"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is one of T.S. Eliot's first works. In the poem Eliot applies to poetry a technique similar to that of the stream of consciousness. He gives fragments of the thoughts passing through the mind of the lonely Mr Prufrock, a failed lover. Although the poem begins as a dramatic monologue with the speaker inventing a mysterious "you" to accompany him on a visit to his loved one, it gradually becomes apparent that the speaker is in fact talking to himself and giving voice to feelings of disorientation. The technique is therefore more that of an interior monologue than of a dramatic monologue. An epigraph from Dante's Inferno suggests that the speaker is "in hell", while the title of the poem warns us that this isn't going to be an ordinaty love poem - after all, Alfred J. Prufrock is a rather ridiculous name for a lover.

From the extract, Prufrock appears as a man who is both indecisive and unwilling to take a position to support his points of view. from the expression "with a bald spot in the middle of my hair" it is possible to say that Prufrock is middle-aged/old. Moreover considering his dresses, he appears not to belong to the rich nor to the poor social level. Indeed his necktie is "rich and modest" as well as the pin is simple. So also from the age point of view and from the social point of view, he can be said to belong to a middle position, which reinforces the idea that he is an indecisive person, unable to take sides. From the title it is possible to identify Prufrock as a lover, but he obviously doesn't appear as a confident one. Later on Prufrock describes his participation at the party. His thoughts change from a speculation about  the future to a reflection on past experiences. The feelings that come out from this passage are boredom, because he meets the same people he has always been used to ( "for I have known them all-already, known them all- have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons" and also "and I have known the eyes already, known them all" and finally "and I have known the arms already, known them all". In this case the repetitions of the structure emphasize Prufrock's tiredness at his life.). It is possible to read other feelings in between the lines: first of all it's evident that he despises the people he meets, and then he appears to be scared of death, as he feels it approaching ("I have seen the moment of greatness flicker, and I have seen the eternal footmen old my coot, and snicker and in short, I was afraid". In this part Prufrock also expresses a sense of melancholy for his past and lost greatness.). towards the end of the poem, Prufrock's thoughts about the present and the future are juxtaposed with lyrical feelings about the past. When he says "I am not Prince Hamlet... an attendant lord... almost ridiculous... the full", he points out that he has never been a protagonist in his life, but rather a secondary character, who has been kept in the shadow of the lime-light by life. He is aware of is being ridiculous, even if mentioning the Fool he implies also a form of wiseness. Indeed in the literary tradition the Fool is ridiculous, but at the same time the wisest character. From the expression "I have heard the mermaids singing... I do not think they will sing to me" it is possible to desume a sense of exclusion and the fact that Prufrock has led a solitary and lonely life without sharing his experiences. He has lived a dreamy life, while everyday reality is suffocating from him ("till human voices wake us and we drawn"). Through out the poem there is a constant change in Prufrock's mood and tone which mirrors the conflicts he has in his mind. From this consideration it is possible to describe Prufrock as a lonely and hesitant man who provokes sympathy on the reader. He may be said to represent the typical Modern man, lost in the lack of meaning of the Modern world. This is the first of Eliot's works, and he developed these ideas more radically in the "Waste Land". From the language point of view, this poem is based on the use of various verse forms because there is no regularity in the length of liner or in the use of rhythm or rhyme. But the repetitions of words and patterns create a musical effect.