Discussion Topic
Significance and Climax of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
Summary:
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot is considered a love song despite its unconventional nature. Unlike traditional love songs that express affection or longing, Prufrock's "love song" is marked by indecision, insecurity, and fear of rejection. The poem's ironic title reflects Prufrock's internal struggle and his inability to act on his feelings. The climax occurs when Prufrock acknowledges his passivity, realizing he is not a hero like Hamlet but rather a supporting character in his own life. This modernist poem was groundbreaking for its exploration of fragmented identity and inner turmoil.
Why is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" considered a love song?
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is certainly no traditional love song, but that is why the poem is so unique. It is a love song as only its titular speaker could create: neurotic, awkward, and filled with uncertainty. This subversive intent is illustrated in the first three lines of the poem proper:
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table
A normal love poem would make the night seem beautiful. Prufrock is instead uneasy and so evokes uncomfortable imagery to make his point.
A traditional love song features a lover or would-be lover speaking of or to their beloved. They might describe how lovely the object of their affection is, their romantic longings, their erotic desires, and their hopes for the future. They might compare their love to an endless ocean...
Unlock
This Answer NowStart your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
or some other beautifulmetaphor. Think of Robert Burns's love poem "A Red, Red Rose," in which the speaker professes a love so powerful that it will last until the seas go dry and the sun melts the rocks.
Prufrock does none of this. The reader never knows who the beloved is or even what they might be like. Instead, Prufrock gives the reader (and presumably, his beloved) a detailed catalog of his own deficiencies: his balding head, his simple attire, his routine life, his self-loathing, and his neurotic personality. He longs to ask this beloved an "overwhelming question," which might refer to a marriage proposal, a sexual proposition, or even just something as simple as a declaration of love, but he is too terrified of rejection to try. He imagines his beloved taking on an attitude of indifference (adjusting a pillow or shawl) and telling him, "That is not what I meant at all," rejecting him entirely.
Prufrock's hesitation and fear make him a subversion of the usual love poem speaker. He is clearly in erotic thrall of his beloved (observing the fine hair on women's arms and "perfume from a dress") and yearns to be the more assertive romantic hero of fiction. He longs to "force the moment to its crisis" during tea, implying he wants to move to the next stage of his romantic relationship but feels powerless to do so in the face of daily routine and his own insecurity. His comparison of himself to Polonius from Hamlet, as opposed to Hamlet himself, shows how minimally he regards his appeal. He can only imagine himself as a minor character in the grand drama of his own life, doomed to passivity, especially in the realm of love.
Unlike the Burns love poem, "Prufrock" does not end with the speaker claiming his love will last until the end of time. Instead, it ends with the image of Prufrock and his beloved drowning as they hear the voices of mermaids singing. Rather than evoking eternal love, Prufrock ends his love song with the would-be lovers dying in the sea, a conclusion consistent with the pessimistic tone of the poem as a whole.
So while "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is not a traditional love song, it certainly is a love song, only spoken from the perspective of an insecure, sexually frustrated man.
In a typical love song, the singer might tell their loved one just how much they care, that they cannot live without the other person, or that their life will not be complete without that other person's love in return. However, Prufrock's love song does not feel particularly love-songlike at all. He never says how much he loves this woman with whom he attends the party and never states that he cannot live without her. Instead, he considers asking her an "overwhelming question" -- possibly if she loves him too, or even if she will agree to marry him -- but he never actually asks it because he is too afraid of potential rejection. The typical singer of a love song makes themselves vulnerable as they confess their feelings, but Prufrock simply cannot bring himself to do the same. Therefore, the title of the poem is ironic: he does not have the courage to sing a real love song, and this is the best he can muster.
Why might Eliot have titled his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"?
We find the phrase "love song" in the title of the poem for a few reasons.
As a description of the speaker's sad, lonely wanderings and failures to connect with women, "love song" is a fairly accurate and straightforward description: the speaker yearns for love and intimacy without receiving it. Think of how many actual love songs you know that are about unrequited love, or failed relationships! They're very common.
And, paradoxically, "love song" works as an ironic description of the speaker's struggles, too. He doesn't find love, and he's too much of a coward to even try very hard to find it, and so he's definitely not singing a love song to any lady in real life!
To sum this up so far, although it sounds crazy, the poem both is and is not a love song, so the phrase "love song" in the title is both straightforwardly appropriate as well as ironic. But here's my favorite guess about why Eliot titled the poem with that phrase: "love song" also works to make the title funny. We might expect a poem to be called, for example, "The Love Song of Romeo" or "The Love Song of James Smith" or any other normal-sounding name. But this is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," which is hilarious when you think of how stuffy that name really sounds. It's like saying "The Love Song of F. Humphrey Q. Longwhiskers III." I'm exaggerating, but you get the idea: the man's name is awkward and snobby, so putting it next to the phrase "love song" is funny.
For all those reasons, no, I, personally, wouldn't change the title of the poem to something else. It works too well as it is. But if you were interested in creating a more straightforward title, you might pick something like "Lonely Wanderings," or you might just echo a line you particularly like that embodies the theme, like "Ragged Claws" or "Indecisions" or "Music From a Farther Room."
You might be interested to know that Eliot himself originally titled this poem "Prufrock Among the Women" (according to the book T.S. Eliot: A Life by Peter Ackroyd). So if you were looking for a more appropriate title that expresses the fact that Prufrock wanders around among the women without actually wooing them or connecting with them in any meaningful way, that title would do the job.
References
What is the climax of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and its importance?
The climax of “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” can be found near the end of the poem in stanza 15. The poem revolves around “the question” that Prufrock is considering asking, but he is an indecisive man. Let’s review the poem to discuss the importance of the climax and realization in stanza 15.
The poem begins with an epigraph in Italian. The epigraph is a direct quotation from The Inferno by Dante Allegirhi presented in the original Italian. Eliot doesn’t translate it, but the lines are spoken in the poem by Guido de Montefeltro, who is in the eighth circle of Hell. Guido is in the eighth circle because of sins he committed during a war and having the audacity to ask for forgiveness before committing the sins (that's not the way it works).
In the epigraph selection, he is telling Dante that he would typically not speak of his sins because he wanted to keep his reputation intact on Earth but that he will tell Dante because it’s unlikely he can go back to earth from Hell. The epigraph tells us a few things: first that Prufrock might be concerned about his reputation in the poem and second that he might be like Montefeltro in wanting the answer to the question before he asks it.
In the poem, leading up to the climax, we learn about Prufrock’s life. He is leading someone, presumed to be his lover, through the seedy streets of some city. He continually references the idea that “there will be time” (line 23, stanza 4), building the idea that he is delaying asking “an overwhelming question” (line 10, stanza 1) because asking it could “disturb the universe” (line 46, stanza 6).
Prufrock is ultimately indecisive about whether or not he should ask the question of his lover—the question being a marriage proposal. The idea of rejection paralyzes Prufrock, and that is why he continually insists that there is more time. His continued refrain about having more time is important because, by the end of the poem, he realizes that he is out of time and has grown old.
In the climax of the poem, the idea of time and the decision about the question come to their breaking point. Prufrock declares, “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was it meant to be” (line 111, stanza 15), referencing Hamlet’s famous speech about to be or not to be. Prufrock, in declaring that he is not Hamlet, is saying he has made a decision. His decision and conclusion are that it was not meant to be, meaning marriage. He begins to see himself as a bit part in the story, not the main character.
He comes to terms with his shortcomings and realizes that he has waited too long to ask the question, and instead, he is getting old. Prufrock’s indecision and worry have led him to a wasted life—instead of living and enjoying the fruits of a relationship realized, he has worried so much about rejection that he made it a reality by not asking.
In literary terms, the climax of a work denotes its turning point—specifically, it is the point where a narrative begins to provide solutions, rather than ask questions or intensify tension. In this poem, the point of climax can really be narrowed down to one line, beginning with the very decisive "No!"
This "No!" is the first instance of decisiveness we have seen from Eliot's most indecisive of protagonists. As he states firmly, toward the end of the poem, that he "is not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be," the tone of the poem changes. Up to this point, it has been full of "argument," "question," and contemplation. The introspective Prufrock is trying to understand himself; he is asking himself questions, specifically whether he "dare" seize the opportunity he feels may be within his reach. Does he dare "disturb the universe"?
At this point of climax, Prufrock answers his own question at last. He determines here that it would not have "been worth it" to have made the leap he has been contemplating. He condemns himself as an "attendant lord," somebody who is not fit to be the hero, even within his own story. It is important, therefore, because it provides the final indication that Prufrock, for all his hope and pondering, is not actually strong enough to make the move he has dreamed of. Instead, he has determined that he is "the Fool" of the drama in which he has been cast, and will instead withdraw, sure that the "mermaids" of life will have no songs for him.
The climax of the poem comes near the end, in lines 111–119:
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was I meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Poetic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.
It is important because it marks the end of a figurative and literal journey for the narrator, who wanders the streets of London pondering the meaning of his existence and whether he can muster the nerve to "disturb the universe" by telling a woman that he loves her—or by speaking the truth at all.
In his internal battle, the narrator initially tells himself that "there will be time," but time slips quickly away. As he strolls the dismal streets, he wonders what meaning his life has had. He realizes that even if he had risen from the dead like Lazarus and knew the meaning of life, it wouldn't matter if no one was interested in hearing it.
At the climax, the narrator confesses that he is not a prince like Hamlet and therefore not destined to take any great action or make any heroic gestures. Instead, he will continue to "measure out his life in coffee spoons." From this point on, he is content with his role and accepts himself for who he is. He has decided not "to force the moment to its crisis." He is but an attendant lord, and he will have to be content with that. The journey is over. He has found himself.
References
Why is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" considered a "love song"?
In the case of this particular piece of literature, it is a poem. Poems used to be sung quite often in history, so one reason this would be appropriately titled is because it is simply that: a poem and poems used to be sung.Â
Also, because it contains the thoughts of a single speaker, it is considered lyric poetry. Lyric poetry was often sung. In this day and age, we typcially associate lyrics with songs. Lyrics are the words to songs (our modern-day definition). Lyric poetry, however, is NOT necessarily sung, but it contains the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker. Such is the case for this poem.
Finally, this could be a love song because it is about the misfortunes in love of the speaker of the poem, Alfred J. Prufrock. Prufrock is bemoaning his lack of luck in love. He is extremely shy and awkward with women and does not know how to best approach them. He cannot overcome his own fears of rejection, etc., to take the risk in approaching them, although he dreams of doing so. Love songs, as we all know and as the last editor pointed out, are not always happy, and this "love song" is one of these sad love songs.
Why was "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" a breakthrough in poetry?
T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a poem which brought verse fully into the twentieth century as it effected a cultural shift in poetry from Romanticism to Modernism.
Eliot's poem is also the first English-language poem of the twentieth century that is composed of free verse, and it differs greatly from the poems of the Romanticists because in them the natural world is in sympathy with man and offers succor, whereas for Prufrock in Eliot's verse the images of nature are sick or ominous. In the first stanza, for instance, the evening "spreads out against the sky" like "a patient etherised upon a table." Further in the poem, the atmosphere of the city is ominous, even suggestive of evil in its imagery, as there is "yellow fog" with "yellow smoke" on the window-panes.Â
Indeed, Eliot became a major voice in Modernism as he has expressed so well the lassitude of man, as well as the horror and incongruity of many aspects of modern life. But, unlike Ezra Pound, who felt that the poet was not obliged to recompose the world out of its fragmentation, but could, instead, elicit "a paradisal aspect" out of such disjointedness, Eliot perceived a necessity to establish order out of the fragmentation through re-composition. In other words, Eliot wished to seam the world together as a spiritual quest.
Editors Richard Ellman and Robert O'Clair write that Eliot was strongly influenced by the French symbolists, while the metaphysical poets, too, affected Eliot strongly:Â
His principal models were Laforgue and Corbiere. He dealt almost exclusively with decadent, enervated people, yet in all his technical devices revealed a violent, innovative energy. He combined a precise and often formal outward manner with an inner writhing, bound together by wit.
J. Alfred Prufrock is the "decadent, enervated" man of the twentieth century. Moreover, he exemplifies modern man so well because he shares the angst of many. For instance, his inner fears prevent him from risking rejection by a woman despite his strong sexual desires. Much like characters brought to life by James Joyce, his inner dialogue is wrought with fear and a certain spiritual paralysis. Prufrock, too, is afraid to engage with the world:
Is it perfume from a dress
That makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.
  And should I then presume?
  And how should I begin?
Despite the frustrations and hesitations and fragmentation, Eliot's verse, like the writings of other Modernists, has a profound honesty to it.
Additional Source: The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry
To what extent is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" a love song?
This is a very pertinent question to ask about this strange "love song." Surely, out of all of the love songs that have ever been composed, this must be one of the most peculiar, as signified by one of the first images included in the third line:
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table.
This is hardly the most romantic image to start off your "love song"! As we read on, we see that J. Alfred Prufrock is a man who definitely has feelings but he can only entertain them in the privacy of his own mind. Although his thoughts and emotions are clearly complex, it is evident that they do nothing to help him overcome his biggest barrier, which is fear of participation in the world and commitment or engagement. Thus it is that the song actually shows how he as a character has to take refuge in heroic fantasy, as he compares himself to a variety of heroes. We are left with a haunting image of a man who is unable to commit, who measures out his life "in coffee spoons" and faces a lonely future burdened by the fear of what others think about him:
I grow old... I grow old...
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
Shal I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
Such questions and preoccupations are what fills J. Alfred Prufrock's day. What is unique about this love song is that it actually reveals far more about the speaker than his "love" and focuses more on his hang-ups and worries.