Topic > Analysis of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by Ts Eliot

The Love Song is a poem about a man whose conscious mind is revealed. Eliot introduces Prufrock, who is in a dilemma in making a love proposal but is limited by his fear of rejection. His personality is portrayed as pessimistic and he feels that even if he makes the love proposal, he is sure that the woman will reject him in the end and therefore there is no need to take such a risk. Eliot structures the poem so that it begins as a drift towards an undefined place, and then later shows that the journey is towards Prufrock's conscious mind to discover his dilemma. Prufrock is introduced and thinks long and hard about his situation until he worries that he is taking too long to think about it. Eliot does this to highlight Prufrock's nervous and panicky behavior to the reader. As the poem progresses, Eliot structures his work to uncover Prufrock's mindset and dilemma and makes him discover what the real problem he faces is, which is himself. Prufrock realizes that the main challenge is not the fear of rejection but his negative mind towards himself which makes him incapable of proposing. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Eliot highlights Pruffrock's indecision and desperation through the infrared through prayer and tears. When a person cries about something it means that the issue is important. It shows how the character has a great desire for beauty but is not ready to reveal his mind to the woman because he feels that no matter how hard he tries, he will be rejected. Eliot asks Prufrock to seek divine intervention and in this way further highlights Prufrock's problem to the reader because commonly prayers tend to only contain questions of forgiveness or importance. Eliot uses this idea to convey how important this dilemma is to Prufrock. The phrase "Though I saw my head carried on a platter". Eliot connects the story of Pruffok to that of the biblical John the Baptist who was beheaded. The phrase is related to Prufrock's reference to prayer and fasting, Prufrock believes that he will still lose even if he prays in the same way that John the Baptist was beheaded despite seeking help from Jesus. Eliot has created a sort of dilemma within the dilemma since he asked Prufrock to turn to religion for counseling and later made him question the idea of ​​prayer and religion. The purpose of this is to highlight Pruffrock's chaotic thinking. Then he uses the words "eternal Knave". Eliot has the word Knave starting with a capital letter indicating that Prufrock has accepted his condition of mortality and seems to believe that his mortality will not end soon. Eliot does this to convey how weak Prufrock is and it is an inference about how low he sees himself. He ends that verse by indicating that he was afraid to make decisions and seems to blame it on his mortality and the fact that he is an eternal valet, his fear will remain. Eliot ended the stanza in a way that connotes that Prufrock's dilemma will continue without any resolution. In the next paragraph, Eliot asks Prufrock whether or not it will be worth continuing to linger in his mind. His dilemma is about what is more painful, the pain of rejection or the pain of not being able to ask for something you want. Eliot asks Prufrock to mask his pain through impersonation to bite the whole thing with a smile and pretend that everything is fine. “Having compressed the universe into a ball to roll it towards an overwhelming question” suggests that he now seems to have a life purpose: to ask for love and all aspects of his life are tied to that oneobjective. Eliot, makes Prufrock's dilemma the only thing that comes to mind, so he has removed the question from this life, so he has no other purpose in life, it limits his way of thinking and living. In the next line he compares himself to the biblical Lazarus who died then came back to life and tells the living what death feels like. Eliot uses this hell as a metaphor for rejection so the reader can see how Pruffrock feels when he believes that approaching her to tell her what he feels and then being rejected, is akin to committing suicide and being resurrected just to tell people how it feels to die. This means that rejection is like dying. Eliot uses indecision as Prufrock's safe strategy to protect himself from being hurt, but once again he feels sad to be in that situation, as indicated by the repetition of the phrase "And it would be worth it." Eliot's Prufrock in premeditating the lady's response as a misinterpretation "That's not all, that's not what I meant at all." pointing out that Pruffrock believes that if he asked her his question she would be offended by it. Eliot points this out to show the reader how Prufrock thinks about simple scenarios. Eliot highlights Prufrock's insecurities and never lets him resolve how he feels it is impossible for him to tell her exactly what he feels since it is a nervous situation he needs to overcome. However, Eliot describes him as being fixed in his mind, doomed to rejection, and overall, a weak character. Eliot uses the time to examine Pruffrock's mind during his dilemma. “I grow… I grow…” indicates that a lot of time has passed and Prufrock has not been able to do so. make a decision; so he was separated from the beauty he desired because of his fears. The line "I dared to eat a peach" is different from the previous line which was "I dared" and indicates that the time for making a decision has expired and Prufrock is no longer in desire for that beauty since accepting it was predestined so . Eliot points out that over time Pruffrock was left questioning everything he did as he never faced the dilemma of speaking to the lady, so Eliot presents him as a victim of circumstance and broken as he questions himself more than the decision and the way he walks around he is a bit delusional as he never makes a decision. Eliot expresses that illusion through siren songs that trigger memories of how in love he was. Mermaids are mythical creatures, half human and half fish, beautiful and evil. Eliot asks Prufrock to imagine women like this to show the reader that Prufrock sees a duality in women, however this image he sees is interpreted as false as it connects her to a mythical creature. “I don't think they (mermaids) will sing to me” This indicates that Prufrock has come to terms with life as it is and mermaid songs sounding like women talking is something that will never happen for someone like him. Eliot, in the last three lines, uses the word “we” which must refer to the “you and I” of the first paragraph. By relating “we” and “you and I” it becomes clear that they refer to one person and that is Prufrock. The journey was a journey in his mind and the phrase "we lingered in the sea chamber" is used to indicate that the thoughts in his conscious mind remained for a long time. Eliot makes him forget those memories completely by drowning them as the last line indicates. Memories will not awaken “until human voices do,” meaning that thoughts will not be remembered unless Prufrock decides to awaken them again. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In conclusion, Eliot attributes.