Pages

Monday, May 7, 2018

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock


The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
By T. S. Eliot
From a Modernist Perspective

To read the poem, please click here.

We will look at T. S. Eliot’s “The love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” from a modernist point of view. Before that, it would be a good idea to define modernism.

Modernism in literature refers to “the wide range of experimental and avant-garde trends in the literature of the 20th century.” One of the main characteristics of modernist literature is the rejection of 19th century traditions. Many modernist poets rejected the traditional metres and instead used free verse. Eliot, being one of those poets, used fragmentations, free verse and complex allusions in his poems.

Now that we are acquainted with modernism, let us take a modernist approach to “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”

Summary of the Poem:

Prufrock invites his audience to take a walk with him through the city. He then gives a description of the city such as “half-deserted streets,” “cheap hotels,” “sawdust restaurants,” “yellow fog” and “yellow smoke.” He then mentions women in a room who talk about Michelangelo, a Renaissance artist. He then goes through moments of existential crisis. He also feels insecure about his appearance and he feels that the women will judge him. Towards the end, the setting of the poem changes from city to a beach. Here, Prufrock describes “mermaids singing, each to each.” However, he again goes through that moment of insecurity as he thinks that the mermaids will not sing to him.

Analysis from Modernist Point of View:

One of the characteristics that make this poem a modernist poem is its urban setting. Descriptions such as “cheap hotels”, “sawdust restaurants”, “yellow fog” and “yellow smoke” suggest an urban setting. Many modernist writers used urban areas as their setting as opposed to Romantic writers who used nature as the settings of their literary works. The urban setting is meant to show one aspect of the modern life. Through stream of consciousness technique, Eliot expresses the hustle of a modern life.

 


The narrator in the poem also questions himself several times. The question of self is another characteristic of modernist work. In this poem, the narrator asks, “Do I dare disturb the universe?” and thus wonder about his existence. He also asks questions that indicate his insecurity. He asks, "Do I dare to eat a peach?" This random question actually reflects Prufrock's lack of confidence. He has lost confidence to the extent that he needs to ask if he should eat peach or not. Also, towards the end of the poem Prufrock talks about mermaids singing but he does not think that they will sing to him. Thus, this poem shows identity crisis and insecurity - some aspects of modernist experience.

 


Modernist works also included “collages of fragmentary images.” These fragmentations are supposed to express chaos of modern life and psychological discontinuity. This characteristic is apparent in this poem because it does not have one concrete form or flow. Rather, we see various thoughts, questions, and settings described by Prufrock. The poem begins with descriptions of a city but suddenly we are exposed to some women who are "talking of Michelangelo." Then again we go back to the urban setting. Then we go through the existential questions of Prufrock and towards the end of the poem we are exposed to a beach. Thus, we can see that the poem does not have one concrete form or one flow. Various settings and thoughts are collaged together.

With all its modernist elements, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" reflects the dilemma of a modern life. Through Prufrock we see that it is difficult to live a meaningful life in a modern world.

References:

Baldick, C. (2015). The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  
 

1 comment:

  1. Do you wanna like to attempt MCQs on this poem?
    Here are the MCQS.
    https://www.msmsol.com/2021/01/repeated-mcqs-from-love-song-of-j.html

    ReplyDelete