T.S. Eliot “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1917) is a poem that uncovers a man, named Alfred Prufrock, who not only has an unproductive and bleak life, but also has a lack of willpower and boldness to change that life. The poem is not entirely about love, it is a collection of the fragmented thoughts of a man with very low self-esteem and his inability to express his love to the woman the poem is addressed to. The poem is basically about this older man, Prufrock, who is distressed by his inability to tell a woman of his desire for her. Prufrock spends the span of the poem contemplating on some sort of “overwhelming question” which he needs to ask a woman at a social gathering. He tries to relay his feelings to her but he always come up
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Also, Prufrock is a lonely man. In the poem, there is no evidence of any relationship outside of the one he has with himself. In the beginning of the poem, he makes references to "…restless nights in one-night cheap hotels"(7). And how "women come and go."(13). Obviously, one can see that he desires intimate relationships, yet lacks the courage and self-confidence to begin to pursue love.
Secondly, Prufrock’s thoughts about how there is so much time also affects and contributes to his dilemma. He says there is “...time yet for a hundred indecisions/And for a hundred visions and revisions/Before the taking of a toast and tea” (32-34). The quote shows how he is trying to convince himself that there is plenty of time to prepare, and decide on what he is going to say before he makes a toast in her honor. He believes that there is enough time to decide whether or not he wants his changes in his life. There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands That lift and drop a question on your plate”
Also, Prufrock is a lonely man. In the poem, there is no evidence of any relationship outside of the one he has with himself. In the beginning of the poem, he makes references to "…restless nights in one-night cheap hotels"(7). And how "women come and go."(13). Obviously, one can see that he desires intimate relationships, yet lacks the courage and self-confidence to begin to pursue love.
Secondly, Prufrock’s thoughts about how there is so much time also affects and contributes to his dilemma. He says there is “...time yet for a hundred indecisions/And for a hundred visions and revisions/Before the taking of a toast and tea” (32-34). The quote shows how he is trying to convince himself that there is plenty of time to prepare, and decide on what he is going to say before he makes a toast in her honor. He believes that there is enough time to decide whether or not he wants his changes in his life. There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands That lift and drop a question on your plate”