Poetry Response #3 (Dramatic Monologue)

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot writes the poem through the banal, indecisive voice of the middle-aged J. Alfred Prufrock. He recounts an afternoon teetering between declaring his love for an acquaintance and sheepishly keeping his feelings to himself. Prufrock is not a memorable man, and he knows this. Resigning himself to a forgettable fate, Prufrock writes, “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be/Am an attendant lord, one that will do/To swell a progress, start a scene or two.” He acts out of insecurity and cowardliness, always believing “there will be time, there will be time.”

Questioning the necessity of revealing his feelings, Prufrock asks himself, “Do I dare/Disturb the universe?” His entire world consists of his social connections and interactions; therefore, one relationship out of balance might transform his world. The limited size of the world, which he has created for himself, indicates his cowardliness and resignation to boredom. In fact, the entire poem’s tone is that of a “patient etherized upon a table.”

The poem focuses on Prufrock’s inner dialogue. The reader sees Prufrock endlessly questioning his actions in the light of other’s opinions, surrendering himself to a “formulated phrase.” It is no wonder that Prufrock is unable to “disturb” his “universe with the proclamation, for he rarely considers his own opinion. When he recognizes this cowardliness, his tone is humorously, yet pitifully self-deprecating. One wonders whether this is another cowardly trick to evade feeling guilty for hiding in the background.

Though Prufrock recounts the tale as if he wishes his decisions were different, his tone and diction cause one to question whether, if presented the situation again, he would actually “force the moment to its crisis.”  Prufrock’s insecurity and indecision might convince one of his stagnation in triteness.