What does the title The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock mean?
Thus the title of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” neatly undermines the romantic associations of ‘Love Song’ by the ridiculous name “PrufroCk”. The poem records the love wish of a man who has neither the physical vigour nor the mental courage to propose love.
What was the original title of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
By T.S.
The original title of this poem wasn’t “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” It was – ready for this? – “Prufrock Among the Women.” We’re glad Eliot changed his mind about this original title, which sounds like a terrible 1950’s musical.
What does yellow symbolize in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
In an article published in The Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, John Hakac argues that the yellow fog in the first section of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a symbol for love itself, and therefore a significant driving force of the poem.
What personal connection did the name J Alfred Prufrock have for Eliot?
It is suggested that the name “Prufrock” came from Eliot’s youth in St. Louis, Missouri, where the Prufrock-Litton Company, a large furniture store, occupied one city block downtown at 420–422 North Fourth Street.
How is the title of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ironic?
Ironic title: In this poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, the title suggests that the lover is expressing his love for the lady. However, in the body of the poem there is hardly any mention of love making, rather the lover invents reason for postponing the proposal to the lady.
What is Prufrock thinking of at the end of the poem?
At the end of the poem, this oceanic imagery returns, with Prufrock hearing the song of the mermaids but thinking that they would not sing to him, only to each other.
What are the two allusions in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
For example, Prufrock was compared to John the Baptist, Lazarus and Hamlet. These allusions displays Prufrock’s intense self-depreciation. The following lines “Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter, / I am no prophet — and here’s no great matter;” alludes to the Bible.
What is the tone of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” has a dry, ironic tone that catches precisely the mood of vacillation, weakness, sordidness, and despair of much modern culture.
What are the metaphors in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
Prufrock is calling himself crab-like. Line 123-131: The poems ends with some amazing ocean imagery, including the singing mermaids and the sea-girls wearing seaweed. In one of the poem’s most creative metaphors, the white-capped waves are compared to “white hair.”
What is Prufrock’s greatest fear and why?
Prufrock’s anxiety about his own baldness, and also about the feebleness of his body, can be related to his obsessive fear regarding aging and death.
What are the major images and metaphors presented in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
What is the overwhelming question in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” I believe Prufrock’s overwhelming question is a marriage proposal because of the severity of his indecisiveness and inner debate of whether or not to ask it.
Which literary device does the title The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock best demonstrate?
In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” the speaker uses the allusion to Lazarus to show that he too possesses great knowledge which he can share if only the world will listen to him.
What is Prufrock’s greatest fear?
Prufrock’s anxiety about his own baldness, and also about the feebleness of his body, can be related to his obsessive fear regarding aging and death. This theme is again echoed as Prufrock proclaims: “I have seen the Eternal footman hold my coat, and snicker, And in short I was afraid” (lines 85-86).
Who does Prufrock represent?
McCoy and Harlan wrote “For many readers in the 1920s, Prufrock seemed to epitomize the frustration and impotence of the modern individual. He seemed to represent thwarted desires and modern disillusionment.” In general, Eliot uses imagery which is indicative of Prufrock’s character, representing aging and decay.
What are the three questions that Prufrock asked himself?
List three questions that Prufrock asks himself. Prufrock asks himself “Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?” and “Is it perfume from a dress that makes me so digress?” 3. Choose two passages from the poem and describe the mental images you created.
What does the poet mean when he says I have measured out my life with coffee spoons?
The words, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” is indicative of Prufrock thinking that he has already lived out the root meaning of measure from the Online Etymological Dictionary, which describes the term as the “limited extent” (51).
What literary devices are used in The Love Song of Alfred J Prufrock?
T.S. Eliot has also used various literary devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, and irony in this poem. The analysis of some of the literary devices is given below. Personification: Eliot has used a personification that means to use emotions for inanimate objects.
What type of man is Prufrock?
Prufrock displays numerous characteristics of an anti-hero but three stand out the most: cowardice, passiveness, and pessimism. Prufrock, the narrator of the poem, is a middle-aged man who is living a life void of meaning and purpose. His thoughts are depressing as he mulls over his dull, uneventful life.
What is Prufrock’s overwhelming question?
What is the central question of the poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock?
One of the poem’s central themes is social anxiety and how it affects Prufrock’s ability to interact with those around him. This line, like the others in the tea scene, is indicative of the discomfort Prufrock feels in social situations and his belief that he needs to put on a “face” or mask in order to fit in.
How does Prufrock measure his life?
–“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock.
How Does The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock represent modernism?
T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” carries the characteristics of modernist poetry such as objective correlative, fragmentation, free verse and irregular rhyming. It suggests a direct break with English romantic poets, such as Coleridge and Wordsworth (Levis, 75).
What is the important feature of Mr Prufrock?
Prufrock’s character. Mr. Prufrock is disillusioned and disassociated with society, yet he is filled with longing for love, comfort, and companionship. He is self-conscious and fearful of his image as viewed through the world’s eye, a perspective from which he develops his own feelings of insignificance and disgust.
What does J Alfred Prufrock think or feel about himself?
Prufrock over thinks everything about himself because he is afraid of being judged. It appears throughout the poem that Prufrock always feels like other people are looking at him and judging him.