The Lovesong Of Prufrock And Preludes By T. S. Eliot

Upon Judgement, T S Eliot was a sensitive soul, who was easily overwhelmed and as a result continually suffered through his life, an understanding that is strongly supported by writer Jeanette Winterson. This notion is exemplified by the pessimistic connotations of two of Eliot’s poems, ‘The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock’ and ‘Preludes’. Winterson too describes Eliot as a man with sensitive soul, one whom is easily overwhelmed whom continually suffered. This closely relates to the understanding that Eliot was indeed easily overwhelmed, only differing in the respect that it was a combination of these characteristics, as well as his modernist and personal context that created an immense suffering that Eliot experienced his whole life.

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The use of the personification of a bug or insect, pinned to the wall, as indicated by “wriggling on a wall”, symbolises Eliot's helplessness in social situations, and how belittled he feels, as supported by Winterson’s perspective of sensitivity. Personification has been effectively used as it allows Eliot to link the feeling of helplessness to his own life, through such a gloomy description, giving the audience a visual aid to better understand his fear of occasions. This fear is further supported throughout the poem, through the use of a truncated sentence, “And in short, I was afraid”. The use of a truncated sentence therefore slows the reader
Winterson believes that, “I think he (Elliott) suffered continually.”, in which she is strongly aligned to such understanding. This perspective of Eliot's struggle and suffering, in regards to his writing life, is clearly evident in the ‘The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock’ through the use of a biblical allusion, in which he describes ““I am Lazarus, come from the dead, Come back to tell you, I shall tell you all” - If one, settling a pillow by her head Should say: “That is not what I meant at all; That is not it, at all””. The use of a biblical allusion, of which Lazarus comes back from heaven to warn others to change their ways to avoid hell, indicates on a grand scale that Eliot has an important message for society that he is trying to tell. However, like Lazarus, Elliot cannot get his message across, but in his context, as a result of language. Eliot feels frustrated as the meaning of current words means he can't get his message across to his responders, as exemplified by the last part of the quote, “That is not what I meant at all” in which his frustrations are shown as he can't express himself properly. The use of a biblical allusion thus symbolises one not being able to say what they need to is extremely effective as it allows Eliot to provide a