The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
T. S. ELIOT
Questions for Discussion
1. How does the epigraph from Dante’s Inferno help Eliot comment on the modern world in“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”? What does it tell us about the setting of this poem? How is Montefeltro’s miscalculation related to the poem?
Prufrock laments that the mermaids will not sing to him.
Prufrock's dilemma represents the inability to live a meaningful existence in the modern world.[24] McCoy and Harlan wrote "For many readers in the 1920s, Prufrock seemed to epitomize the frustration and impotence of the modern individual. He seemed to represent thwarted desires and modern disillusionment."[22] poem uses the stream of consciousness technique.
"If I but thought that my response were made
To one perhaps returning to the world,
This tongue of flame would cease to flicker.
But since, up from these depths, no one has yet
Returned alive, if what I hear is true,
I answer without fear of being shamed."
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.
2. We can assume that the speaker of the poem is Prufrock, a character Eliot creates through the use of dramatic monologue—a technique in which a speaker addresses a silent listener, often revealing qualities he or she might wish to keep hidden. What kind of person is Prufrock? What does he unknowingly reveal?
Hamlet, to whom Prufrock feels inferior, contemplates things like murder and the secrets of the universe. Prufrock, though equally fraught with existential malaise, is more pathetic, as his contemplative nature lacks any of the
T. S. ELIOT
Questions for Discussion
1. How does the epigraph from Dante’s Inferno help Eliot comment on the modern world in“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”? What does it tell us about the setting of this poem? How is Montefeltro’s miscalculation related to the poem?
Prufrock laments that the mermaids will not sing to him.
Prufrock's dilemma represents the inability to live a meaningful existence in the modern world.[24] McCoy and Harlan wrote "For many readers in the 1920s, Prufrock seemed to epitomize the frustration and impotence of the modern individual. He seemed to represent thwarted desires and modern disillusionment."[22] poem uses the stream of consciousness technique.
"If I but thought that my response were made
To one perhaps returning to the world,
This tongue of flame would cease to flicker.
But since, up from these depths, no one has yet
Returned alive, if what I hear is true,
I answer without fear of being shamed."
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.
2. We can assume that the speaker of the poem is Prufrock, a character Eliot creates through the use of dramatic monologue—a technique in which a speaker addresses a silent listener, often revealing qualities he or she might wish to keep hidden. What kind of person is Prufrock? What does he unknowingly reveal?
Hamlet, to whom Prufrock feels inferior, contemplates things like murder and the secrets of the universe. Prufrock, though equally fraught with existential malaise, is more pathetic, as his contemplative nature lacks any of the