1. Who is Prufrock’s audience that he imagines speaking to?

The women
2. What are the traits of the women?
a. Michelangelo
i. Past, greatness
b. Arms braceleted, white, bare
i. Luxury, comfort
c. Perfume from a dress
i. Artificiality, superficiality
d. How his hair is growing thin
i. superficiality
e. How his arms and legs are thin
i. superficiality
f. Cups, marmalade, tea, porcelain, ices
i. Pleasure, enjoyment, hedonism
g. Eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase
i. Superficiality, conformity
h. Novels, teacups, long skirts
i. Pleasure, enjoyment, hedonism
i. Arms that lie on a table, wearing a shawl
i. Comfort
j. Voices dying with a dying fall
i. Death, loss
3. How does Prufrock compare to the women?
a. Prufrock: uncertainty, doubt, fear
b. Women: Superficiality, comfort, pleasure, hedonism, belief in the past’s greatness, all
ultimately having something to do with death and loss
4. What does Prufrock want to tell these women?
a. He is uncertain and doubts the desirability of their superficiality, comfort, pleasure, and
hedonism and belief in the past’s greatness – he think this will all eventually lead to
some sort of death or loss
b. This is the exact same thing that Hemingway was talking about!!
c. Prufrock is also uncertain about any form of alternative!
d. Ending with mermaids: fantasy and desire will lead to a devastating end – escapism,
superficiality, comfort, pleasure are just a siren song that distract people from dealing
with their true concerns
5. What is Prufrock’s overwhelming question?
a. If the belief in the past’s values leads to escapism/superficiality that will ultimately
drown us, what should I do? Is there any meaning? If so, where from? How should I live
my life? Why does it matter?
b. Tragedy of Prufrock:
i. Doesn’t know an alternative
ii. Doesn’t even tell the problem (except to the reader)
6. Why the title Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
a. “song” of the sirens – Song of the Sirens
 b. Love Song – express compassion or feeling for someone else, even though that truth
might be uncomfortable and misunderstood
7. Continued relevance
a. Historical
i. Ts Eliot, like Hemingway, is one of the few voices who notices the superficiality
and hedonism of the 20s and sees the terrible end it will have
b. Philosophical
i. Most people will experience extreme doubt or uncertainty in their lives, possibly
about life’s meaning or purpose