Due to the Victorian ideals during the 20th century the psyche of humanity was weak making the people be conscious about how to act, what to say and feel about themselves. In the poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot, written in 1919, the trend of the consequences of these ideals is seen, showing how one can become isolated and socially awkward. Thomas Eliot grew up in a prosperous family but since he was a child he suffered a hernia not allowing him to do a lot of activities that children normally do and later on in life one of his marriages failed (Bush). In this poem, he uses imagery, figurative language, and structure to reinforce the tone and aspect of isolation in life.
The poem is written as a long pick-up line for a woman that the speaker is in love with.
But ironically, the poem is not romantic at all; because of T.S. Eliots style of writing, the protagonist is socially awkward which makes it difficult for him to approach the woman in a romantic and typical way. Instead he uses a unique structure and pedestrian imagery to try to explain what hes feeling. Although he should tell her everything hes thinking about; when hes at a reunion he thinks to himself of the possible outcomes of his confession; stopping him from doing it and making him wander off with his thoughts before making a move.
Presuming that the speaker of the poem is the author himself, the reader might think that his feelings of isolation root from his childhood. To portray this, he uses abundant imagery, to help the reader view elements, the same way he does. Eliot, as writer was influenced by thinkers such as John Donne and F.H. Bradley (Fajardo-Acosta) whom are known for their controversial ideas and unique use of diction to portray imagery; they are also part of the group of poets that believed in anti-romanticism. In the third stanza of the poem Eliot writes, The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, / the yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes (Eliot, 15-16). The poem is supposed to be a love song but all the imagery in the poem is anti-romantic. Smoke doesnt have a positive connotation and its also not a pleasant view; this way of approaching a girl ties in to the feeling of isolation. During his life Eliot was on his own, without many friends, he never learned how to talk to a girl and in his confusion he ends up saying anything to her that is far from romantic.
Eliot is incompetent to complement girls; instead he seems to insult their image, which does not help his case. The way he describes women at the party and their scent is not one that is the normal description of a lady. He writes, Arms that are braceleted and white and bare / (But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!) / Is it perfume from a dress / That makes me so digress?(63-65). It is obvious that because of his loneliness in life, and at the party, hes learned to be very observable. He does not compliment any of the women; instead he sees their flaws and is disgusted by them. In addition his observations help him avoid the attempt to try to talk to his crush since hes afraid he will make a fool of himself. Moreover he comments on the womens scent, normally the way a woman smells is attractive to men but to the speaker, the scent is unpleasant. Prufrocks interactions and experiences with women can be seen as childlike, perhaps he stayed with the same idea that little boys have; anything about a girl is [gross and unattractive].
The author uses different kinds of structure to show his confusion and his feelings of loneliness. When a person is nervous or confused he or she repeats words a lot because that person doesnt know how to express the right words; in this case the author uses refrain to display this. An example of refrain found in the poem is In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michael Angelo (13-14). It is simply something he observes while hes at the reunion, and out of boredom he throws that observation out there. The author uses refrain in middle of stanzas where it doesnt even fit in. Since he is daydreaming, hes just talking to himself in his head. Once he debates with himself about something and is done, he moves on to another subject. In this poem one of the random subjects he turns to is this line about the women because he keeps shifting his attention to anything or anyone else but his actual goal of talking to the woman. Also this use of allusion may show that hes annoyed because Michael Angelos art is an image of perfection therefore women find that art an interesting subject of talk which makes him be jealous that he isnt the subject of talk. This makes him even more self-conscious; which ties into one of the themes of the poem about feeling self conscious due to the opposite sex and the authors divorce which shows his failure when it comes to love.
The structure of the poem is a dramatic monologue followed by the stream of consciousness of the speaker. This is a technique that Eliot mastered throughout his career as a modernist writer. The author uses this technique to discuss with himself the option of confessing his hidden love to this woman and reveal not only his feelings for her but his feelings about everything going on around him; revealing to the audience his insecurity. Before even saying anything to the woman he shoots himself down, by answering his own questions, [t]hat is not it at all; / That is not what I meant, at all (97-98). Through dramatic monologue the narrator thinks and responds to himself. He thinks that everything he will say to her will come out wrong so he keeps stopping himself because if he didnt otherwise, he would sound stupid in front of her and ruin his chances of her accepting him; which shows how insecure hes become because of his societal awkwardness and his past failures. Maybe in his failed marriage he said something wrong and became the cause of his divorce and hes trying to avoid being imprudent with this woman this time.
Eliot uses allusions to describe himself and his thoughts in a manner thats relatable to the audience. The speaker wishes he could be more noticeable to other people and more social because he believes he can be an entertaining person. While debating with himself he expresses, [no]! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; / Am an attendant lord, one that will do / To swell a progress, start a scene or two (111-113). Prince Hamlet is the protagonist from the famous play Hamlet by Shakespeare and his character is portrayed as a much respected man yet has intrapersonal issues trying to figure out what the right thing to do is. The storyline of the play is also extremely controversial with many deaths and drama. When Eliot says he is not like him, he means that while he does wish he would attract some attention he wouldnt want as much attention as Prince Hamlet would get. In a way he feels like a victim for not being social and getting attention yet he doesnt want to be as dramatic about it as the play Hamlet is. He begs for a little of time for his beloved to listen to him because he can be entertaining but by comparing himself to such a figure as Hamlet he shows again his very conscious and shy personality. The character Hamlet doesnt have a very sane mind which relates to the speaker of them poem since he is very insecure and is always going back and forth with his ideas and confusing himself the more he thinks about whether or not confessing his love to the unnamed woman.
To think of every possible outcome of what could happen after the speaker finally gets a little of attention, the author uses metaphor to explain the scenarios. Eliot writes, And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, / when I am pinned and wriggling on the wall, / then how should I begin (57-59). The speaker starts thinking of what he is going to say or do when he finally gets attention from the crowd at the reunion. He compares himself to a collection bug pinned to a wall ready for inspection. The fact that he compares himself to a bug portrays that he feels like one; small and inferior to everyone else from the party. A bug can be stomped on easily because of its size, and he feels that if he says or does something wrong, people might make fun of him and make him feel diminutive. Because the bug is on the wall it means he is there for everyone to see and would be putting himself out there for any kind of criticism. The wall may symbolize that once he gets the chance to express his thoughts, he cant back down because if he is against a wall he cant turn anywhere; it is a barrier that cant be broken or avoided easily.
Through imagery, structure, and figurative language Eliot portrays the attitude of isolation and social awkwardness. The reader can see this with his use of unique images that are non-romantic. In addition he compares his situation to aspects that arent some of a person and alludes to great figures that would compare nothing to him making him seem less significant than he already feels. Eliot as a modernist writer does a good job at portraying what a person would go through during the decade of looks and status.
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