Thomas Stearns Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

As one of the most celebrated poets of the twentieth century, I had much interest in reading T. S. Eliot’s work.  With the help of the detailed forward in the text and a summary from http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/eliot/section1.html, I was able to somewhat understand the poem’s style and purpose and come up with my own interpretation of the poem.

As a lengthy monologue that explores the character’s emotional state, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” ironically portrays Prufrock’s fear of rejection, low self esteem, and high regards to external judgment and opinions.  At the same time, the poem also gives Prufrock a humble personality with almost an obsessive compulsive attachment to the one he loves, which he has yet to confront.  In the following paragraphs, I will try to provide some light to support my assertion.

The first interesting point to note is Eliot’s inclusion of Dante’s Inferno passage of a “damned soul” (1194 footnote).  The soul justifies that he will reveal his name without fear of shame or judgment for he knows that he can never return back to life, and thus have no reason to hide his shame and condemnation.  Like the soul, Eliot’s character Prufrock can openly express the depths of his heart without ever worrying it to reach the one he fancies or anyone else for this is just a monologue that will forever stay with him and him only.  Eliot wants the reader to know that these words are the true thoughts and emotions of his character that is free from bias.  Without anyone to judge or criticize, Prufrock can openly express his nature in this contemplative string of questions and answers.

Ironically, Eliot’s “love song” is not meant for the one he wants to confess, but rather more for him to serve as a path to realization or resolution.  This is apparent with his use of repetitive questions such as “Would it have been worth while… Would it have been worth while… Would it have been worth while” (1196-1197, verse 90, 100, 106).  He constantly questions himself whether love is a reasonable trade for the possibility of rejection.  Prufrock can only sing this song alone due to his inability to confront and reveal his love.  Instead of the reasons for his love, he gives the reasons for his hesitation.

The poem starts off by giving a setting of gossiping women speaking of great artists in the lines “in the room the women come and go, Talking of Michelangelo” (verse 13-14 of page 1195).  This is of particular importance in that Eliot’s character is highly conscious of what others think of him.  Here, he indirectly sets the standard very high for himself as he introduces the great painter.  His self conscience and high affect of others criticism is reinforced as he constantly notices their chatter of Michelangelo through Eliot’s purposeful repetition of the aforementioned lines now evident in verses 35-36.

The monologue continues as Prufrock is self conscious of his appearance, of his “bald spot in the middle of [his] hair” (1195).  He remarks:

(They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”)
…
For I have known them all already, known them all—
…
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
…
And I have known the eyes already, known them all—
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
(1195-1196)

Here we can see that Eliot makes use of the repetition of “known” and “all” to show the bombardment of his character’s criticism.  They “pin” him on the wall measure his worth like a scientist who measures with formulas except that theirs are “formulated phrase.”  With all these “eyes” fixated upon him, how can he ever confront his love (“So how should I presume?... And how should I presume?”).  His lack of confidence due to their critical presence is evident as he repeats “How should I presume… How should I presume?” (verse 54, 61, and 69 page 1195-1195).  Since this is an internal monologue, the author openly describes the characters humanistic qualities of low self esteem, confidence, and indecisiveness to act.  Eliot gives the reader an account of what goes on behind the thoughts of a person who cannot voice his love, while being torn and tormented by not only their self consciousness, but also the people and his affects of their judgments.  The fear of his love’s friends approval is clear as he states “There will be a time, there will be a time to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet” (1195).  Prufrock’s many useless attempts to confront his fear is portrayed through Eliot’s elegant use of repetition, as the character states “Do I dare?... Do I dare?... And how should I presume… And how should I begin… And in short, I was afraid” (1195-1196).

Eliot even gives an account of his character’s climactic chance to confess his love in the following lines:

And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!
Smoothed by long fingers,
Asleep… tired… or it malingers,
Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
Thought I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet—and here’s no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.
(1196)

The ending of the evening gives us a feeling that his chance is coming to an end and that time is running out.  As he is left alone next to her after their romantic “tea and cakes and ices,” he can’t seem to have the energy to overcome the “crisis” of telling her his feelings.  I can almost feel his heart beating deeply as he comes so close to this defining moment only to give up due to its uncertainty (“I am no prophet”) and the “snicker” of others (the “Footman”).  Even though he has already visualized his rejection (“Though I have seen my head brought in upon a platter”) as the fall of John the Baptist, he is still “afraid” of the outcome (footnote 1196).  Even his “wept, fast, and pray” was not enough to help him face his fears, and thus, served no purpose.  It is sad for in the end, the “human voices wakes [him], and [he] drowns” for it is not their words that is his fall, but effects of those words, and his weak fortitude against them that is the cause of his failure (1197).

In the final stanzas, Eliot resolves the character's final thoughts of experience with love and beauty of women as he gives an analogy of it to the sirens of the sea (I believe this may be a reference to the sirens in Greek mythology).

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.
…
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.
(1197)

In Greek mythology, the sirens were known for leering men to their deaths with their beauty and hypnotic voices as the rocks crush their boats as they come near.  Eliot’s analogy serves beautifully to show the causes of Prufrock’s miseries for “voice” is an important factor in this poem with its significant effects on Prufrock.

In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Eliot succeeds to show the emotions, feelings, and shortcomings of a character experienced with the tragedy of love, that is so representative of the modernistic poets of the twentieth century.  The flow of his verses are smooth as his rhymes, although appearing at random, were structured carefully to be enjoyed most when read aloud as one line follows the next with resonance of repetition.