The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a masterpiece of T.S. Eliot. The title suggests it aptly that this is not a traditional love song of a romantic tone. It is rather, a mockery upon the condition of a modern man, who has faced the Wars and now facing the after effects of it. Eliot has displayed many themes in his poem, and he has described the mental turmoils of the modern man. He has portrayed the picture of a confused and paralyzed society, where people do not know what to do and which tradition should be followed; classic or modern. Eliot has laughed at his people and, described their paralysis in an apt fashion. Though he has made fun of the modern man and his confused psyche yet, this poem is not just a mimic. Rather, it is a complete picture to the history of modernism and, how people had lost their confidence and faith in the chaotic scenario of Wars. The narrative of the poem is equally impressive and attractive.

He starts with the epigraph from Dante. In which a man who lives in hell tells the secrets of his life to the one who is there only for some time. The man who reveals the secret does not know that the other one will go to the world again. So, when he gets the idea he feels ashamed of himself. He knows that no man can keep secrets for long and, now soon after his departure from the hell, he will tell the story of his life to everyone and, that will make his condition worse in the hell too.

The poem talks about the ruins which man has to collect after every mistake or sin. In my perception it gives the message of being alone in the hard times or it might be the other way around; that nobody else can correct your mistakes, it is only the one who commits them can amend them or eradicate them from the character. When you have ruined your life then you cannot hold others tongues of saying nasty things. Moreover you cannot change or erase the smile, the sarcastic smiles of their faces. They will mock at you, laugh and make fun of your deeds. Then comes the other part; that is the one who laughs today will put his/her self in the same spot tomorrow. As, there are no saints in the modern times, all have flaws and darkness of the character.

In the poem we find certain refrains, which shows the constant confusion of the modern man. For example;

Let us go, the first refrain in the poem. Here the person says let us go You and I; shows quite vividly that, someone wants to escape from somewhere. Or someone wants to escape from his present state of mind. It shows the irritation or mental illness of the speaker. As, the person is imprisoned in hell, he wants to escape from the misery of hell. Hell is everywhere as Mephistopheles says in Doctor Faustus. He describes hell as a mental state, same kind of a fabric we see in this refrain of let us go, let us go.

Then an other refrain is;

In the room the women come and go

Talking of Michelangelo.

It shows the lack of confidence in one’s own self. The speaker does not have confidence not even a hint of it. Michelangelo was the activist of Renaissance movement, and he was an extremely handsome man. The speaker here seems to degrade himself and gets intimidated  by the charms of Michelangelo’s personality. He thinks that none of the women will like him as he is a flimsy, little pale fellow. He is too conscious about his physical impotency. That is the drawback which Eliot wants to communicate that, people in modern time are more concerned about their appearances then their soul and spirituality. The main focus is now looks and appearance. Here he also talks about the mentality of modern women which has been changed altogether. Women are now not just the representation of obedience as they used to be in the classic times. Now, they have their own opinions and their own ways to deal with life. They cannot follow the leadership of men blindly.

Then comes the most interesting refrains of; Do I dare, Do I dare, and How should I presume; here the speaker says it all. He displays all his ideals about himself. He degrades rather disgraces himself. He describes his physical appearance and asks that; with these miserable looks and personality do I dare to approach any woman? The questions and thought itself is quite ridiculous. It shows it clearly that he does not respect himself. He does not have confidence. He is a coward and because of his cowardice he will never be able to approach anyone in his life. People call him modern Hamlet, but I do not agree to this opinion. As, he is not a retrospective man with wisdom. True that like Hamlet he is not a man of action but, he is not a man of thought and philosophy too. Hamlet’s delay in action has many reasons like religious aspects and the matters of his knowledge. Here there isn’t any matter of knowledge rather, he is merely just concerned about his physicality and worried about his sexual desires. In fact, he himself in the poem denies to be Hamlet.

That is not what I meant at all;

               That is not it, at all.”

This is an other refrain in the poem. The speaker here is again confused about his words and what he meant. He is not sure of his ideals or he does not know the right expression in which he can explain it to the world. Here we see the verbal impotency of the modern man. He cannot project himself in a proper way. He says something but does not know how to support his argument. He compares himself with the great personalities of history and keeps on pulling himself down. He does not need anyone else as an enemy, as he himself is an enough source to do that. The comparison in normal routine doesn’t seem nice and good. It has nothing to do with the person whom you are comparing with others. It ultimately disturbs the mind and shatters the confidence. And, here in the poem he is constantly comparing himself with the good people as well as with the bad ones. He doesn’t even think that he can e compared with the bad examples. It proves that how worse he thinks of himself. It is to be said that you never lose until you make your mind that you have lost it. He has not tried to be in the run, he is just negating his personality and demolishing it.

Miscellaneous:

There are other things in the poem which are quite important;

There is not only the comparison of personalities but, also the comparison of classic times with modern times. As, he in the course of the poem plays with the ideologies, therefore, it seems as if, he tries to compare his past condition with the present one.

He also talks about the science and its negativity. The advancement of science has ruined the faith of people. Modern man trusts the science more than God. He is now out of the phase of Romanticism. He does not need nature as a mother or as a heeling source for their worries. Nature is just nature nothing more than that. No meditation and no positive vibes from it can help the modern man. Science and its inventions has built a wall between man and nature. Lack of faith has created the disturbance in the attitudes of people. They are still confused; where to go? And whom to believe.

 Cats also have been used in the poem symbolically, they are the symbol of supernatural beings but, here they represent the pollution, disease and illness. People do not only have mental paralysis but, they also have the laziness in their moves. They want everything but, they do not want to work.

Eliot has used Freudian imagery when he talks about women, mermaids hair, peach and so on and so forth. Eliot tries to portray the image of sexual anxiety in modern man. He does not have the courage to approach anyone thus, he is suffering from the sexual anxiety because of his lack of confidence. He wants to make love and to be loved by someone but, he cannot make initiatives. Thus, we can say that he does not want to approach someone rather, he wants to be approached my the other party.

Thus, all in all this sexual anxiety, physical and mental turmoil are suffocating the life of a modern man. He cannot sustain the suffocation, yet he does not find any way to get out of it.
Ayesha Aamir.

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