“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a classic poem written by T.S. Elliot, in which we explore the inner thoughts of the speaker, Prufrock. Readers see how afraid he is. Prufrock is afraid of outside judgement, he is afraid that one wrong move will result in him becoming the laughingstock of the very person or group of people he so desperately wants to please. Another classic work of literature is Hamlet, written by Shakespeare. Hamlet tells the story of an angry, broken-hearted prince: Prince Hamlet, who wants to avenge his father’s death. He encounters both mental and physical obstacles that make his plan for revenge much more difficult. Although the two works of literature tell different stories and are written in different time periods,
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He is afraid that if he asks this girl this question, it will result in judgement and failure. For example, in the poem he questions “would it have been worth it, after all, / After the cups, the marmalade, the tea, / Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me” (Elliot). He wonders that if this girl is to say no to his question, would all that they had went through together meant anything. Prufrock cannot stand the thought of being turned down, so he is extremely hesitant to ask it. He knows that this task must be done but he fears rejection, which could result in his self-esteem dropping even more. This is why he goes back and forth between wanting to ask it, and thinking of all the reasons why he should not ask the question. His inability to decide whether to act or not is due to his heavy concern about being judged by other people, and ultimately himself.
However, what is ironic is that in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” Prufrock considers himself to be more like Polonius, and not Hamlet. He believes he is not as important as Hamlet, again showing that he is extremely critical of himself. Here, he is convincing himself that he is someone that he is not, which is exactly what Hamlet does in the play. By making this claim, Prufrock makes himself sound more like
He is afraid that if he asks this girl this question, it will result in judgement and failure. For example, in the poem he questions “would it have been worth it, after all, / After the cups, the marmalade, the tea, / Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me” (Elliot). He wonders that if this girl is to say no to his question, would all that they had went through together meant anything. Prufrock cannot stand the thought of being turned down, so he is extremely hesitant to ask it. He knows that this task must be done but he fears rejection, which could result in his self-esteem dropping even more. This is why he goes back and forth between wanting to ask it, and thinking of all the reasons why he should not ask the question. His inability to decide whether to act or not is due to his heavy concern about being judged by other people, and ultimately himself.
However, what is ironic is that in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” Prufrock considers himself to be more like Polonius, and not Hamlet. He believes he is not as important as Hamlet, again showing that he is extremely critical of himself. Here, he is convincing himself that he is someone that he is not, which is exactly what Hamlet does in the play. By making this claim, Prufrock makes himself sound more like