1.

2.

3.

4.

Has a
o
o
o

vacant, bleak, and repetitive view of life

Starts of the poem to insinuate melancholy and depression
restless and tedious arguments of insidious intent
Prufolk suggests a discontentment with his surrounds through his early
lines
o Prufolk is at a dark and uninviting place with the yellow fog
There is a contrast between the serious epigraph from Dante's Inferno and
the lighter Prufrock's love song announced in the title (in fact, the mixture of
levity and seriousness is to be found throughout the whole poem). Whereas
we had just been told that the poem is a love song of a character called
Prufrock, in the epigraph we are given the words of another character, Guido
da Montefeltro, a man condemned to hell in a prison of fame for his
treacherous advice on earth to Pope Boniface ^. Guido tells the shame
of his wicked life to Dante only because he believes that Dante will never
return to earth to report what he says.
o Prufolk also is in hell at least in the way he describes the world he lives
in
He continues to invoke dark and melancholic imagery to
describe his surroundings
Overwhelming trend of his to be inactive, passive, and be indecisive
o Continues to say there will be time
o He doubts it however
He has a poor view of the world and the people in it
a. Lives in fear of this world
He is very passive and indecisive
a. Has trouble to communicate his thoughts
b. Failure to communicate is what leads to his isolation, loneliness, and
estrangement from other people
c. A crab scuttling through line
d. How should I proceed
e. He continues to give himself time because his fearful of
communicating
f. Is evident in how T.S. Elliot shows Prufrocks thoughts as all scattered
g. There is no logical structure or flow of the thoughts in the poem
Has lived an uneventful life
a. I have measured out my life by coffee spoons
b. Lines 54 60 61 68 69
c. He fears he will get mocked about his arms
d. The eternal footman mocks him (Jesus)
e. He knows his failures and understand recognize that by growing thing
(44) and sprawling on a pin (line 57)
f. He feels bored by life and is tired of living and the miserable existence
he is leading
He is cowardly
a. If he tells his truth like john the Baptist he will die
b. Should I dare? Fear

Looks back at his failures but accepts it because he thinks he will be

misunderstood
Strong sense of desire and also failure
a. The you is the one with the desire and I is the one with the fear, passivity,
and failure
The is a problem of communication
a. Failure to communicate is what leads to his isolation, loneliness, and
estrangement from other people
The failure of the modernist society is being conveyed through Profrock

In T.S Elliots poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prurock, a complex character in J.
Alfred Prufrock is presented in front of the readers. It is clear from the onset of the
poem that irony lies within the title of this poem as the tone and structure of
Prufrocks message is in sharp contrast to that of a typical love song. Rather T.S
Elliot, as a modernist writer who is in an attempt to convey the regression of
humanity during this time period in the 20 th century, is, through Prufrocks message,
highlighting Prufrocks fragility as an individual. Prufrocks isnt presenting a story
but rather his personality where his passivity, self-loathing nature, and melancholic
perception of the world can be gathered which all together culminate in portraying
him as fragile.