The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a posem by T.S Eliot. It shows the two most important characteristics of Eliot’s early poetry. First, it is strongly influenced by the French Symbolists. Second, the use of fragmentation and juxtaposition.
This story happens at a unpleasant night. In the beginning, Eliot describes the scene around the street. “half-deserted” street, the yellow frog and smoke, makes it more uncomfortable and dirty. In the next half of the story, Prufrock wants to know a girl. However, he is hesitated since he does not look well. He does not know how to start the conversation. At the end, he chooses not to go, and the story ends in the sad mood.
I think this poem expresses Eliot’s sense of isolation and loneliness, and his inability to fit into a world that he perceives as hostile. He thinks, to be a creature like a crab which is protected by a thick outer armor and better still is better for him. So that, he does not have to truly interact with anyone or care about what they think of him, or he of them.
Keep in mind the question that he does not want to face and the question; he is even afraid of voicing it. He convinces himself that he does not need to face it, yet he seems driven to do so. The conflict is internal. Do you see it?
ReplyDelete