T. S. Eliot -- The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock - Essay Example

The poet allows the reader to have an insight into Prufrock’s stream of consciousness that dangles forward and backwards, evincing psychological connections between Prufrock’s mindset and the world in which he moves. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock unravels the mental agony and the chronic indecisiveness of a person who is placed in a society that is given to insensitiveness, apathy, pseudo-intellectualism and artificiality, thereby making that person, wallow in a situation of inferiority complex, confusion and frustration.

One peculiar thing about Prufrock is that he is unwilling to share one’s psychological predicament with anybody and happens to be utterly introvert and reticent in his approach. The poem begins with a stanza from Dante’s Inferno where Guido considering Dante to be a fellow denizen of hell, and thereby like him, being incapable of unraveling his plight to the world, chooses to confide in Dante. Thereby, Prufrock’s song is somewhat a similar confession made by an individual who is trapped in a social scenario that he finds sterile and devoid of real affection and love.

The irony is that Prufrock’s hesitation, sense of insufficiency and a wavering mentality accentuate his suffering and claustrophobia. It goes without saying that the extreme hesitation and helplessness evinced by Prufrock makes one doubt the integrity of his mental and physical health as he says, “When the evening is spread out against the sky/Like a patient etherized upon a table (2-3)”. The imagery of sickness and mental torment as presented by Prufrock are perhaps indicative of the neuroticism inherent in the contemporary Western society.

The “etherized patient” is indeed symbolic of a paralytic and sick world that is devoid any true affection and sense of caring, hanging on in a state of inertia and emotional insipidity. While defining his plight, Prufrock etches a scene that is aptly depicted by the lines, “In the room the women come and go/ Talking of Michelangelo (13-14)”, delineating a sense of pseudo-intellectualism that defines Prufrock’s world. In that context Prufrock comes out as being an astute observer who is well aware that though the people in his social set up present themselves as being sophisticated and refined, actually speaking these worthy accouterments constitute only the patina of this lot, and in reality these people happen to be gross and inconsiderate.

However, the irony is that though Prufrock is tacitly critical of this state of affairs, yet he is as much responsible for this state of the society as any other person that inhabits his social world. Irrespective of having clarity on the real nature of the things around him, the indecisiveness and sense of inadequacy of perform makes it difficult for Prufrock to challenge them. Deep down Prufrock carries a looming sense of fear and emotional insecurity that make him get set in a state of inertia, time and again consoling himself by saying that, “And indeed there will be time/To wonder, “Do I Dare?

And, “Do I dare (37-38)”, time and again comforting him by asserting that there will be a time in the future when he will be able to muster enough courage to challenge the shallowness and grossness of the society in which he lives and moves about. The other thing about Prufrock is that he is very much concerned about the externalities of his situation, without possessing any solid moral conviction and a worthy sense of confidence. This inadequacy and hesitancy