Themes of love song of j alfred prufrock12/25/2023 ![]() ![]() The listener could also be Prufrock’s inner self, one that prods him but fails to move him to action.ĩ The Characters The Women: Women at a social gathering that Prufrock would like to meet, but worries that they will look down on him or reject him.ġ0 The Characters The Lonely Men in Shirtsleeves: Leaning out of the windows and smoking pipes, they are like Prufrock in that they look upon a scene without being a part of it. However, he is hesitant to take part in the activity for fear of making a fool of himself.Ĩ The Characters The Listener: An unidentified companion of Prufrock. He escorts his listener through streets in a shabby part of a city, past cheap hotels and restaurants, to a social gathering where the women he would like to meet are conversing. ![]() Alfred Prufrock: The speaker, a timid, overcautious middle-aged main. Eliot probably intended to leave the setting ambiguous because it was unimportant and could be any city anywhere.ħ The Characters J. Louis, where Eliot grew up, but could also be London, where he moved to. ![]() He does try to make progress, but his timidity and fear of failure inhibit him from taking action.Ħ The Setting The action takes place in the evening in a bleak section of a smoky/foggy city. Unable to seize opportunities or take risks (especially with women), he lives in a world that is the same today as it was yesterday and will be the same tomorrow as it is today. He expresses his thoughts about the dull, uneventful, mediocre life he leads as a result of his feelings of inadequacy and his fear of making decisions. Since the main focus of a dramatic monologue is this personal information, and not the speaker’s topic, a dramatic monologue is a type of character study.ĥ The Speaker The poem centers on a balding, insecure middle-aged man. Only the speaker talks, and intentionally and unintentionally reveals information about himself/herself. He received the Novel Prize for Literature in 1948 and died in London in 1965.Ĥ Elements of the Poem Type of Work: Dramatic Monologue (Modern)Ī dramatic monologue presents a moment in which a speaker discusses a topic and, in doing so, reveals his/her personal feelings to a listener (reader). He was known for his articulation of the disillusionment (loss of identity) of a younger post-WWI generation with the values and conventions of the Victorian era. Went to Paris for a year returned to Harvard to pursue a doctorate in philosophy, but ended up settling in England in 1914 (24 yr.) He published his poems, including this one, in magazines in 1915. Lived there for 18 years Attended Harvard and earned his undergraduate (bachelor’s) and master’s degrees there. In other words, a coherent speaker with a clear sense of himself/herself is hard to find in modernist poetry, often leaving the reader feeling “lost.”ģ Biographical Context Born in St. ![]() The speaker in modernist poems characteristically wrestles with the fundamental question of “self,” often feeling fragmented and alienated from the world around him/her. Modernist poetry is often difficult to understand and analyze because the SPEAKER is usually uncertain about his/her own ontological (the essence/nature) being. Alfred Prufrock”"- Presentation transcript:Ī Deeper Look into the Meaning and Form Source: Cummings Study Guides and University of MichiganĢ Context: Modernism Planes, subway trains, cars, and WWI created dramatic shifts in day to day modern life that often left people feeling lost or left behind, questioning their identity. Presentation on theme: "“The Love Song of J. ![]()
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