The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Introduction

In our lives just for the sake of pleasure and during the course of academic life we read a lot of book, novels and poems. There are few poems and characters that leave an ever lasting impact on us. The aim and objective of this purpose is also to take undertake discussion about the character of a poem in the context of the poem. This character is from the poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and the analysis of the character that is discussed is of J. Alfred Prufrock.

Discussion

The poem comprises 131 lines of various lengths with flexible rhythm and rhymes. Eliot uses couplets, cross rhymes, and unrhymed lines. The result is a blend of traditional poetic sound effects and free verse. The unpatterned nature mirrors the distracted state of Prufrock, who would like to produce a true love song but can manage only a confidential confession of his own ineptitude. Prufrock lives in a world that is no better than he is. It is happier than he is, however, because of its capacity to avoid reflection especially self-reflection by busying itself superficially with culture (the chatter about Michelangelo), gossip, and social amenities. Lacking the talent for such unself-conscious distractions, he attempts to take refuge in literature and dreams, but they solace him only fitfully, and he must awaken to the oppressive reality of his life. Prufrock's failure engages sympathy for him as a human being who must live with a residual sense of inadequacy. In his mediocrity, he is a more representative figure than Hamlet. Although he understands the mediocrity of his surroundings and of the society he frequents, he cannot rise above them. His plight raises the question of whether it is better to be a Prufrock than one of the presumably well-adjusted people whom he so dreads confronting: Is disillusionment better than illusion? Prufrock tells his companion it is time to go but then lapses into a reverie (which may not be spoken) about the streets they are to pass through, streets that Prufrock finds depressing.

The ironies of the poem begin with a title promising a “love song” from the lips of a person with a decidedly unromantic name. The character can be regarded as unromantic on a number of bases. The poem's imagery is antiromantic: Like a “patient etherized upon a table.” The city streets are tawdry and depressing; ...