The Love Song of
J. Alfred Prufrock is a dramatic
monologue written by T.S.Eliot.

Right from the title
the intelligent reader expects to find all the main features of a
song, in particular a song that deals with the theme of love.

As
all Modernists T.S.Eliot wants to experiment, that is the reason why
the song is not composed by stanzas as ballads, but it is a
juxtaposition of scenes. Scene are aimed at creating a dramatic
atmosphere and are kept together by the refrain "In
the room the women come and go/Talking of Michelangelo". The
refrain wants to highlight how peopletalks about important topics as
if they chatted.

The dramatic
monologue opens with an epigraph. It is a quotation from Dante's
Inferno where Guido da Montefeltro talks to Dante because he believes
he will go back on Earth to report what he says. The epigraph
highlight the importance of the confession Mr. Prufrock is making to
his consciousness (and to the reader that seems to be an intruder)
and it is also an example of intertextuality, technique that is
largely used by T.S.Eliot in the love song.

The monologue is
focused on Prufrock's doubts: he loves a woman and he wonders if he
should confess his love. Even if the main theme of the song seems to
be love, an important topic is time: while Prufrock wonders what he
should do, time passes inexorably and he gets old. That is the reason
why Prufrock seems to be an anti-hero, someone unable to make a
decision; Prufrock personality is well expressed by the repetition
"There will be time" that sounds like a sentence, because he is a
middle aged man and there won't be time.

Prufrock's
inability to make a decision seems to be the result of his fear: he
is afraid of other people's thoughts about him. Twice in the middle
of his monologue he says "They will say" as if other people's
thoughts are the most relevant thing in his life.

The first scene
describes the sky as in a painting. Nevertheless suddenly the reader
understands the writer wants to convey the idea of bleakness thanks
to images such as the "patient etherized", the "half-deserted
streets", the "one night cheap hotel" and the "sawdust
restaurants with oyster-shells".

The second scene
suggest the paralysis of Prufrock using the landscape: the fog, the
smoke and the soot seem to crush everything under their weight as
Prufrock is crushed by his inability to make a decision.

Prufrock's
inability to act is confirmed by the following scene in which he
repeats to himself "There will be time" as a refrain in his mind
to justify his indecision. Prufrock's uncertainty is suggested by
the conflicting words and repetition used by T.S.Eliot: "to murder
and create" or "visions and revisions" that hint at his
continuous waver between opposite resolutions.

The same theme is
developed in the following scene where Prufrock continues to repeat
to himself that there will be time, but this time he also wonders
what other people think about him. In addition expressions such as
"Do I dare/disturb the universe?" wants to suggest that in
Prufrock's opinion every action, every decision is something
extraordinary and revolutionary.

In the following
scene Prufrock keeps on using repetitions and he seems to convey the
idea of time that passes ("evenings, mornings, afternoons...with a
bald spot in the middle of my hair") then he reflects on the
superficiality of relationships between people recalling the theme
that he treats in the refrain. He knows every word people say to him
and he has already lived every situation as suggested by the
repetition "I have known...already".

Then Prufrock
reflect on what he is and what he have done and what he should have
been: the ragged claws seems to be in contrast with the entire figure
of Prufrock showing how he is unable to be what he wants.

In the following
scene the rhythm seems to become slower thanks to long vowels
("afternoon...sleeps...smoothed") but suddenly the inner conflict
comes back and Prufrock gives up to fear.

The meaning of the
following scene is well expressed by the sentence "would it have
been worth while" that highlight one more time Prufrock's regrets
for what he did not do even if he wanted. The most disconcerting
aspect of Prufrock's behaviour is that he is unable to make a
decision also in the most trivial moments of his life because he
feels to be crushed by an overwhelming question. The scene contains
another example of intertextuality: while talking Prufrock quotes
Lazarus, a biblical character who comes back from dead. The quotation
may represent Prufrock's will to change his life and metaphorically
to resurrect to "tell all".

The following scene
provides Prufrock's description: he is an attendant lord that means
he is not better than others even if he has many good qualities
"Deferential, glad to be of use/Politic, cautious, and meticulous"
but they are shadowed because he is "a bit obtuse...the Fool".

The following scene
underlines the theme of time again: time passes and Prufrock becomes
old without making a decision.

The love song ends
with the image of Prufrock who drowns: he drowns because he refuses
to face life and he becomes the symbol of the defeat of people who do
not make any decision.