Unraveling the puzzle of j. alfred prufrock
Poets are often many things. They are watchers, documenters, observers and sometimes, lovers. In their works, poets paint pictures for their readers that are sometimes clear and concise, but are often puzzling. T.S. Eliot, perhaps one of the greatest poets of the western tradition, is a puzzling author. He paints for the reader very vivid pictures using obscure language and references that the reader must dissect and meditate on for hours before coming to even a basic understanding of the work. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a milestone in Eliot's body of work. It is a rich, illustrative and demanding poem that captivates the reader within its first few lines. To fully understand the poem, one must have a firm grasp on western literature; works like The Bible, The Inferno, The Odyssey and Hamlet. Eliot uses these references to enhance the meaning of his poem and of the struggle that Prufrock endures. By looking at these references the reader can gain a whole understanding of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. In this essay, we shall see that Eliot uses these references to show that Prufrock is essentially a stilted and confused character who is overcome by his own insecurities and self-centeredness. The read
Perhaps then Prufrock knew that he could have done well to talk to the women, he could have fulfilled his role as prophet, but was lost in indecision and cowardice. Profrock is inviting the other to go with him down "certain half-deserted streets" in a seedy neighborhood, but warns not to ask what the "overwhelming question" is. "Would it have been worth while" he asks "To have bitten off the matter with a smile,/ To have squeezed the universe into a ball/ To roll it toward some overwhelming question,/ To say: 'I am Lazarus, come from the dead,/ Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all'-/ If one, settling a pillow by her head,/ Should say: 'That is not what I meant at all. Something may be rotten in the state of Denmark, but her redemption rests with someone other than Prufrock" (Ledbetter). In the first line, Prufrock invites the other to go out, an obvious call to action. The poem's tension thus increases as the argument continues on whether or not to take action, but then the reader sees a shift. In the epigraph, Guido, who is entombed in a flame, tells the listener that he will reveal his name only because he knows that no one who is in hell is ever able to escape. Riquelme states "The "you" that is "I"'s counterpart stands in two places at once, both inside and outside Prufrock's mind and inside and outside scenes that can with difficulty be imagined based on the minimal details provided". Eliot goes on to further relegate Prufrock's role in the world by comparing him to Ulysses, the great Homeric hero who was lashed to the mast of his ship so that he could hear the sirens sing to him and fill him with great wisdom. Thus the reader sees right away the difficulty in understanding the Prufrock puzzle-one must first resign the fact that the speaker is two personalities in one person-the "you" and the "I" both mean Prufrock. Eliot puts and epigraph from Dante's Inferno at the beginning of the poem. / I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
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Acceptance Essays
