FREE ESSAY ON LOVE SONG

LOVE SONG

Prufrock 
In his poem Eliot paints the picture of an insecure man looking for his niche in society.
Prufrock has fallen in with the times, and places a lot of weight on social status and
class to determine his identity. He is ashamed of his personal appearance and looks
towards social advancement as a way to assure himself and those around him of his worth
and establish who he is. Throughout the poem the reader comes to realize that Prufrock
has actually all but given up on himself and now sees his balding head and realizes that
he has wasted his life striving for an unattainable goal. The beginning of the poem is
pre-empted by an excerpt from Dante's Inferno which Eliot uses to begin his exploration
of Prufrock's self-consciousness. By inserting this quote, a parallel is created between
Prufrock and the speaker, Guido da Montefeltro, who is very aware of his position in hell
and his inability to escape his fate. Prufrock is also very aware of his current status
but doesn't realize until the end that he is unable to rise above it. The issue of his
fate leads Prufrock to an overwhelming question...(10) which is never identified, asked,
or answered in the poem. This question is somehow associated with his social status, but
both its ambiguity and Prufrock's denial to even ask What is it?(11) gives some insight
into his state of internal turmoil. Prufrock's dissatisfaction with his personal
appearance is evidence of an underlying lack of self-confidence. Not only is he unhappy
with the way he looks, having To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet; but he
is constantly afraid of what others will have to say about him: (They will say: 'How his
hair is growing thin!')(41) and (... 'But how his arms and legs are thin!')(44).
Prufrock's preoccupation with looks shows how much he is caught up in the social scene
and how much his identity is rooted in what others think of him. Unfortunately, his lack
of confidence isn't limited to his looks. He's indecisive and unsuccessful in his
attempts to communicate with other people, repeating visions and revisions(33) and
decisions and revisions...(48). Eliot uses repetition here to emphasize Prufrock's
alterations in behavior to please those around him. He wants to speak out and share his
thoughts but doesn't have the courage saying, 'Do I dare?' and, 'Do I dare?'(38).
Possibly, he's asking if he should dare and drop a question on your plate.(30) He wants
to ask a lady out but again he can't get up the nerve to take that step. He is a bit
melodramatic but he realizes the enormity of the odds stacked against him and he drones,
Do I dare/ Disturb the universe?(45-46). In this case Eliot uses hyperbole to show the
reader extent of Prufrock's insecurities. They are his whole universe. Once again, Eliot
uses the device of ambiguity to reflect the internal struggle in Prufrock and lead the
reader to ask himself or herself, What is the 'overwhelming question' that Prufrock is
asking? Unfortunately even Prufrock himself doesn't exactly have the answer. His
declaration that he isn't a prophet indicates Prufrock's view on his position in society,
which he is as confused about as everything else. He isn't poor but he doesn't really fit
into the upper class either. Eliot introduces the idea of Prufrock being caught between
the two classes in the very beginning of the poem, when he juxtaposes the images of
restless nights in one-night cheap hotels/ And sawdust restaurants with
oyster-shells(4-5) with the women who come and go Talking of Michelangelo.(13-14). These
two images represent two completely different ways of life. The first image is of a dingy
lifestyle - living among the half-deserted streets(4) while the second is the lifestyle
that Prufrock longs to be associated with. It is much like the image of Michelangelo's
painting on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel where Adam is reaching out to touch God's
finger but can't quite reach. While Prufrock doesn't belong to either of these two
classes completely, he does have characteristics of both. He claims to be Full of high
sentence; but a bit obtuse while At times, indeed, almost ridiculous(117-118). Being the
outsider that he is, Prufrock will not be accepted by either class; even though he can
clearly make the distinction between the two and recognize their members: I know the
voices dying with a dying fall/ Beneath the music from a farther room.(52-53). This
Shakespearean suggests that Prufrock is just out of reach of the group of people that he
wishes to be associated with in life and love, but most likely his feelings of
insignificance prevent him from truly associating with anyone at all. He sees himself as
a unique specimen of nature, in a class all by himself - And when I am formulated,
sprawling on a pin/ When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,(57-58). This image
suggests that not only is he an object for speculation, but he is trapped in that role; a
situation which he is obviously unhappy with but has no idea how to change. He asks
himself, Then how should I begin(59). At this point in the poem, Prufrock is beginning to
feel especially detached from society and burdened by his awareness of it. He thinks I
should have been a pair of ragged claws/ Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
Eliot not only uses imagery here to create a picture of a headless crab scuttling around
at the bottom of the ocean, but he uses the form of the poem itself to help emphasize his
point here. The head is detached from the crab, and the lines are detached from the poem
in their own stanza, much like Prufrock wishes his self-consciousness would just detach
itself. This concept is echoed in the very next stanza when he says, Though I have seen
my head (grown slightly bald) brought in/ upon a platter,(83), an allusion to the
beheading of John the Baptist. These two headless images represent Prufrock's desire to
be rid of his self-consciousness (obviously in his head) and possibly some suicidal
tendencies which can be tied into just about all of the ambiguous questions Prufrock asks
of himself throughout the poem. Prufrock's series of questions can also be tied into his
unsuccessful attempts at relationships with women. His insecurities keep him from doing
the things he wants to do. He feels inadequate and unable to express his true feelings to
women, Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,/ Have the strength to force the moment to
its crisis?(79-80). He knows what he wants to say, but doesn't have the confidence or
mental capacity to put his feelings into words. He compares himself to Hamlet, No! I am
not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;(111), who, in contrast, was able to express his
feelings very successfully to his lover, an ability which Prufrock is envious of,
characterized by his emphatic No! He is also second-guessing himself constantly
throughout the poem: Do I dare?(38), So how should I presume?(54) and Then how should I
begin(59) are all questions Prufrock repeats to himself during his monologue. His
feelings of inadequacy toward women are not only related to his appearance and lack of
mental strength, but his lower social status. Throughout the poem, Prufrock struggles
with the concept of time. He tries to keep reassuring himself that indeed there will be
time(23), which suggests that Prufrock fears that he will in fact not have time for love
before the prime of his life is over. His obsession with the passage of time is
characterized by its repetition throughout the poem, especially near the beginning. Eliot
uses time as a tool to shape Prufrock's complicated, disturbed psyche into the form of a
mid-life crisis. Prufrock keeps assuring himself that, indeed, there will be time to
raise himself socially and thus overcome his insecurities and establish his identity.
However, his insecurities are tied in with his aging and the passage of time, so he is
truly a tragic, doomed character. This is not to say, however, that Prufrock is unaware
of the connection between time, his aging, and his unsuccessful attempt at a social life.
On the contrary, he claims that he's measured out his life with coffee spoons,(51) a true
testament to the self-proclaimed insignificance of his life. Prufrock claims that I have
known them all already, known them all(49) referring to the evenings, mornings, and
afternoons(50) of his life which he has seen pass by, insignificantly and illustrates
both his failure with and fear of women. Prufrock even dreams of gaining knowledge from
the afterlife on how to deal with women saying, I am Lazarus, come from the dead,/ Come
back to tell you all, I shall tell you all.(94-95) Unfortunately for Prufrock, he
pessimistically assumes that even if his dream came true, he still wouldn't know what to
tell them all, or how. Eliot doesn't give any sense of hope for Prufrock in the poem. He
remains a doomed character until the very end. Prufrock even admits that he has seen the
moment of my greatness flicker,(84) He is a victim of time and natural selection. In the
end Prufrock realizes that the life he dreams of is out of his reach. He still imagines
attaining his desired position but realizes that he isn't recognized in that world. I do
not think that they will sing to me. (125) He is in effect a man with no place in society
and no identity. His overwhelming question remains unanswered and he can only dream about
being part of that society he idolizes, Till human voices wake us, and we drown. (131)