The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” T.S. Eliot's “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, is a dramatic monologue in which the speaker recalls his insecurities in dealing with the opposite sex and the choices he made in general in his life. He wonders if he should have done things differently. Prufrock starts in a city-scape “Like a patient etherised upon a table;/ Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets” and ends on a beach “I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.” presumably much later in his life. In-between he tells of the opportunities he missed, and how he agonized over what to say or what to do. Throughout the poem the speaker, Prufrock, describes the landscape around him, however he is really telling the reader how he feels, and what he is going through. “The evening spread out against the sky/ like a patient etherised upon a table” describes the stillness of the city, but also Prufrock's inability to make a descision or act, which is a recurring theme. “The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes” could be Prufrock looking into a room, where “women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo.” Michelangelo's most famous piece, the statue of David, draws an interesting comparison to the speaker, Prufrock. David is the epitome of the male form, Prufrock describes himself as a thin, balding, middle aged man. Prufrock is very self conscious about his appearance “With a bald spot in the middle of my hair” and again “They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”” Prufrock is not a real person, but he is familiar. He has a personality that people can relate to. He scrutinizes every decision he makes, and acknowledges that even after all the careful thought he will reverse some of them. “And time yet for a hundred indecisions, / And for a hundred visions and revisions, / Before the taking of toast and tea.” Most people feel rushed to make decisions, but not Prufrock. “There will be time, there will be