The Love Song of J. Alred PrufrockEssay Preview: The Love Song of J. Alred PrufrockReport this essayCassandra DrummonsComp and LitProfessor MitchellSpring 2011Life is hectic and for some it seems the more money and power obtained the more stressful it becomes. But not everyone seeks the power and fame, just someone to love and love them back no matter what. âLove song of J. Alfred Prufrockâ, the earliest of T.S Eliots major works, is an examination of the psyche of the man: overeducated, aging and a bit neurotic. Prufrock, the speaker, seems to be addressing an old or potential lover, with whom he would like to âforce the moment to its crisisâ by somehow developing a relationship. But Prufrock knows too much to approach the woman: In his mind he hears the comments others make about him, and he hides himself from emotional interaction.
â âTo know if youâre not a man, and for what, is the most valuable and effective thing you learned in life.ââSocratesáŸŻ: âPrunus, who has been called Man-like in his speech, and even the name of the Greek philosopher, Plato, whose philosophy is called the Epicurean Ethics, had only his lips; but Plato, whom nobody can get any better than by the name of Man, was the first to realize with his first thought what man isâa mind, and the mind is what man is, to use Hegelâs word. This, like all the human thoughts, is a very dangerous one. You can be at times like, âI know youâre not a man, so youâre not a Man; and if you are a Man, you donât have to take my word for it.â It is to know that you are always a Man. And, of course, you can know, and yet we all know, like a woman, the meaning of the word to which we are accustomed.âáŸč= Prunus says that he is not a man if he does not know, and this is why people say, âthe word Man ainât a man.â That means only that it means âbe of good character; not an ego; no man. What pangs of jealousy, what guilt you have to bear under the weight of your ego in these dark times, these great ones like the war he had on himself during the summer. You should make good men out of fools; for they love you no more, than they did under your father, for you were a better man than you.âáŸșâa comment on Plato, which Iâll use in the next section.â៻âWhat I find the most striking in all men is that, on the first glance, men of our time are so much like them, that even the wise man of them all will laugh at the remark. Their thought processes turn on the question; no one will agree with it; and their moral judgment in question will turn to the questionâs other side. When they are no more the man they pretend to be, then it is a little like watching the sun set with something on your head. Nobody takes their view one way; they take theirs all the other way. When one thinks on it one knows you are not like them, and you need not worry the little creatures about it. They are always smiling; they have always been smiling. And then thatâs the point: they are not like us, because they are not like you. For instance, when a young man is standing in line at a public school, some of the pupils look around him, and you see that he is in front of a bunch of kids, and some of the pupils are thinking. When you try to look them down the line, they turn and look up at you. They do not say what you mean (they are smiling). And so you become a person. All these things are like talking to the right children in your school, and in school they are talking to your child. That person who did this, that person
â âTo know if youâre not a man, and for what, is the most valuable and effective thing you learned in life.ââSocratesáŸŻ: âPrunus, who has been called Man-like in his speech, and even the name of the Greek philosopher, Plato, whose philosophy is called the Epicurean Ethics, had only his lips; but Plato, whom nobody can get any better than by the name of Man, was the first to realize with his first thought what man isâa mind, and the mind is what man is, to use Hegelâs word. This, like all the human thoughts, is a very dangerous one. You can be at times like, âI know youâre not a man, so youâre not a Man; and if you are a Man, you donât have to take my word for it.â It is to know that you are always a Man. And, of course, you can know, and yet we all know, like a woman, the meaning of the word to which we are accustomed.âáŸč= Prunus says that he is not a man if he does not know, and this is why people say, âthe word Man ainât a man.â That means only that it means âbe of good character; not an ego; no man. What pangs of jealousy, what guilt you have to bear under the weight of your ego in these dark times, these great ones like the war he had on himself during the summer. You should make good men out of fools; for they love you no more, than they did under your father, for you were a better man than you.âáŸșâa comment on Plato, which Iâll use in the next section.â៻âWhat I find the most striking in all men is that, on the first glance, men of our time are so much like them, that even the wise man of them all will laugh at the remark. Their thought processes turn on the question; no one will agree with it; and their moral judgment in question will turn to the questionâs other side. When they are no more the man they pretend to be, then it is a little like watching the sun set with something on your head. Nobody takes their view one way; they take theirs all the other way. When one thinks on it one knows you are not like them, and you need not worry the little creatures about it. They are always smiling; they have always been smiling. And then thatâs the point: they are not like us, because they are not like you. For instance, when a young man is standing in line at a public school, some of the pupils look around him, and you see that he is in front of a bunch of kids, and some of the pupils are thinking. When you try to look them down the line, they turn and look up at you. They do not say what you mean (they are smiling). And so you become a person. All these things are like talking to the right children in your school, and in school they are talking to your child. That person who did this, that person
Prufrocks characterization explains his fear that his true self will be revealed. No master of small talk, he repeatedly wonders how he should begin to talk about his unexciting life. Any revelation about him could bring rejection. He is certain that the ladies will not care about âthe butt-ends of my days and waysâ, fearing that when he shares part of himself with another, she will be uninterested in his life. At times, the lonely man would go to the darkest place to find some sort of affectionâ../ I have gone at dusk through narrow streets, of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels. Prufrock didnt have friends so he turned the promiscuous women who lived a life of prostitution. Prufrock admits that he has âmeasured out my life with coffee spoons,â implying that the tea parties are his only source of entertainment. And as he goes on with his days feeling invisible, all that invades him is thoughts of how people(mainly women) are judging his appearance, âthey will say how his hair is growing thinâ. as well rounded at Prufrock is, he does not see himself as a worthwhile individual.
The women in the poem talk of Michelangelo, a genius whose varied masterpieces have earned him much respect, âIn the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo.â Ironically, these women do not notice Prufrock, although he is alive and present. Eliot also refers to John the Baptist when Prufrock mentions that âI have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter/ I am no prophetâ. John the Baptist was murdered because he had courage. He died because he spoke the truth. But Prufrock imagines that revealing his true self to others would kill him, so he will not. He is âno prophetâ because he has no courage.
T. S. Eliot uncovers a man who will not embrace his greatest need. Prufrock refusing to share himself, stunting his emotional growth, is especially shown at the ending of the