In T.S Eliot's poem, “ The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” the tone of a reflective, bitter, and morose man is achieved through the use of epigraphs, imagery, allusion, metaphor , and diction. J. Alfred Prufrock is followed through his night, romanticizing what could have been.
To develop the tone of reflectiveness the love song opens with an epigraph from “Dante’s Inferno”, which is about Dante trying to talk to Guido about the atrocities Guido committed in his life; Guido is resilient to tell because of the pure heinousness of his deeds and believes that his reputation would be tarnished if they were to be known. Much like in the Lovesong, Mr. Prufrock is telling how he sees himself in the most harsh, personal way possible. Mr. Prufrock believes that when people look upon him “They will say: “How his hair is growing thin… They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!” The image of a frail old man is conjured immediately, allowing the reader to visualize the lonesome voice. …show more content…
Eliot uses this allusion to give an impression Mr. Prufrock feels from the woman he so desperately needed to indulge in. Even if he were to tell the woman that he had been brought back from the dead so he could tell her anything she would want know about whatever is there after they die, the woman's response would be indifference. Eliot goes on to say “When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall” (58). comparing himself to a bug, Mr. Prufrock feels that he is that of an insect, a decidedly visually unappealing organism, put on a plaque for all to inspect in
To develop the tone of reflectiveness the love song opens with an epigraph from “Dante’s Inferno”, which is about Dante trying to talk to Guido about the atrocities Guido committed in his life; Guido is resilient to tell because of the pure heinousness of his deeds and believes that his reputation would be tarnished if they were to be known. Much like in the Lovesong, Mr. Prufrock is telling how he sees himself in the most harsh, personal way possible. Mr. Prufrock believes that when people look upon him “They will say: “How his hair is growing thin… They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!” The image of a frail old man is conjured immediately, allowing the reader to visualize the lonesome voice. …show more content…
Eliot uses this allusion to give an impression Mr. Prufrock feels from the woman he so desperately needed to indulge in. Even if he were to tell the woman that he had been brought back from the dead so he could tell her anything she would want know about whatever is there after they die, the woman's response would be indifference. Eliot goes on to say “When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall” (58). comparing himself to a bug, Mr. Prufrock feels that he is that of an insect, a decidedly visually unappealing organism, put on a plaque for all to inspect in