The text is Modernist poem written by T. S. Eliot in 1920. It is an excellent example of dramatic monologue. The poet experimented new techniques in the use of language, as well as in the structure.
     The title reveals the most important aspects of the text: it is J. Alfred Prufrock's song about love. The character's name with the alliteration of the sound "r" evokes heaviness. We expect the song to be musical and meanings communicated by sounds. In addition love could be the main theme of the song.
     The song opens with a quotation, taken from Dante's Divina Commedia, Inferno, XXVII. The episode refers to Guido da Montefeltro's story. He was a clever and brave man, condemned for being a fraudulent proposer. In the reported verses the man tells Dante that he can speak about his fault because he is in hell, from which nobody has returned. The extract points out the fundamental values of western culture.
The poem is structured into 131 free verses, arranged in scenes and connected by some refraining couplets. The absence of a pattern makes the song revolutionary.
     In the poem the speaking voice is the character's one. As a result the poet sounds eclipsed into J. Alfred Prufrock's consciousness and a dramatic monologue is provided to the reader.
     In the first stanza (v. 1-12) the private speaking voice speaks to his consciousness to create a mirror effect. It is evening, the moment of reflection. Let us go is repeated for three times in order to underlines the dissociation between the speaking voice and his consciousness and the heaviness of his existence. Places are just suggested and juxtaposed: they are connoted as dull and desolated. In particular, the simile of verse 3 underlines the coldness of the evening. In addition the repetition of "streets" suggests the possibility of choices. The use of the language alludes to strong feelings (tedious, insidious, overwhelming). The scene is opposed to the previous quotation since it concludes with the character's request to his consciousness not to ask him reasons (vv.11-12).
It follows a refrain, which alludes to the commodification of culture. As a matter of fact women popularize the genius of Michelangelo (vv. 13-14).
In the second stanza (vv. 15-22) the speaking voice transfigures the external atmosphere. The metaphor of the fog as a cat is adopted to convey the degradation and dreariness of the evening. In addition, October alludes to autumn, which is associated to the middle age of the character.
In the third stanza (vv. 23-34) the attention is focused on time. It is presented the idea of procrastination linked to the defeat in existence. The word time is repeated for eight times in the stanza and the expression there will be time is also repeated. The going on of time is linked to a precise idea of existence. In particular, the difficulty in making decision and acting is stressed by the rhyming couplet of verses 33-34. The image adopted in verse 34 points out the futility of acting.
The previous refrain in verses 13-14 is taken up in verses 35-36.
The fourth stanza (vv. 37-48) presents the character's projection in the future. The growing old is lived with sufferance because he thinks about what other people will think of him. The poet provides the repetitions in brackets of They will say to convey others' opinions. In addition J. Alfred Prufrock wanders if he has to dare. The hyperbole in verse 46 alludes to man's triviality. The expression In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions presents the idea of dilated time.
The fifth, sixth and seventh stanzas can be embedded, since they all refer to the character's past experiences. The repetition of I have known connote the certainty of what is over and, in opposition, the uncertainty of what will come. Each stanza ends with the expression how should I presume? They subtend the idea that there never are enough experiences to learn the lesson.
In the seventh stanza (vv. 70-74) the speaking voice expresses his inability to act. Will he tell a woman that he came through narrow streets, where lonely men lean out of windows watching life go by but not taking part in it? He should have been nothing more than crab claws in the depths of the silent ocean. In line 71 the smoke becomes part of the haze.
In the eighth stanza (vv. 75-86) the speaking voice sit down with someone and have dessert. Should he take a chance, make an acquaintance, live? He has suffered; he has even imagined his head being brought in on a platter, like the head of John the Baptist. Of course, unlike John, he is no prophet. He has seen his opportunities pass and even seen death up close, holding his coat, snickering. He has been afraid.
The metaphor/personification in vv. 75-78 echoes the simile in lines 2 and 3.
The phrase head brought in upon a platter at verse 82 could be associated with John the Baptist, Jewish prophet of the First Century AD who urged people to reform their lives and who prepared the way for the coming of Jesus as the Messiah. John denounced Herod Antipas, the Roman-appointed ruler of Galilee and Perea, for violating the law of Moses by marrying Herodias, the divorced wife of his half-brother, Philip. (Herod Antipas and Philip were sons of Herod the Great, the Roman-appointed ruler of Judea.) In retaliation, Herod Antipas imprisoned John but was afraid to kill him because of his popularity with the people. Salome, the daughter of Herodias and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas, danced at a birthday party for Herod Antipas. Her performance was so enthralling that Herod said she could have any reward of her choice. Prompted by Herodias, who was outraged by John the Baptist's condemnation of her marriage, Salome asked for the head of the Baptist on a platter. Because he did not want to go back on his word, Herod fulfilled her request. John was a cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The term prophet in line 83 is another allusion to John the Baptist. The term Footman in line 85 refers to a servant in a uniform who opens doors, waits on tables, helps people into carriages. The footman is a symbol of death; he helps a person into the afterlife.
In the ninth stanza (vv. 87-98) the speaking voice asks himself if a declaration would have been worth and he tries to make a connection with one of the women.
There is an anaphora (To) at verses 91-94.
Lazarus in line 94 refers to two New Testament figures: (1) Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Martha and Mary. Jesus raised him from the dead; (2) Lazarus, a leprous beggar. When Lazarus died, he was taken into heaven (in opposition from the hell of the epigraph). When a rich man named Dives died, he went to hell. He requested that Lazarus be returned to earth to warn his brothers about the horror of hell, but his request was denied.
In the tenth stanza the speaking voice continues believing that a declaration would have been worth. Time is still present as an enemy. Its heaviness is stressed by the repetition of after. Therefore the character focuses his attention on the results of his decisions and actions. Anyway, his consciousness states that It is impossible to say just what I mean! So, feelings have to be repressed in order to prevent a possible defeat. As a matter of fact, the stanza mixes the regret for not having declared for love and the personal justification for having preventing any refusal. Verses 109-110 convey the idea of a suffering denial, reporting a possible rejection by the woman.
In the eleventh stanza the character makes reference to Hamlet's state in order to speak about human condition. J. Alfred Prufrock thinks to be different from Hamlet because he is just an attendant lord, a Fool. In the stanza the character firstly examines his being in the present from an inner point of view: the conscience is reflecting on its condition. As a result J. Alfred Prufrock is described according to his difficulty in acting his wishes and reduced to an easy tool. In the couplet in verses 120-121 future is present again with the threat of becoming old. The repetition and the reticence I grow old... I grow old...empathize the character's disenchantment and verse 121 provides an image of the old age. The following verses also refer to the present condition, as a projection in the interminable, suffering future. The man is questioning about how keep his hair and if he dares eating a peach (v. 122). The metaphor of the peach (Do I dare to eat a peach?) can be read with reference to the original sin. The character seems suffer from the heaviness of his cultural code and in these verses the opposition to Guido da Montefeltro becomes clearer. In addition he refers to the past, when he heart the mermaids, who are a symbol for seduction. In the metaphor, verse 125 ratifies the end of J. Alfred Prufrock's sentimental life: nobody will seduce him. In verses 126-129 the character recalls his past experiences, always with reference to mermaids: he has known the power of love but he never enjoyed the life. In the last three verses the song connects to the beginning, the speaking voice refers to his consciousness again with the pronouns we and us. Nearby the sea, human voices wake them and they drown. Sea is a metaphor for the power of the unknown, so the act of drowning with own consciousness can be read as a definitive defeat of human possibility.
The circularity of the song, linked to life, and the image of drowning may allude to death itself.
     In the western culture, sea and mermaids are important symbols linked to man. The sea represents a challenge for man, since it is undiscovered and seems never-ending. Sea is also referred to the myth of Ulysses and to his courage and wit. He was the first man who dares to cross the border dividing the known from the forbidden and mysterious unknown. Since his courage was too unconventional and he dared disturb the universe, he is condemned. We can find him in Dante's Divina Commedia, Inferno, XXVI, between fraudulent proposers, in which Guido da Montefeltro is also present. Also mermaids are linked to the figure of Ulysses: they sing to him because he is a hero. On the contrary, J. Alfred Prufrock won't hear their sing: he is an anti-hero. He is also different from Hamlet, who was not a classical hero like Ulysses but he had clear values to fight for. Indeed Hamlet was not victorious in his revenge quest but he was heroic in the research of truth, meaning and reason. On the other hand, J. Alfred Prufrock lost any certainty of the meaning of values in a world without God.
Therefore, in Modernism there are anti-heroes, men similar to J. Alfred Prufrock and conscious of their own condition and fears. All in all, Modernist men suffer from the impossibility to live the sense of life. As a result human nature is characterized by fears, indecisions and revisions in time, so a tragic view of life is presented.
In addition the classic theme of the importance of life ironically contradicts the futility of what the poem talks about, but it is also far from the theme of love indicated in the title.
     The atmosphere created by the song can be associated to the one suggested by Caravaggio in Bacchino malato (1593). The same condition seems to be presented. Sufferance and weakness in life are represented as physical consequences. Various images in the song refers to a physical pain (Like a patient etherized upon a table, I grow old ... I grow old ...), as well as ill Bacchino. However, the representation of pain is a technique to present a life sufferance. Yellow is the colour chosen to convey the atmosphere of degradation. A difficult, weak and unnatural idea of existence is shared by the texts. What is more they both make the reader feel the uncomfortableness of living.