The Love Song Of Alfred J. Prufrock by T.S Eliot - Facts In A Nutshell

By Rahul Kumar -
Poet: T.S Eliot, a modern poet and a Nobel Laureate for Literature

  • The poem is a dramatic monologue ( a poem in which the narrator speaks to a silent listener). Our narrator is Mr Alfred Prufrock who is introvert, not extremely introvert. He is a middle-aged person with bachelor status. In fact, he leads a lonely life and he talks a lot but to himself. 

                   "There will be time, there will be time
                 To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;"
  • The serious issue with him is his inability or fear to do things; he procrastinate (delay) and unlike its title, the poem is not a not a love song but an overthinker's dilemma to act or not. H is a 20th century Hamlet, a character in Shakespeare's play Hamlet who is famous for his "to be or to be not, that's the question." Prufrock is always in dilemma about his unknown "overwhelming question" which causes pain to him. But he clarifies that he is not like Hamlet but another character of the play, Polonius.
  • He is discreet about his real motives and doesn't want to act fearing backlash or rebuke. We sense the repression of his lustful thoughts which he hides. Throughout the poem, we don't know for sure that he is talking to himself or to a real person.
  • Eliot beautifies the poem with a lot of smoke. Prufrock takes a walk in the city of London, which was the most prominent industrial town in the 20th century. He claims to know the way of the society and hence, fears the intense reaction upon some action of his. That's why he doesn't intend to "disturb the universe" Prufrock likes to observe rather than act. During the evening, he even embarks on the streets of the cheap area where numerous hotels are situated.
  • Till the end of the poem, we don't know of his intentions and the poem ends with his ridiculous talks about his old age and mermaids. 
  • Rhyme Scheme: Irregular rhyme scheme
  • Important Allusions: 1) Epigraph of the poem is derived from Dante Alighieri's Inferno 2) Lazarus's revival by Jesus. 3) Prince Hamlet of Shakespeare's play.