The epigraph from Dante’s Inferno provides us with a glimpse of Dante’s journey through hell. In the passage provided, we observe Dante’s conversation with Montefeltro, a man who has been condemned to the eighth circle of hell, which is reserved for those who’ve committed treachery or freud. The epigraph sets the stage for a confession of the damned. Just like Montefeltro, Prufrock makes that assumption that the audience can relate to his pain.…
Instead the characters can only make meaningful connections with the city. In ‘Prufrock’ the description of the streets in the first three stanzas of the poem show a familiarity with the city. He does not simply talk about the street and the different buildings and establishment that can be found there, instead we are given detailed descriptions of the “half-deserted streets” with “cheap hotels” and sawdust restaurants”. This thorough account of the setting allows us to deduce that Prufrock accustomed with this city or at least parts of it. This familiarity contrast with the unease and unfamiliarity of Prufrock’s relationship with his romantic interest. Throughout the poem as he contemplates the possibility of a relationship there is a hesitancy…
At the very start the poet makes clear the persona's alienation as it is his mother's desire to the school taken in by the same superficial features, "impressed by the uniform of her employer's sons". Sckrzynecki makes clear the persona's lack of connection from the very beginning.…
The poem by T.S. Eliot “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a dramatic monologue written in 1915. Close to the end of the poem Mr. Prufrock stated “It is impossible to say just what I mean” (104). This statement will be analyzed to discover the hidden connotation of this phrase and convey the speaker’s ultimate goal. The questions that will be answered are: What does Prufrock mean when stating “It is impossible to say just what I mean” (104)? Is this statement stated due to a lack of vocabulary, words cannot convey his actual emotions, or is he just unable to express his own emotions to the listener? Are there other underlying circumstances to cause Prufrock not to speak his mind? By the end these questions will be understood along with the true…
Meursault, the readers’ eyes and ears in ‘The Outsider’ appears unbelievably detached from anything or anyone around him. The opening line of ‘Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know,’ shows how little empathy this character has. There is no sorrow or regret, it is only a statement. The reader will soon realise that Meursault will only deal in the factual and the concrete. Emotions to this character are meaningless. On the day of his mother’s funeral he notices a man with ‘trembling (lips) beneath a nose pitted with blackheads.’ Meursault’s description of this man is cold and quite unforgiving. He goes into great detail when describing the suit the man is wearing, ‘the black tie with a knot that was too small for the large white collar... the pants with a thin white pinstripe...’ Meursault recognises the physical appearance of this man, but he doesn’t register the emotional reason for this reaction. The reader can appreciate that Meursault is only affected by the environment, he is mentally absent from the funeral. It is not the fact his mother is being buried today that Meursault finds depressing, but it’s the ‘whole landscape’ which ‘is flooded in sunshine.’ Meursault offers a unique view on the world because he is so detached from society. This unique protagonist means his thought pattern will lead us down a different path of thought as we follow his internal monologue. This is a key reason why I…
Introversion is presented throughout The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and presents how one person’s fear can limit their life. The character of J. Alfred Prufrock displays this attribute when he states, “And I have known the eyes already, known them all – The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall” (Lines 55-58). This quote gives readers the sense of Prufrock's true insecurities. It also provides evidence into how he wanted to blend in and not really socialize at all. Prufrock again states, “There will be time, there will be time to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet“ This shows how prufrock did not feel ready for society, another form of introversy. It also procides insight into the fact that Prufrock seperated himself from people and that he fealt unready for interaction. Lastly Prufrock again states, “And indeed there will be timeTo wonder, ‘Do I dare?‘ and, ‘Do I dare?‘“ This hsows how Prufrock was so estranged from society and how introverted he was. It also gives a sense of hope and a want to break this introversy with the statements of “Do i dare “.…
Prufrock is presented as ‘an awkward and emasculated character’. To what extent do the metaphors in ‘The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock’ create this view of the character?…
Love is a universal emotion. Everyone has felt love towards something or someone in their lives. Love can bring about joy and happiness, tears and fears, hate and anger, anxiety and stress. The emotional roller coaster of love goes on throughout people’s lives and it is given and received in many different ways. There is a saying “ Love makes the world go around”. It is true. Imagine if love were not an emotion. What would you feel towards your family members, loved ones, children or spouse? It is a difficult question to answer and shows that love is an essential component in human relationships. The many facets of love, play out in many stories in American Literature.…
What is love? This is a question that is often discussed and argued about. Everyone seems to have a different perception on what love truly is. These perceptions help categorize what type of person you are when it comes towards love. This can range from being a hopeless romantic to a person who doesn’t even believe that love exists. A perfect example of how the views of love can be drastically different can be illustrated by these two poems; “Dover Beach” and “Dover Bitch”. “Dover Beach”, was written by Matthew Arnold in the 19th century. The love Arnold speaks of in his poem is a deep love that is indestructible. “Dover Bitch” was written by Anthony Hecht, in response to “Dover Beach” and refers to love as being a joke and nonexistent. Arnold can be portrayed as being a hopeless romantic while Hecht is skeptical and a cynic when it comes to love. There are many factors which influence the authors’ literary works including: the time period, the object of love in their poem and their overall view of the world. These components as well as the tones of the of the poems help convey the author’s view point on love and its place in society.…
In both poems, “On Monsieur’s Departure” and “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock,” they reveal very similar aspects in the human condition using figurative language. The use of figurative language in these poems makes it easier to portray the types of feelings that go through one's head. In “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” the poem is talking about what seems to be more of what happens when one over thinks when he’s alone. Whereas in “On Monsieur’s Departure” the poem talks about what someone might feel when dealing with the heartbreak of unrequited love. Both poems touch on sensitive topics that involve the Human Condition that many people have dealt with in the past, today, and will in the future.…
Since the beginning of human existence love has earned a meaning of pure bliss and wild passion between two people that cannot be broken. Through out time the meaning of love has had its slight shifts but for the most part, maintains a positive value. In the poem “Love Should Grow Up Like a Wild Iris in the Fields,” the author, Susan Griffin expresses that this long lost concept of love is often concealed by the madness of everyday life and reality. In the poem, Griffin uses many literary elements to help convey the importance of true love. The usage of imagery, symbolism, and other literary techniques really help communicate Griffins’ meaning that love is not joyous and blissful as its ‘s commonly portrayed but often broken by the problems in our everyday lives.…
Love is an everchanging concept. Throughout the years, the classification of it constantly goes through various changes, and the exact meaning of it is never truly defined as one definite definition. The most accurate method of describing love is examining the countless ways it can be represented. For each person, a new meaning takes hold of the very sought-after emotion. It is through the use of literary works that the concept of love has been able to somewhat receive a label.…
Poetry is a tool used to express the poets' innermost thoughts and feelings. The poems discussed in this essay are about one of the most powerful and complex emotions of all, love. The chosen two poems are the following; "Since Feeling Is First" by E. E. Cummings and "Love Is Not All" by Edna St. Vincent Millay. While these two poems share the same topic, the themes presented in each poem varies slightly.…
Essay Question #2: In “A Room of Ones Own” by Virginia Wolf, this is where I started to think about domestic unease. To think about the inequality between men and women of the time, you would have to also imagine how this idea of a woman not being looked as equal to her husband could cause domestic unease. Virginia Wolf does a great job painting that picture for us when we imagine if Shakespeare had a sister. Here is a young lady who is married off young, ran away, attempts to become an actress but is denied, becomes pregnant, and in the end commits suicide.…
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a story of a man. The entire poem is based off of Dante’s “Inferno”. Bringing into the thought that everyone has their own personal hell depending on their life. Prufrock, to me, is already in his hell not traveling to death. We see references of what we assume is a ghetto. Shambled hotels and bars, prostitutes and animated fag that twists in unseemly ways are obviously unseemly to him and give him a sense of unease. Another difference between this and “712” is the fact that Prufrock is forced to see all his faults even in death. He is described as an insect pinned to a board, open to all those who see him. He views it as a never ending judgement of sorts. Another differing factor is that other supernatural beings exist, other than death, because at the end of the poem he references the “sea-girls (who) watched with seaweed read and brown, Till human voices wake us, and we drown" p. 1389. The sea girls are what ancient mythology would call a siren, creature who…