J Alfred Prufrock Insecurities

T.S. Eliot's “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” provides interesting insight and commentary into the monotony of everyday life, as well as the value and particularly the risks involved in social interaction and relationships. The poem establishes the insecurities of the main character, J. Alfred Prufrock, in his dealings with social monotony and interaction. This is done through a portrayal of his inner thoughts and self judgements as he considers the possibility of approaching a woman in lieu of a possible relationship. This guides the reader through his own insecurities and self-belittlement as he finally reaches his sour conclusion that fails to resolve or acknowledge these problems. The poem commences with a focus on the …show more content…
I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;” He then proceeds to describe himself more in similarity to Polonius, “Differential, glad to be of use.” The irony of this statement is clear, for he shares the same flaw as did Hamlet, his tendency to overthink and negatively project on future events. He considers himself an “advisor,” “cautious and meticulous,” yet this is made clear to be a guise for his own justification of his insecurity as this leads to frank negativity at the end of the piece, “I do not think that they will sing to me” (This perhaps also demonstrates some interesting insight into how Prince Hamlet may have seen himself….) “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” demonstrates the internal conflict between the desire to preserve current social function of everyday life (as well as its associated insecurities) with social desire for a better standing with other s as well as the desire for relationships. This piece serves to comment on not only the justifications of inhibiting insecurities, but also on the flaws in such justifications. T.S. Elliot has successfully created a piece that questions the internal struggles of everyday life and comments on the flaws in these conflicts as