The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock: Is it a Romance or a Vision?

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T.S Eliot and The Modern Age- A Short Analysis

Have you come across a poem and thought that this was it! Well, I have come across one. It is The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock. This is one such thought-provoking poem by The Waste Land poet, T.S Eliot. The poem defines everyone's modern life as a pro. The piece of art effectively captures the drained-out mood of the Waste Land. 

"The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock" is one of the poems in T.S Eliot's poetry volume called "Prufrock and Other Observations." Eliot himself states that his poems are pretty complex. And why not? His poems are apt for a modern and complex age like ours! 

So, without further ado, let us delve into a detailed analysis of Prufrock's love song. Is it a romance or a modern grim vision? Let us know! This T.S Eliot love song will leave you spellbound, I assure you.

Firstly, the title of the poem captures our attention. How can a formalized person like "J. Alfred Prufrock" probably have a love life? But Eliot hits right on the spot. He uses a technique called reduction. He begins by stating, "Let us go then, you and I," but then as we proceed, he states, "like a patient etherised upon a table". 

This is where modernism starts its journey. All our romantic assumptions shatter as we move forward with the love song. The narrator says, "Let us go then". He could have just said, "Let us go". But he does not. The "then" depicts hesitation. Hesitation is so common when we deal with our modern vision. We are never sure of anything. Most of us are like Dante's Trimmers.

 If you do not know what a trimmer is, it's high time you know it. These were characters in Dante's Inferno. They had no motive in life. These characters were condemned to hell for not living their life. Without the "Prude, " Prufrock falls among one of these mindless and soulless people. He is a victim of his age. So, if you were searching for a Prufrock meaning, here you clear your doubt. We all are damned in a modern Dante's Inferno. 

"Do I dare/  disturb the universe?..." Like Prufrock, we are afraid to express our love song. We are scared to side with either the good or the evil side. We are infertile byproducts of a depressing age. Like Prufrock, we are no Hamlet who disturbs the world's conventions. We are flaneurs. Worthless and sterile. So, if we learn about T.S Eliot works, we learn about the bitter age of modern times.

Keywords: The Waste Land, The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, Dante's Inferno, Prufrock meaning