“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” I think the tone in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is based on his lack of self-confidence and tendency to over think. In every stanza, Prufrock is dwelling on what will go wrong in his attempts to find a woman, because he doesn’t find it probable that someone would ever love him. The idea that he could ever care for anyone, or visa versa, is an impossibility because he finds himself utterly undesirable. One example of this is the way he refers to himself as a bug, pinned to wall by the mocking stares of his peers. The fact that he is comparing himself to something that is usually repulsive to women speaks to how he is responsible for his want, need, and also inability to end his loneliness. Secondly, the language he uses in those two lines, words like: “sprawling” “pinned” and “wriggling”, makes me think of a constant pain being inflicted by someone or something outside of yourself, but really, he is suffering from an internal battle of self worth. To me, it brings out the physical aspect of his struggle, even though his pain is completely mental and self-perpetuated. Another example is how his hair is being used to represent the loss of his youth. Going from the way he spoke of time in the sixth stanza, I think he’s realizing his is passing quickly, and this is how it’s showing. Of course this ties into what he wants and why he can’t have it: a woman who will accept him for who he is, bald spots and all. He has convinced himself, though, that society is to dependent on looks instead of intellect for him to ever truly be accepted, and a man with hair loss and thin limbs is going to be looked down upon regardless of who he is. I think the angsty character of J. Alfred Prufrock, and tedious society T.S. Elliot has placed him in, is a representation of a someone’s own personal hell. Every stanza is making one of Prufrock’s worries that he isn’t good enough a reality, and telling him that everything he feared is true: he isn’t accepted into society, he’s no longer young, his limbs are thinner, his hair is falling out, and because of all these things he may never be loved. This may be speaking to how the author sees himself, or our society as a whole, but the either way the image is not a pretty one.