The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Question: Part A: Analyze the social and historical context of a particular poem
Poem: T. S. Eliot, ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The context of any given text whether poetry, novels or a movie is always integral to its understanding. Social and historical context of not only the given text, but the writer’s context and reader’s context play an important role in the interpretation and understanding of the major ideas, issues, values and beliefs within the text. T.S (Thomas Stearns) Eliot was one of the twentieth century’s major poets and still remains relevant today. For many, Eliot and his works synonymous with Modernism; his “use of myth to undergird and order atomized modern experience; its collage-like juxtaposition of different voices, traditions, and discourses; and its focus on form as the carrier of meaning” (Domestico, A & Lewis, P, 2010, p. 1).The poem ‘The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock’ written by T.S Elliot is an example of a poem where the importance of social and historical context is apparent. The poem was one of Elliot’s early work, published in 1915 and is regarded as the beginning of Elliot’s career as an influential poet. It follows the internal monologue of ‘Prufrock’, who appears to be the epitome of an “ideal man”. His character in the poem is assumedly middle-aged, intelligent yet indecisive; his worries lie in what others think of him and he is rather superficial in his concerns. The themes explored in this text explain why it is considered as one of the seminal works in precipitating the shift from Romanticism to Modernism. In order to analyze the influence of historical and social context we must look into the relationship between the text’s contexts, the literal analysis of the poem and lastly the themes and issues presented in relation to context.
As aforementioned, one must analyze the writer and the reader’s context in order to further one’s understanding of a text. Eliot wrote and published this poem in England during the
Poem: T. S. Eliot, ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The context of any given text whether poetry, novels or a movie is always integral to its understanding. Social and historical context of not only the given text, but the writer’s context and reader’s context play an important role in the interpretation and understanding of the major ideas, issues, values and beliefs within the text. T.S (Thomas Stearns) Eliot was one of the twentieth century’s major poets and still remains relevant today. For many, Eliot and his works synonymous with Modernism; his “use of myth to undergird and order atomized modern experience; its collage-like juxtaposition of different voices, traditions, and discourses; and its focus on form as the carrier of meaning” (Domestico, A & Lewis, P, 2010, p. 1).The poem ‘The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock’ written by T.S Elliot is an example of a poem where the importance of social and historical context is apparent. The poem was one of Elliot’s early work, published in 1915 and is regarded as the beginning of Elliot’s career as an influential poet. It follows the internal monologue of ‘Prufrock’, who appears to be the epitome of an “ideal man”. His character in the poem is assumedly middle-aged, intelligent yet indecisive; his worries lie in what others think of him and he is rather superficial in his concerns. The themes explored in this text explain why it is considered as one of the seminal works in precipitating the shift from Romanticism to Modernism. In order to analyze the influence of historical and social context we must look into the relationship between the text’s contexts, the literal analysis of the poem and lastly the themes and issues presented in relation to context.
As aforementioned, one must analyze the writer and the reader’s context in order to further one’s understanding of a text. Eliot wrote and published this poem in England during the
References: Blythe, H & Sweet, C. (2004). Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. The Explicator, 62(2), 110. Taylor & Francis Inc. USA: DC Domestico, A & Lewis, P. (2010) T.S Eliot. Retrieved from: http://modernism.research.yale.edu/wiki/index.php/T.S._Eliot Dunn, I. (1963). Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Explicator, 22(1), 178. doi: 0014-4940-1290286285 Saleem, M. (2012). An analysis of deviations of register in T.S Eliot’s poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Language in India, (12), 379. doi: 19302940 Shirey, R. (2007). English Romanticism and Modernism. Ann Arbour, United States. Retrieved fromhttp://0search.proquest.com.prospero.murdoch.edu.au/docview/304799847?accountid=12629 Strand, M & Boland, E. (2000). The making of a poem: a Norton anthology of poetic forms. New York; London: Norton