T. S. Eliot’s famous dramatic monologue, The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, utilizes a number of central images, allusions and metaphors to develop the idea that modern life is riddled with anxieties, and that sometimes, these anxieties result in isolation and paralysis.

After taking the reader on an intimate journey where he shares his insecurities, the speaker, Prufrock, has accepted his passivity at last and has stopped worrying about when and how to take action. Earlier in the poem, he asked, “Do I dare disturb the universe?” (45-46). Towards the end of the monologue, the speaker has, in effect, decided that he does not dare. He says quite emphatically that he has “seen the moment of [his] greatness flicker” (84). Here it becomes clear that the time to act has passed, and that it is too late to do anything about it. After looking back at the passage of time, he looks forward and says, “And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,/And in short, I was afraid” (85-86). The eternal Footman who holds his coat seems to be death itself, almost taunting him with a “snicker.” This personification of death suggests that it has been his companion throughout life, holding his coat as if to serve him, when in reality it mocks him. Prufrock had spent the majority of the poem convincing himself that there would be time to act, and that it was not a problem that he hadn’t done so already. He comes to understand that the moment to act has passed, and that in reality death had been his companion all along. This realization makes the already vulnerable Prufrock much more so, as he admits, “I was afraid” (86).