NAME : CHANDRIKA GOHAIN

ROLL NO: EGE21042 PAPER CODE: EG451

PROGRAMME NAME: MA IN ENGLISH LITERATURE (1ST SEM)

SUBMITTED TO – PROF. HEMJYOTI MEDHI

THEORY OF OBJECTIVE CO RELATIVE AND IT’S APPLICATION IN “THE
LOVE SONGS OF J ALFRED PRUFROCK”
The theory of objective co relative is one of the most critical concepts of TS
Eliot, which means a situation or set of events which act as “the formula for
evoking a particular emotion in a play, poem or any other literary pieces .this
term has its roots in Eliot’s famous essay “Hamlet and his problems”. Where he
criticizes Hamlet as defective and an artistic failure . Eliot argues that
Shakespeare’s play is a ‘failure’, but the play has become so familiar and
ubiquitous as a work of art that we are no longer able to see its flaws. . but he
also praises Shakespeare saying that in Macbeth Shakespeare is successful in
finding an 'objective correlative' to express the emotions of Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth. Eliot's concept of the 'objective correlative' is a continuation and
application of his impersonal theory of poetry, which is based on the idea that it
is neither the intensity of the emotion nor the greatness of its components that
determines the poetic quality of a poem, but what matters is the intensity of
the fusion, and one of the ways in which the poet achieves this intensity is
through the embodiment of an emotion in a concrete object. According to Eliot,
when writer fails to find objective correlatives for the emotions they wish to
convey, readers or audiences are left unconvinced, unmoved, or even confused.
To relate this theory I have chosen “The Love songs of J Alfred
Prufrock”,by TS Eliot as I have recently read this and could perfectly relate to
the theory of co relative. this is a very long poem which tells about J Alfred
prufrock, a despaired middle aged man and his anxieties and preoccupations of
his inner life. All through the poem, we discover a speaker who has desires and
dreams, yet fails to act on them because he deems himself inferior, unworthy
and a failed person with spiritual sickness. And these are presented not directly,
but through images and pictures which give a realistic imaginary view of
Prufrock’s sterility.
The lines “When the evening is spraed out against the sky,like a patient
etherized upon a table” denotes a very clear image of the psyche of Prufrock, he
is helpless like a patient without any move and the scene of evening denotes
uncertainity and inability to see clearly. Again his insecurities can be seen with
the line “to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet”. Which implies his
fear to show his true self to people.
Prufrock is self-conscious of his growing age and bald head. He is greatly
conscious as to what people will say of him,about his arms, or about his thin
legs. When he measures his life with coffe spoons,it indicates that he doesnot
think far into future and is more concerned with the materialistic entities
surrounding him. The sense of isolation and alienation, sometimes, is deepened
in the poem; especially, when Prufrock meditates the contrast between his
needs and the social reality the thing that makes him neurotic if not mad. As a
result of being alienated, Prufrock depicts three animal images which show his
debasement and his wish to "return to the animal state that his race was in
before evolving into human off fashionable women who talk about Michael
Angelo lingers pathetically outside the house.
Along with the images eliot uses various symbols which are also very important
aspcets in the formation of co relative theory. They are intermingled with the
other aspects of his text and become a vehicle to express certain emotion. Like
The dirty urban streets represent the ugly life of the town; and a certain life in
the speaker's mind. However, most of the outstanding symbols in this poem are related
to sex and the overwhelming question "Can I" is the core of the matter.

indeed, Prufrock’s monologues serve to reveal the hollowness of modern life,

with all its artificiality and insignificance..
As an average modern man, as drawn by Eliot, Prufrock is found to suffer from
indecision and irresolution, and that is found in the constant repetitions of his
love song.
So in the conclusion it can be said that TS Eliot has successfully applied
the objective co relative theory in the mentioned poem ,In "The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock", Eliot uses different images, symbols and other devices as
media for the system of objective correlative. He arranges these media in a way
that shows Prufrock's emotion towards the society he lives in, his surroundings,
his defects and inner life.