prufrock thinks himself like Hamlet and again unlike Hamlet. He is like Hamlet because Hamlet became motivated to take revenge of murdering his father. In the same way Prufrock is suffering a problem of irresolution. Again, he is unlike Hamlet because Hamlet dared to reveal his love but he can not do it. Again he says:

"I am Lazarus, come from the dead,Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all"—

Here “Lazarus”, a biblical character, was sent to Hell but he wanted to come back to the earth in order to tell his friend about experiences in Hell. In the same way Prufrock is living in such a place where he seems to be dead.

           

 Indeed, Prufrock is so hopeless and annoyed at the modern life that he wants to escape from the real world. As he says:

“I should have been a pair of ragged clawsScuttling across the floors of silent seas.”

It means he wants to be a sea fish that runs quickly across the sea bed with its rough claws, fearing some dangers. Similarly Prufrock fears the denying of his love proposal.

At the end of the poem, Prufrock, a modern man, says that when he stays in an imaginary world, his mentality becomes fresh but whenever he comes back to reality, he falls in the problem of taking decision and in an unexpected world.

To conclude our discussion, we can say that, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is an excellent creation by TS Eliot. In the poem the poet very perfectly shows us the restless mental situation of modern man through the character of “J. Alfred Prufrock”.

This paper is prepared for you by Talim Enam, BA (Hons), MA in English.

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