Most people would agree that the twentieth century cities were not a place of dreams. After two World Wars, European societies had a pessimistic outlook of their future and this was perfectly shown throughout the writers of that time. One of these writers was T. S. Eliot, who through “The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock” in 1915 and “The Family Reunion” in 1939, perfectly recreated this foggy background of English society. The aim of this essay is to analyze Eliot´s view in both works through the atmospheres and how these influence the characters to construct their identity/ideology.
As regards the atmosphere towards the characters, the fact that both works take place in a paralyzed England because of the war creates a climate of distrust up to reach the point of selfishness in which one´s opinion is correct and nobody cares about their own mistakes. In the case of Amy in The family reunion she tries to convince Harry to stay in Wishwood and with this, oblige him to live in that place without future typical consequence of wars. This also creates an aggressive and …show more content…
Alfred Prufrock, again the idea of the paralyzed society damned to constant repetition is present as Prufrock is full of self-doubts and pessimistic towards his future. The atmosphere with which he has to deal with disables him to declare his love to the unnamed woman and although he is aware of the possibility of personal fulfillment, he is afraid to act, unable to claim for him a more meaningful existence. He feels inferior not only to establish relationships with women but also to feel separated -the same as Harry- from a superficial society that only cares of appearance -which is shown with the details of the women- and to show off knowledge which is shown when women talk of Michelangelo and also when Hamlet and Lazarus are mentioned in the poem. With these characteristics of society, he wants to leave humanity and, as he is unable, he has to reluctantly accept his
As regards the atmosphere towards the characters, the fact that both works take place in a paralyzed England because of the war creates a climate of distrust up to reach the point of selfishness in which one´s opinion is correct and nobody cares about their own mistakes. In the case of Amy in The family reunion she tries to convince Harry to stay in Wishwood and with this, oblige him to live in that place without future typical consequence of wars. This also creates an aggressive and …show more content…
Alfred Prufrock, again the idea of the paralyzed society damned to constant repetition is present as Prufrock is full of self-doubts and pessimistic towards his future. The atmosphere with which he has to deal with disables him to declare his love to the unnamed woman and although he is aware of the possibility of personal fulfillment, he is afraid to act, unable to claim for him a more meaningful existence. He feels inferior not only to establish relationships with women but also to feel separated -the same as Harry- from a superficial society that only cares of appearance -which is shown with the details of the women- and to show off knowledge which is shown when women talk of Michelangelo and also when Hamlet and Lazarus are mentioned in the poem. With these characteristics of society, he wants to leave humanity and, as he is unable, he has to reluctantly accept his