T.S. Elliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,”
T.S. Elliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” is about one mans frustration and misery on his quest to find some type of meaning of his existence. It begins with an invitation from Prufrock to follow him through his examination of himself. His imagery of his invitation begins with, “Let us go then you and I/When the evening is spread out against the sky/Like a patient etherised upon a table (1-3).” This not only describes the evening sky, but the “etherised” evening which creates a dreamlike quality throughout the poem (3). This dreamlike quality is supported in the poem with the “yellow fog” contributing to the slowed-down-etherised feeling of the poem (15). It is like the poem is suspended from one mans life, “spread out against the sky (2).” The imagery of the patient represents Prufrock’s self-examination. The imagery of the “etherised patient” expresses a person waiting to be treated (3). This treatment will be Prufrock’s examination of his life.
Prufrock then repeats his invitation and asks the reader to follow him along his cold and lonely domain. Prufrock’s description of the urban city is quite dull: “Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,/The muttering retreats/Of res
Prufrock goes on from the city onto his final destination; “the room women come and go/Speaking of Michelangelo (13-14).” These lines add anticipation to the tension surrounding the poem and are about time. These lines suggest that Prufrock has seen these women “come and go,” suggesting that Prufrock has been around for some time (13). The line also implies that while others have come and gone from the social circles that Prufrock is apart of, Prufrock has stayed clear. Prufrock contemplates on whether he can find value in the cold superficial environment by asking the question, “Do I dare/Disturb the universe (45-46)?” He feels if he can gather the courage to ask the question, he may be able to find value in his life: “would it have been worth while/To have bitten off the matter with a smile,/To have squeezed the universe into a ball (90-92).” He fails to do both tasks.
The themes of time’s passage and age continue to illustrate the unhappiness of Prufrock’s life throughout the poem. Prufrock reveals the parts of his life he has lived: “I have measured out my life in coffee spoons (51).” This shows Prufrock’s inability to seize the day. He also employs his thinning hair and resulting bald spot as indicators of age and how he feels now that he is past his prime: “Time to turn back and descend the stair,/With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—(They will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin’) (39-41).” This shows how Prufrock is feared of being laughed at. This line also shows Prufrock’s desire to “disturb the universe,” and his fear that he will be scoffed at for not a
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