illustration of a woman holding a glass of wine and a man, Prufrock, standing opposite her

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

by T. S. Eliot

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Narrator's Traits and Conflict in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Summary:

In T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," the major conflict is internal, centered on Prufrock's indecision and self-doubt. He struggles with whether to act on his romantic desires, fearing rejection and judgment. Prufrock is portrayed as a middle-aged man with thinning hair and a self-conscious demeanor. Emotionally, he is insecure and feels disconnected from the shallow social environment around him. This reflects the broader theme of modern isolation and existential angst, capturing Prufrock's paralysis and longing for meaningful connection.

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In "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," what is the major conflict?

The major conflict of the poem is an internal one for the narrator, J. Alfred Prufrock: character versus self. Prufrock is ambivalent about posing a significant question to a woman. It is perhaps a proposal of marriage that he is considering, or maybe he just wants to ask her out—it is impossible to know. He wonders, "'Do I dare?'" several times, while describing his appearance. He tries to seem put together with his "morning coat, [his] collar mounting firmly to the chin / [His] necktie rich and modest but asserted by a simple pin." However, he is conscious of the things that other people will say about him: that his hair is thinning, that his arms and legs are also thin, and so on. He doesn't even know how to begin to ask his question.  

Prufrock seems to feel that everything going on around him at this party is shallow...

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and meaningless. The "women come and go talking of Michelangelo," there are "tea and cakes and ices," and "Arms that are braceleted and white and bare," while he feels himself to be "sprawling on a pin . . . pinned and wriggling on the wall." How can he possibly find the strength to make himself so vulnerable to another person when it is entirely possible that she will say, "'That is not it at all, / That is not what I meant, at all'"?  The question is "overwhelming" and it does overwhelm him. He wonders if it would have been worth it to ask, though he knows he is no hero. If anything he feels "the Fool."  

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The central conflict of this poem seems to be encapsulated in the figure of J. Alfred Prufrock himself, and in particular in the indecision that he is plagued by and the choice of whether to act or not. He is a curious character to focus on as the protagonist of what appears to be from the title a romantic poem, as we see him venture towards an undisclosed destination where he will meet a woman and ask an important question. Nowhere more clearly is this conflict captured than in the following stanza:

And indeeed there will be time
To wonder, "Do I dare?" and, "Do I dare?"
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair--
(They will say: "How his hair is growing thin!")
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin--
(They will say: "But how his arms and legs are thin!")
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

Note how this stanza presents J. Alfred Prufrock. He is desperately insecure about his appearance, and imagines how others will criticise him about his baldness and thinness. Also, he is incredibly indecisive and cannot bring himself to make a decision on anything. He says there "will be time / To wonder "Do I dare?" but then immediately qualifies that by saying there will be time to turn around and go back down the stairs from where he was going to. The stanza ends by focusing on how even in a minute there "is time / For decisions and revisions" which can reverse what we have decided before. It is rather ironic that perhaps one of the most famous quotes of this poem: "Do I dare / Disturb the universe?" is uttered by a man who actually "dares" to do nothing. Thus the central conflict of this poem concerns the character of J. Alfred Prufrock and his inability to make a decision and his own lack of self-security.

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The major conflict of T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is an internal conflict for the narrator. In the poem, he is speaking to a desired lover, and it is clear that he wishes to move the relationship to another level, to "force the moment to its crisis." The problem is that life has caused him to believe he is inadequate. He has heard, in his mind, the negative comments of others, and he argues in his mind whether he is capable of an emotional relationship.

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Prufrock's main concern is that he is frittering his life away with meaningless activities while longing to do better things. He worries about the contrast between the sordid everyday world he inhabits and the world of imagination--of mermaids riding on the foam--that his heart yearns for. Since he is getting older, he is also preoccupied with his age, hoping (and thus expressing doubt) that there is still time left to accomplish meaningful tasks. But all there seems to be time do is make meaningless small decisions.

The poem opens with an image of paralysis of the night sky compared to a patient etherized or anesthetized for an operation. As he arrives at his London party, he continues to feel paralyzed, as if he has been at this same party a hundred times before, timidly measuring out his life "with coffee spoons." Everything seems dull to him.

He worries about his bald spot, a symbol of his aging. At the end, he expresses despair and hears the mermaids singing to each other but fears they will not sing to him.

Prufrock's paralysis has often been compared to that of the alienated modern man, shattered by the shock of World War I, part of a "Lost Generation."

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Prufrock's major concerns in T.S. Eliot's poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" revolve around what young men now might refer to as  'scoring', i.e. he is interested in beginning a sexual relationship with a woman, but at the same time he is concerned that he is too uncertain, to bland, too boring, and likely to be rejected. He is also going through a bit of a middle-life crisis, and is worried about growing bald (shall I part my hair behind), being properly dressed (trousers cuffed or not), his diet or digestion (eating a peach), and about whether people respect him or think him a fool.

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What are the physical and emotional traits of the narrator in T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"?

Physically, Prufrock is described to have thin limbs and hair with a bald spot. His appearance is neat:

My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to thechin,My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by asimple pin

While his physical attributes are not well described, Prufrock's emotional characteristics are fairly evident. Prufrock is self-conscious and hesitant:

Do I dareDisturb the universe?In a minute there is timeFor decisions and revisions which a minute willreverse.

Prufrock longs for companionship but dislikes the people around him. The women who surround him at the party appear to be shallow, speaking incessantly of Michelangelo over the course of the evening. Prufrock worries that they judge him, and so imagines descending the stairs and leaving. His self-esteem is quite low, and he is lonely: he feels a kinship with the “lonely men in shirt-sleeves” who smoke pipes and lean out of windows in the worse quarters of the city.

Prufrock retreats to his imagination and the gritty streets to escape the shallow nature of the society in which he finds himself. The contrasts are striking: Prufrock prefers the grimy realities of the red-light district to parties, yet he lives almost entirely within his own head. Prufrock imagines his solitary old age with mermaids on the beach, while at the same time he appears to be frustrated with the unreality of his companions' conversations.

Isolation is a common theme in Modernist poetry and literature, in which Eliot was an influential figure. So too is the self-consciousness and lack of heroic qualities: Modernism arose in the wake of World War I, after which artists turned away from heroism due to its unrealistic nature. The poem decries the nature of modern civilization by showcasing Prufrock’s indecision and ennui.

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T.S. Eliot begins to describe the speaker in line 40 when the speaker notes that he has "a bald spot in the middle of [his] hair" (which the speaker again notes in line 82). The women at the party also note, "How his hair is growing thin!" (l. 41), giving credence to the fact that J. Alfred Prufrock is a middle-aged man.  

But really, the poem is more about Prufrock's emotional state.  Written as an internal monologue in a stream of consciousness format, Profrock doubts throughout the poem his ability to be loved by a woman.  He often questions himself, "'Do I dare?' and, 'Do I dare?'" (l. 38) in terms of walking up to a woman to ask her out.  He assures himself at the beginning of the poem that "there will be time," repeating this phrase five separate times.  However, as the monologue comes to a close, he realizes that time will eventually run out, he will grow old, and the mermaids will not sing to him (l. 125), a realization that his fantasies will not come true.  

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What are Prufrock's physical traits in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"?

The poem is primarily concerned with Prufrock's interior nature—his feelings and thoughts—as he walks to and attends a party. Prufrock, however, is a self-conscious man, and he therefore wonders what people think of his appearance. We learn from his thoughts that he must be in middle age: he has a bald spot "in the middle of [his] hair." He also imagines people commenting that his hair is thinning, which is another sign of age. He says twice, "I grow old."
Prufrock notes that his "arms and legs are thin," which would suggest he is a skinny, spindly man. He is well-dressed, for he mentions that he wears a "rich" but "modest" (tasteful) tie. He seems almost too buttoned up, however, because his morning coat and collar are buttoned up to his chin. He wears a pin in his tie, which leads him to think of himself as an insect "pinned and wriggling on the wall."
All in all, he describes himself as a fussily dressed, thin, spindly middle-aged man with a bald spot and thinning hair. His exterior accords with his interior self, for he thinks of himself as the type of person on the margins of history: not a Hamlet—a prince on center stage—but an "attendant lord," or someone in the background who is careful, deferential, tactful ("politic"), detail-oriented ("meticulous"), and glad to be used as a "tool" by other people.
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What are the physical and emotional qualities of the narrator in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"?

This poem can definitely be analyzed on a psychological level.  Generally, the narrator is an aging man with little confidence who must venture out to a cocktail party and interact with women.

Physically, the man is not the image of a handsome and athletic Greek god.  He has the body image issues that many people have that keep him from feeling secure, as the following lines from the poem indicate:

"Do I dare?" and, "Do I dare?"
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—
[They will say: "How his hair is growing thin!"]
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
[They will say: "But how his arms and legs are thin!"]

Prufrock later laments his aging equates it with a lack of physical attractiveness.The narrator seems unable to find enough pride to follow through with his goal of developing a relationship, or creating his "love song."  As the eNotes critical review cited below states:

Prufrock is full of self-doubts, with a pessimistic outlook on his future, as well as the future of society and the world. This pessimistic view renders him unable to declare his love to the unnamed woman.

The opening epitaph of the poem is an allusions to Dante and spoken by a lost soul, paralleling Prufrock and setting up his pessimistic views of the wolrd and his place in it.

He uses images of "yellow smoke," "butt-ends," and "a patient etherized on a table" in references to his life experiences.  This evokes a feeling of pity in the reader for Prufrock and lowers the expectiation that he will encounter a positive outcome this particular evening.

The last two lines of the poem tell it all:  "we drown."  Drowning is both a literal and metaphorical type of suicide, or death.  In this case Prufrock sees his intended actions of pursuing the unnamed woman as socially and emotion  Prufrock is his own worst enemy.  Aren't we all?

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